the Great Wall of China being built in not only to keep out barbarian tribes from the north, but also more fantastical beasts and monsters. Zhang Yimou, who will direct the film, chatted about it at a press event in Beijing on 2nd July with cast members including Matt Damon ("Bourne Identity"), Andy Lau ("Infernal Affairs"), Pedro Pascal (HBO "Game of Thrones") and Jing Tian ("From Vegas to Macau"). It's the biggest US-China co production yet and looks to be another step in attempts to create a new model of US-China co-productions.

 

The development of the film has not had the smoothest of rides. It's been talked about since at least 2012, originally with Zhang Ziyi set to star and American Edward Zwick to direct (perhaps due to his making "The Last Samurai," another East-West production). What with a completely original idea (ie not a sequel or re-boot), a story set in ancient China and a vast budget of around £95 million, it would seem investors weren't so keen on the idea back in 2012. 3 years later, China's box-office is worth vastly more. In the first half of 2015 alone, around £2.1 billion worth of tickets were sold in China, which is nearly 50% more than the first half of 2014, and these numbers are only set to carry on increasing.

 

Shot in sets in Beijing and at a wall specially built for the film in Qingdao (the actual Great Wall will not feature in the film), the film is almost complete. The big question of course will be whether the film can draw big audiences in both China and America. US-China co-productions have so far not really succeeded in creating that delicate blend to appeal to both markets. "The Great Wall" director Zhang Yimou's co-production "Flowers of War" was one example. A Chinese historical war movie which starred Christian Bale amongst a cast of Chinese actors, it did OK business in China but failed to capture the American box-office. It seems that US-China co-productions so far succeed more in China, since both Chinese and American stars are household names there and Chinese audiences are more used to watching "foreign" (American) films, whilst the Chinese actors are unknown in the West and the movies appear to be too "Chinese" or too "Eastern" and lack cultural touchstones for Western audiences to latch onto.

 

"The Great Wall" aims to be the bridge to connect the two. With huge stars from both sides like Matt Damon and the apparently ageless Andy Lau amongst others, and an English-language fantasy story (about saving humanity from evil attacking monsters in ancient China) carefully crafted with an international audience in mind, it could successfully negotiate the so far unbridgeable gap in US-China co-productions.

 

For now, it at least looks like Andy Lau and Matt Damon have become friends and are having a great time together in the press conference, whilst Western media has especially latched onto Damon's new "man bun" he is sporting here.