Hollywood and Asian cinema merge in ‘The Great Wall’

In recent years, Hollywood has been eyeing the Chinese movie audience as China is one of the largest international film markets, and the two worlds come together in the trailer for upcoming film “The Great Wall,” which debuted Thursday. Hollywood actor Matt Damon stars alongside Asian superstar Andy Lau in the new film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the filmmaker of successful Asian crossover films, 'Hero' and 'House of Flying Daggers'. Damon played the same role in Hollywood remake 'The Departed' as Andy Lau did in the original Hong Kong crime drama 'Infernal Affairs'. “The Great Wall,” out in China in December and in the U.S. next February. demonstrates Yimou's stylistic trademarks of martial arts and saturated filters, and is centered around the mysterious origins of The Great Wall of China and what the wall's original purpose was. China’s strict censorship laws have prevented many Hollywood films from being released in mainland China. To counter that, American studios are now co-producing big budget blockbusters with Chinese investors. Co-produced films in recent years have included 'Star Trek Beyond', 'Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation', 'Pacific Rim', 'Kung Fu Panda 3', 'Iron Man 3' and 'Looper'.