Paramount Pictures U.K. Shows IMAX Footage for 'Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol'

LONDON – Paramount Pictures U.K. encouraged an invitation-only crowd of opinion makers and journalists to go away and talk about what unspooled after screening exclusive fresh footage for the upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise.

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The studio aired the footage, introduced via recorded VT by director Brad Bird, at the BFI IMAX theater in central London Friday morning.

The footage, some of which had just been sent overnight by Bird and co. from Skywalker ranch where it is being finalized for release, included scenes with Cruise, co-star Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton and Anil Kapoor at a party in Dubai.

For the British audience, Pegg’s turn garnered laughs in the right places as his character – a geeky computer expert who is a key part of Ethan Hunt’s IMF team – played out in scenes opposite Renner and also Cruise, Renner and Patton.

Bird noted in his introduction that the film includes scenes shot using IMAX cameras, saying it was the first time in a long time the large format film had been used for an action movie of this scale.

Other footage shown included a chase scene amid a desert sandstorm, Cruise’s Hunt character scaling the world’s tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa building and Cruise and Renner playing opposite Tom Wilkinson as he learns of his mission.

It is set to roll out globally Dec. 26 this year and will be seen in hand-picked large format screens in the U.K. including IMAX, VUE Xtreme, Empire Impact and Cineworld Superscreen from Dec. 21.

Cruise and co. are expected to be in London for its premiere early December.

The picture has already been programmed as this year’s Dubai International Film Festival opener, Dec. 7.