Alibaba makes first Hollywood move with funding for Mission Impossible sequel

Alibaba today announced that it has invested in the latest Mission Impossible installment as part of a deal between Paramount Pictures and Alibaba’s film wing, Alibaba Pictures.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, once again starring Tom Cruise, is set for a global release on July 31 and will be the first such blockbuster co-production of its kind for Alibaba, which is China’s biggest ecommerce company. Unlike some of its local competitors in the streaming video segment, Alibaba has thus far not been directly involved in bringing films into China.

Movie merch

Alibaba intends not only to be involved in co-financing the film but it has also extended its involvement to promotion, ticketing, and merchandising. Alibaba says that it a will be selling tickets through its Taobao Movie store, a service featured on its flagship ecommerce marketplace Taobao.

Alibaba has investments spread throughout the entertainment sector including in its online video service, Alibaba TV, and an 18.5 percent stake in Youku, China’s top video site.

Alibaba is about to launch a premium video streaming service like Netflix or HBO for China. Could this upcoming streaming service get exclusive non-cinema access to Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation? Add its popular ecommerce stores Taobao and Tmall into the equation and a significant amount of cross-promotional potential is revealed.

Tom Cruise might be about to help Alibaba with a new kind of “mission impossible” – getting people to pay for streaming video.