An American and Chinese co-production starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Lau, the plot centers on two European mercenary warriors (Damon and Pascal) imprisoned by imperial Chinese forces within the Great Wall of China after arriving in search of gunpowder, eventually joining forces with the Chinese to help combat an alien threat.
Three walls were built during production as they could not shoot on the actual Great Wall.The film, which received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics,grossed $334.9 million worldwide and was considered a box-office bomb for losing up to $75 million.
Genre: 3D Action-Thriller Cast: Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Hanyu Zhang, Eddie Peng, Lu Han, Kenny Lin, Junkai Wang, Zheng Kai, Cheney Chen, Xuan Huang and Andy Lau Directed by: Zhang Yimou Story by: Max Brooks and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz Screenplay by: Carlo Bernard & Doug Miro and Tony Gilroy Produced by: Thomas Tull, Charles Roven, Jon Jashni, Peter Loehr Executive Producers: Jillian Share, Alex Gartner, La Peikang, Zhang Zhao, E. Bennett Walsh Co-Producers: Eric Hedayat, Er Young, Alex Hedlund
The 2016 fantasy action movie The Great Wall boasts an impressive cast of veteran Hollywood actors and stars from China and Hong Kong. The film was produced on a budget of $150 million and was considered a significant commercial flop with its $334.9 million box office run upon its American release in February 2017. To make matters worse, The Great Wall received scathing reviews from critics and audiences, with a 35% Tomatometer and 42% Audience Score. However, like many movies that struggled upon release, The Great Wall has found a second life streaming on Netflix.
While The Great Wall isn’t one of Matt Damon’s best movies, it makes sense on paper why the Jason Bourne star took the role. The creative team behind the movie is excellent, most notably Zhang Yimou, the acclaimed director of 2002’s Hero, who’s considered a master among Chinese filmmakers. For The Great Wall, Yimou was provided with a budget and resources unlike anything he’d had before. Not to mention, the film’s script was co-written by Tony Gilroy, who previously worked on scripts for the Bourne franchise and developed Michael Clayton and the Star Wars series Andor.
