Taiwan model and actress Hannah Quinlivan portrays a killer. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The cast also includes Singaporean actor Ng Chin Han, Taiwan model and actress, Hannah Quinlivan, and Hong Kong-born American actor, Byron Mann, who play the roles of The Pearl's builder, a killer and a Hong Kong police officer, respectively.

An unlikely choice to play the villain, Quinlivan, also known to the public as the wife of Taiwan pop singer Jay Chou, says that acting the role was an interesting experience for her. She reveals she attended the audition in a wheelchair being pushed by her husband, just three days after giving birth by caesarean.

After winning the role, the new mother prepared for her villainous turn by exploring the darkest side of her own soul to accurately embody a ruthless killer, she explained at the Beijing news conference on July 3.

For US director Thurber, who is ironically scared of heights, Skyscraper is a love letter to his favorite movie Die Hard, a 1988 action thriller starring Bruce Willis as a New York policeman who has to rescue hostages in a Los Angeles high-rise.

The film itself will have a fight on its hands, facing off against the 60-odd new films slated for release during the July-August summer vacation－one of China's most bankable box-office seasons.

"With a movie like Skyscraper, it has an epic scale. We want to make sure it cannot only to compete with the other rivals for the summer release, but also to stand out in a way," says Johnson, confidently.

Reportedly, two more big box-office Hollywood blockbusters, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Mission: Impossible－Fallout, are also on course for a China release in August, but their dates have yet to be confirmed.