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Skyscraper is a 2018 American action thriller film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. Produced by Legendary Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions and Flynn Picture Company, the film stars Dwayne Johnson in the lead role, with Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller, Noah Taylor, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, and Hannah Quinlivan in supporting roles. In the film, Will Sawyer, a former FBI agent, must rescue his family from a newly built Hong Kong skyscraper, the tallest in the world, after terrorists set the building on fire in an attempt to extort the property developer. The first non-comedy of Thurber's career, it also marks his second collaboration with Johnson, following Central Intelligence (2016). Development started in May 2016 when Legendary Entertainment won the bidding war for a Chinese-set action adventure film. Johnson was cast to play the lead, while Thurber was attached as the film's scriptwriter, director and producer, with Flynn producing the film through his Flynn Picture Company, alongside Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions and Universal Pictures handling distribution rights. Apart from Johnson's casting, the casting call began from June to August 2017. Filming began in August 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Additional photography and exteriors were filmed at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Skyscraper premiered in Beijing on July 1, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 13, 2018. Skyscraper underperformed at the box office, grossing over $304 million worldwide against its production budget of $125 million and prompting Legendary to end its distribution deal with Universal and start a new one with Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Johnson's performance and the film's suspenseful scenes, but criticized the clichéd story and deemed too similar to The Towering Inferno (1974) and Die Hard (1988). Plot Will Sawyer, a Marine veteran turned FBI Hostage Rescue Team commander, loses his left leg below the knee when he and HRT colleague Ben Gillespie encounter a hostage taker with a suicide bomb. Ten years later, Sawyer is a private security consultant who is recommended by Gillespie to review the security for the world’s tallest skyscraper Hong Kong’s 3,500-feet (appx. 1,060-meter) 225-floor tower "The Pearl" for owner Zhao Long Ji. Sawyer is joined by his wife Sarah and twin children Henry and Georgia, staying with him on the not-yet-opened residential floors. Sawyer meets with Zhao, Gillespie, security director Okeke and head insurance underwriter Pierce, to report that the computerized fire and security systems have passed his tests, though he needs to inspect the offsite security center. Zhao provides Sawyer with a tablet that gives him complete control over the Pearl’s systems. Sawyer and Gillespie head to the offsite facility, but a thief hired by international terrorist Kores Botha attempts to steal the tablet. Gillespie reveals he is also working for Botha and attacks Sawyer for the tablet, but the confrontation concludes with Gillespie dying. Botha and a group of his men break into the Pearl and undermine the safety systems by using a water-reactive chemical to start a fire on the 96th floor, creating a barrier that renders it impossible to enter or exit from the upper 130 floors. Sawyer tries to return to the Pearl, but is attacked by Xia, one of Botha's associates. Xia and her agents take the tablet and kill everyone at the offsite facility. They then use the tablet to disable the fire-extinguishing systems in the Pearl and activate the air vents to spread the fire to the upper floors. Zhao and Okeke send security guards to rescue Sawyer's family, but the guards are killed by an explosion and the family is believed dead. Urged on by Pierce, Zhao orders the remaining personnel to evacuate via helicopter, but Pierce reveals he is also an agent for Botha, killing all but Zhao, who escapes into his penthouse apartment and subsequently locks it down from any intrusion. HKPF Inspector Wu and his team attempt to secure the Pearl and capture Sawyer, who is believed to be behind the incidents. Sawyer evades them and makes his way into the Pearl above the fire barrier using a crane from an adjacent building. He kills Pierce before Pierce can kill his family, though Georgia is separated from the others. Sawyer has Sarah and Henry ride through the fire barrier in a free-fall elevator before applying the emergency brakes, letting them escape safely; Sarah immediately explains the situation to Wu and that Botha's men will likely escape via parachute to a nearby landing zone. Sawyer finds Georgia, but they are captured by Botha, who demands Zhao in return for Georgia. Sawyer is forced to dangerously scale the outside of the building to access the security panel for Zhao's penthouse, then enters and confronts him. Zhao explains that Botha had extorted money from him during the $6 billion construction project by threatening to cripple his workforce, but he kept a detailed computer file of the transactions as insurance, which can reveal accounts and names of three crime syndicates Botha works for, so Botha instigated the attack to obtain the records since his employers threaten to kill him. Sawyer brings Zhao to Botha at the top of the skyscraper, acquiescing to the trade for Georgia. However, Zhao distracts Botha, so Sawyer and Zhao can kill Botha's thugs. Botha grabs Georgia and threatens to drop her off the building, but Sawyer outsmarts him, rescues Georgia, and leaves Botha to die in a grenade explosion as he falls. Wu leads an attack on the likely dropzone, securing Xia after Sarah subdues her and killing her thugs. Sarah recovers the tablet and uses it to restart the Pearl’s systems, extinguishing the blaze. Sawyer, Georgia, and Zhao are brought down safely by helicopter, and the Sawyer family happily reunites while Wu acknowledges and finally meets and greets Sawyer. Zhao states his intention to rebuild the Pearl, shown to have massive fire damage extending from the 96th floor to the roof. Cast Dwayne Johnson as Will Sawyer, a former US Marine, FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and amputee, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. Neve Campbell as Sarah Sawyer, Will's wife, a former US Navy surgeon. Chin Han as Zhao Long Ji, a wealthy Chinese tech entrepreneur and financier of the Pearl. Roland Møller as Kores Botha, a Danish terrorist kingpin who plans to control the Pearl skyscraper by starting a fire in random places so he will withdraw millions of dollars in shakedown payments. Noah Taylor as Mr. Pierce, an insurance executive, secretly working for Botha. Byron Mann as Inspector Wu, leader of the HKPF response team. Hannah Quinlivan as Xia, Botha's henchwoman. Pablo Schreiber as Ben Gillespie, Will's former colleague and friend, secretly works for Botha. Tzi Ma as Fire Chief Sheng. McKenna Roberts as Georgia Sawyer, Will and Sarah's daughter and Henry's twin sister. Noa.... Discover the Neve Cottrell popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Neve Cottrell books.