"Mission: Impossible - Fallout," the sixth installment of the action franchise, is stunning Chinese audiences with a cliffhanger and a series of daring stunts.
At the Chinese premiere of the film held at the iconic Imperial Ancestral Temple on Aug. 29 night, 56-year-old Tom Cruise confirmed the authenticity of almost all of his death-defying actions such as skydiving from 25,000 feet, flying a helicopter through mountains, jumping off buildings, car racing in Paris streets and more.
According to Cruise, for this "incredibly dynamic film," he learnt to fly helicopters by getting a license in 12 days, and trained for a year and a half to fly helicopter aerobatics.
As the first actor to perform a HALO (high altitude-low opening) jump, Cruise said the stunt is dangerous and complex, noting that it took the crew a long time to figure out how to do it and design the bespoke equipment.
"Originally, it was designed to be six different shots, but we were able to get it down to three different shots, and it took over 106 jumps to get that shot," Cruise said.
The skydiving was just one challenge for the film project. The actor injured himself badly when jumping from one London rooftop to another when filming "Fallout" and broke two bones in his ankle, which cost him two months for rest and recovery.
His hard-work, devotion, stunts and work ethic demonstrated in the film once again astounded, excited and touched his fans in China, with some calling him "America's Jackie Chan," as Chan also performed many action stunts – injuring himself several times in the process.
Director Christopher McQuarrie described their shooting experience as exciting and intense, saying that making a mission impossible is very much like watching a mission impossible.
As the first director to handle two films in the franchise, McQuarrie said in an interview last Wednesday afternoon that he thinks the greatest appeal of the series consists in the characters and stories.
Without the characters, it's all just spectacle, and it is the team and the sense of camaraderie that attract people to keep coming back, he said.
Benji Dunn portrayed by Simon Pegg, once a lab-technician, has become one of Ethan Hunt's trusted allies in the field.
Pegg told China.org.cn that he also learnt some new skills for this sequel, such as acting underwater and driving a speedboat, and he considers those new challenges really fun.
August Walker, an antagonist portrayed by Henry Cavil, has also added a fresh layer of excitement to this action-thriller. As Cavil said, while Hunt does everything with a moral code, Walker always makes sure the mission is completed no matter what the cost is.
In Cavil's eyes, his new role with a brash mustache is very complicated, because although he's definitely the darker part of one side, ultimately he does want the best for mankind.
"It's a lot of fun playing the other side of the coin and even more fun because the character is written so well," said Cavil.
The Paramount Pictures' film, debuted in China last Friday at the tail of China's summer film season, raking in a haul of 528 million yuan (US$77.5 million) during the three-day weekend and received rave reviews. IMAX China also announced it saw the best debut weekend record in August in Chinese market with "Fallout" which made 51 million yuan (US$7.5 million) at over 500 IMAX Chinese theaters.
Box office analysts currently project it will easily cross the 1-billion-yuan (US$147 million) milestone very soon and will be the highest-grossing installment of the franchise in China. The last installment "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" grossed 870 million yuan (US$135 million) in 2015.
Thanks to China's strong performance, "Fallout" has brought in nearly US$443 million internationally and its worldwide tally is reaching US$647 million so far, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, only US$12 million behind "Rogue Nation" globally, which currently is the highest grossing worldwide release in the franchise.
"Mission: Impossible - Fallout" also marked another success of China's Alibaba Pictures, which collaborated with Paramount and has invested in the franchise again after it tasted success and made 68.7 million yuan (US$10 million) on its 25-million-yuan (US$3.6 million) investment in "Rogue Nation," according to media reports.
As to the possibilities of "Mission: Impossible 7," McQuarrie said he had some ideas, but he would keep them to himself, adding that everything in the film starts with a little idea, then gets bigger, crazier and more out of control.
"We never start with a big idea. We always start with something very small," McQuarrie said.
Source: china.org By Zhang Liying & Zhang Rui