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China’s newer ‘Great Wall’ shaping up to be less of a long-lasting earner

Hollywood’s top action hero, China’s most prominent film director, and the financial backing of the country’s richest man still might not be enough to pull LeEco out of trouble waters

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Matt Damon in "The Great Wall." Photo: Universal Pictures

The Great Wall, China’s most expensive film, looks like turning into another money loser for beleaguered Chinese tech giant LeEco, which was betting big that the Hollywood-Chinese co-production would revive flagging investor confidence in the company.

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Directed by Oscar nominee Zhang Yimou and starring top US A-lister Matt Damon and Chinese favourites Andy Lau and Jing Tian, the English-language monster-action big-screener costing US$150 million had every reason to be dubbed “the biggest film ever shot in China”, backed by Dalian Wanda Group’s Legendary Entertainment – itself owned and under the watchful eye of China’s richest man Wang Jianlin – and Hollywood’s iconic studio Universal Pictures.

Zhang, who orchestrated the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, produced the epic with China Film Group and Le Vision Pictures, the film-making unit of LeEco.

But despite its hoped-for blockbuster appeal and such a hefty list of heavyweight backers, mercenary warrior Damon’s efforts at fighting giant monsters to save the Middle Kingdom has failed dismally to impress the critics, and after netting just US$128.04 million in its first fortnight.

Le Vision invested an estimated US$15 million into the film. Experts suggest the movie needs to take in US$450 million at the turnstiles not to be considered a box-office flop.

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But in reality analysts now believe it could even fall short of Legendary’s summer offer Warcraft’s total US$211.83 million since June this year.

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