By Colin Simpson www.thenational.ae
DUBAI // The latest offering of the Mission: Impossible franchise will hold a special attraction for some UAE residents – a chance to see themselves on the big screen.
But while Tom Cruise and assorted other A-list co-stars will get to see the final cut of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol when it premieres on the opening night of the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) at the Madinat Jumeirah on December 7, the hundreds of residents used as extras in the film may need to wait a little longer to discover if their scenes made it into the movie.
They will all be watching the action thriller with particular interest when the film opens on general release next month to see if their scenes made it or ended up on the cutting room floor.
The extras, who played a variety of roles, were given an opportunity to rub shoulders with the stars and experience the excitement of taking part in a major Hollywood shoot. The casting agency received more than 5,000 applications from would-be extras, and the several hundred who were chosen worked with a 400-strong crew.
In addition to Cruise, the movie also stars Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor and Léa Seydoux.
Rumours have abounded for months that the much-talked about action movie, which was part filmed in Dubai, would premiere here and the festival organisers and Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the production, made the official announcement yesterday.
Filming of the movie hit the international headlines last year when Cruise, 49, was photographed dangling from the outside of the Burj Khalifa in one scene.
Other parts of the film are set at Dubai International Financial Centre and on the Palm Jumeirah. Further shoots took place in Prague, Moscow, Mumbai and Vancouver. The scenes were filmed in high-definition IMAX and the film is expected to be released in this format in the UAE.
Residents were quick to express their delight at the news on Twitter. Louise Nichol tweeted: “Too excited for the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol premiere in Dubai on Dec 7.” And a user called Yasmeen summed up the announcement as “Awesome”. More info
