Movie maestro John Woo, Tom Cruise’s director in Mission Impossible 2, was recently honored by the Venice Film Festival! The legendary director was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the vaunted assembly of film arbiters for his oeuvre of highly stylized and action-filled films that have changed the language of cinema. Among the highest honors awarded by any festival, this honor puts Woo among a list of true masters of the cinematic arts. Other winners of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement include film titans like Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and Ingmar Bergman, as well as Tom Cruise collaborators like Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg.
Another famed director and Woo acolyte – Quentin Tarantino – even did the honor of handing the award over to Woo at the gala event; a huge feather in an already stellar career. Congratulations go out to Mr. Woo from the team here at TomCruise.com.
Not that there’s an end for Woo in sight! The master is in post-production on his latest film, the Chinese-language Reign of Assassins, starring Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame. Furthermore, this action auteur has a minimum of ten projects under speculation in the pipeline, so be on the lookout for his gritty, no-holds-barred style in a theater soon.
Also in production is the latest installment of the action film series Woo helped build – Mission Impossible 4! With the movie about to enter filming, the schedule is ramping up with Tom Cruise preparing to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt. Also returning is story writer and producer J.J Abrams, who is taking a behind the scenes role after piloting Mission Impossible 3 as a director.
While John Woo isn’t scheduled to take the director’s reins on the latest installment, he did take Tom’s performance to new levels in the second movie in the series. For the fans who may have forgotten how awesome the combination was, you can refresh your memories with the trailer below 
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What do you think of the work of John Woo? Do you think he should team up with Tom Cruise again? Let us know in the comments section below!
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