M:I-3 Might Be Shot in China (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
May 23, 2005
M:I-3
Mission: Impossible 3 might be filmed in China in July, according to a report by Chinese paper The Beijing News. Li Xiaowan told the paper that her company, Beijing Rosat Film & TV Production Co, Ltd., helped a pre-production team to scout locations in Beijing and Shanghai recently. Li said an assistant director in charge of scouting locations arrived in China first on April 2, followed by two members of the art department and a producer five days later, and then over a dozen crew members, including director J.J. Abrams (?), several second unit director and several members of the cinematography unit and lighting unit, arrived on April 28. Part of the film's story will be set in Asia and the production team went to Japan first. Then someone from Paramount told John Woo and Terence Chang who jointly made M:I2. Woo and Chang immediately recommended China as an alternative to Japan and let the Paramount get contacted with Beijing Rosat, which co-produced John Woo's short film Sang Sang and a Kitten (literal), part of UNICEF project Take 7. Li said members of the scouting team were shocked by the degree of modernization of the two cities and Paramount had decided to choose China as a new location. It would be much cheaper to shoot in China than doing it in Japan but to get a shooting permit, the story of M:I3 must get the Chinese authority's approval.
