"Mission: Impossible III" director J.J. Abrams introduces clips from the upcoming film during the opening day ceremony at ShoWest, the official convention of theatre owners, on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 in Las Vegas. Abrams, creator of TV's "Lost" and "Alias," makes his big-screen debut with the film and told the crowd he set out to make an action film that put characters first, spectacle second.
Tom Cruise, left, and director J.J. Abrams pose atop Shanghai's historic Bund 18 building, with the skyline of the city's Pudong district in the background, after wrapping up filming in China for "Mission: Impossible III," on Nov. 30, 2005. After delays on the sequel that included scheduling conflicts and another director dropping out, Cruise decided Abrams was the right filmmaker after watching episodes of "Alias."
Tom Cruise visits Shanghai's historic Bund 18 building after finishing up filming Chinese scenes of "Mission: Impossible III." In the summer 2006 sequel, Cruise, as undercover operative Ethan Hunt, takes on a villain played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won an Academy Award on March 5 for playing author Truman Capote in "Capote."
Tom Cruise stands atop Shanghai's historic Bund 18 building, with the skyline of the city's Pudong district in the background, after finishing up filming Chinese scenes of "Mission: Impossible III." The movie, directed by J.J. Abrams, is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2006.
Tom Cruise, left on the stage, and director J.J. Abrams face the cameras atop Shanghai's historic Bund 18 building, with the skyline of the city's Pudong district in the background, after wrapping up filming in China for "Mission: Impossible III" on Nov. 30, 2005. The film also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Monaghan and Keri Russell, who starred in Abrams' series "Felicity."
Tom Cruise runs during the filming of "Mission: Impossible III" in east China's Zhejiang Province on Nov. 26, 2005. The first two "Mission: Impossible" movies were criticized for focusing on style and action in service of perplexing story lines. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams says the new movie presents a clear plot centered on elaborate chess moves between Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman's characters.
After shooting scenes for "Mission: Impossible III," Tom Cruise, center left, is surrounded by people in east China's Zhejiang Province on Nov. 26, 2005. Of the movie, director J.J. Abrams said, "This story is trackable, unlike a lot of stories we've seen in the spy genre, certainly everything from episodes of 'Mission: Impossible' on TV, and certainly I'm guilty of it in episodes of 'Alias.'"
Actor Tom Cruise seen in action during the filming of "Mission: Impossible III" on Nov. 26, 2005, in Shanghai, China. Cruise and partner Paula Wagner let director J.J. Abrams toss out an earlier story line and held off on filming the movie until Abrams was able to free himself from getting his TV series "Lost" on the air.
Tom Cruise, center, films a scene for "Mission: Impossible III," in Xitang Township, an ancient water town, on Nov. 24, 2005, in Jiashan County of Zhejiang Province, east China. On March 15, 2006, director J.J. Abrams told a crowd at the theater-owner convention ShoWest that he set out to make an action film that put characters first, spectacle second.
Tom Cruise, center, confers with the crew of "Mission: Impossible III" in Xitang Township, an ancient water town in east China, where part of the movie was being filmed on Nov. 24, 2005. The film starring Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ving Rhames opens May 5, 2006.