John Woo

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Lore & Background

Woo directed Mission: Impossible 2, the second entry in the Tom Cruise-led action film series. Despite receiving mixed reviews, Mission: Impossible 2 grossed over $549 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2000, as well as of Woo's career. With a total North American gross of $215.4 million, it was also ranked third among the highest-grossing films of that year domestically, after Cast Away and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Woo's other Hollywood films include Hard Target (1993), his American directorial debut starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Broken Arrow (1996) starring John Travolta and Christian Slater, and Face/Off (1997) starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, which opened to critical acclaim and strong attendance, grossing over $100 million in the United States and earning an Academy Award nomination for Sound Effects Editing.

In Their Own Story

At the start of the new millennium, Woo directed Mission: Impossible 2. The film featured Tom Cruise reprising his role as Ethan Hunt, with Woo bringing his signature style to the franchise. The production marked Woo's continued work in Hollywood after Face/Off, and the film became the highest-grossing movie of 2000 worldwide. Woo had previously experienced difficulty adjusting to Hollywood while directing Hard Target (1993), where studio management concerns over violence and completion schedules led to the studio assuming control of the project. For Face/Off, Paramount offered Woo significantly more freedom to exercise his speciality: emotional characterisation and elaborate action.

Reader's Guide

John Woo directed Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), the second film in the Mission: Impossible series. The film grossed over $549 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2000 and the highest-grossing film of Woo's career. Its North American gross of $215.4 million placed it third domestically for the year. Woo's earlier Hollywood work includes Hard Target (1993), his American directorial debut starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which was the first major Hollywood film directed by a Chinese – and more broadly, Asian – filmmaker. He also directed Broken Arrow (1996) and Face/Off (1997), the latter earning an Academy Award nomination for Sound Effects Editing. Woo is known for his collaborations with actor Chow Yun-fat in five Hong Kong action films: A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Better Tomorrow II (1987), The Killer (1989), Once a Thief (1991), and Hard Boiled (1992).

Did You Know?

• John Woo directed Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), which grossed over $549 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2000.
• Woo's American directorial debut, Hard Target (1993), was the first major Hollywood film directed by a Chinese – and more broadly, Asian – filmmaker.
• Face/Off (1997) earned an Academy Award nomination for Sound Effects Editing at the 70th Academy Awards.
• Woo was born on 1 May 1946 in Guangzhou, China, but his mother changed his birth date to 22 September 1948 on his passport due to school age restrictions.
• Woo's film A Better Tomorrow (1986) made actor Chow Yun-fat a box-office superstar in Asia.