"How can a man be so handsome? How can a handsome man be that great?" Jack Ma, board chairman of the Alibaba Group, asked Sunday afternoon in Shanghai while chatting with actor Tom Cruise before the premiere event for Mission: Impossible 5 - Rogue Nation.
Ma referred to himself as a zealous fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise and Cruise. Ma's Alibaba Pictures, together with the China Movie Channel, joined with Paramount Pictures to produce the film.
Starring Cruise as returning main character Ethan Hunt and Rebecca Ferguson as new character Ilsa Faust, the new film carries on the legendary adventures of spies known as the Impossible Mission Force, taking audiences to New York, London, Vienna as well as Casablanca.
The film hits cinemas in the Chinese mainland today.
"When you see this film, from the opening frame to the end, you are gonna see things that you really haven't seen on screen before," Cruise, who is also a producer for the franchise, said at the press conference.
Even though film audiences nowadays have been spoiled by spectacular action scenes and incredible visual effects, Cruise believes that audiences will find the authentic stunts performed in the new film arresting and thrilling.
Stunts in the film include Cruise hanging outside a plane as it flies 1,500 meters above the ground, driving, weaving around on motorcycles at high speeds and demanding water stunts that required the cast to hold their breath for extended periods of time.
Cruise and Ma, two successful idols for Chinese people, both agreed that their lives have been about making what seems impossible possible through hard work, passion and great teamwork.
The 53-year-old actor, when asked how long he would continue making action movies, answered that maybe he'll give up when he reaches 90 or 95 years old.
This is the first time Paramount Pictures has collaborated with Alibaba Pictures. At the conference, Bob Moore, vice president of Paramount Pictures, told media that he is confident that partnerships with Chinese companies will help ensure the studio's films become even more successful in the future.
