Altered "M:I-3" set for Chinese launch July 18

Tom Cruise arrives at a screening for his new movie 'Mission Impossible 3' in Harlem, New York, May 3, 2006. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

"Mission: Impossible III" has been cleared for a July 18 opening in China after negotiations ended with agreements to make some cuts to the movie, some of which are understood to involve scenes of violence.

"M:I-3," which has grossed about $192 million outside the United States since its May 5 release, was submitted in mid-April for approval in Beijing, as is standard procedure in China. It promptly met with complaints from communist censors about scenes of violence and shots depicting parts of Shanghai as a slum.

Yuan Wenqiang, deputy manager of the import-export arm of state-run industry giant China Film Group Corp., confirmed here that "M:I-3" would be released in mid-July, after a seasonal summer blackout of foreign films ends. This blackout runs through July 11.

"It's still not clear about the necessary revisions to 'M:I-3,"' Yuan added.

Parts of "M:I-3" were filmed in Shanghai and in Xitang late last year.

"This is a big thing for us. From the beginning, it was important for us to shoot in China, to show the beauty of (places) like Shanghai and Xitang," the film's producer, Paula Wagner, said in an interview. "We had a very fine partnership with the China Film Group, and we found the Chinese government, the Film Group and the film infrastructure to be most incredibly helpful. ... So it was important for us ... to have the film released in China."

On the question of cuts to the film she said: "We are very pleased with the adjustments we made, as are our Chinese counterparts. It is a wonderful meeting of the minds in that we were able to accommodate the cultural needs and adjusted to certain things to play to a Chinese audience. We maintained the integrity of the film and are very proud of the work we have done."

What censors typically leave on the cutting-room floor in China is violence, sex and anything that they believe portrays the nation in a poor light.

Hampered by rampant piracy and theater tickets unaffordable even to most Chinese in the nation's wealthiest cities, China's total box office for 2005 was 2 billion yuan ($248 million).

The 20 imported films allowed by law into China last year grossed $99.2 million, or 40 percent of the total, led by Warner Bros. Pictures' "

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which grossed 93.9 million yuan ($11.7 million).

(Steve Brennan in Los Angeles contributed to this report)