CMC Pictures will bring director Zhang Yimou’s (RAISE THE RED LANTERN, THE GREAT WALL, SHADOW) historical spy thriller CLIFF WALKERS to theaters across North America and internationally on April 30, 2021.
Based on the script by Quan Yongxian, CLIFF WALKERS is director Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving training in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a secret mission code-named “Utrennya.” After being sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides from the moment they parachute into the mission. Will the agents break the impasse and complete their mission? On the snowy grounds of Manchukuo, the team will be tested to their limit.
Between courage and fear. Between monsters and men. A wall stands that must never fall.
Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (The Martian, The Bourne franchise) leads humanity’s greatest fight for survival in THE GREAT WALL, from Legendary and Universal Pictures. When a mercenary warrior (Damon) is imprisoned within The Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of our world.
As wave after wave of marauding beasts, intent on devouring the world, besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront this unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.
Directed by one of the most breathtaking visual stylists of our time, ZHANG YIMOU (Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, House of Flying Daggers), the action-fantasy marks his first English-language production and the largest film ever shot entirely in China.
To create THE GREAT WALL, Yimou has assembled a formidable cast featuring 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 along with a filmmaking team that represents the best of East and West in a unique global production that delivers unmissable spectacle on the grandest scale.
THE GREAT WALL will be released in 3D by Universal Pictures on February 17.
WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of THE GREAT WALL on FEBRUARY 15 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.
Answer the following:
Which U.S. President made a historic trip to visit The Great Wall of China?
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
The new trailer for Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures’ THE GREAT WALL has just debuted online.
Check it out here:
Starring global superstar Matt Damon and directed by one of the most breathtaking visual stylists of our time, Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), Legendary’s THE GREAT WALL tells the story of an elite force making a valiant stand for humanity on the world’s most iconic structure. The first English-language production for Yimou is the largest film ever shot entirely in China.
The Great Wall also stars Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau.
The film will be released in 3D by Universal Pictures on February 17.
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
Sony Pictures Classics has released the exquisite first trailer for Zhang Yimou’s COMING HOME, opening in New York and Los Angeles September 9th.
Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming) and Feng Wanyu (Gong Li) are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner, just as his wife is injured in an accident. Released during the last days of the Cultural Revolution, he finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife has amnesia and remembers little of her past. Unable to recognize Lu, she patiently waits for her husband’s return.
A stranger alone in the heart of his broken family, Lu Yanshi determines to resurrect their past
together and reawaken his wife’s memory
The film was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival 2014 and the Toronto International Film Festival 2014.
One of the most important and influential filmmakers in China, and a core member of China’s
“Fifth Generation” directors, Zhang Yimou started his career as a cinematographer and became a
director in 1987.
Over the years, Zhang has directed films which received accolades from around the world: RED SORGHUM (1987, Golden Bear winner at the Berlin International Film Festival), JU DOU (1990, In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards), RAISE THE RED LANTERN (1991, Silver Lion winner at the Venice International Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards), TO LIVE (1994, Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival), to name a few.
In 2002, his martial arts epic HERO ushered in a new era of blockbusters for Chinese cinema, and was followed by the equally successful HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (2004), and CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (2006).
COMING HOME’s score is from Qigang Chen. The Chinese composer has the ability to depict the inner lives of women with his music, as evidenced in UNDER THE HAWTHORN TREE (2010) and THE FLOWERS OF WAR.
There’s arrows. There’s cannons. There’s explosions. There’s wackiness. What more could you ask for in a remake to the Coen Brothers’ BLOOD SIMPLE. Just going off this new trailer, you wouldn’t think it has anything to do with the 1984 original, but it’s in there.
AMAZING TALES: THREE GUNS is directed by Zhang Yimou, who brought us HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, and it looks like it offers just about everything that made those films such instant classics.
Check it out:
Yimou has stated that BLOOD SIMPLE is one of his all-time favorite films, so I have no doubt that he is going to capture the mood and underlying themes of that film with this picture. The film will, evidently, be cut into two segments, a thriller segment and a comedic segment, with two pairs of actors playing the lead roles in each segment.
Now, if someone could just get M. Emmet Walsh to wield one of those swords, we be in business.
A release is set in China for December 11th. Expect it to hit American theaters somewhere in the middle of 2010.
Here’s an interesting piece of movie news. In fact, I had a similar yet slightly more positive reaction to this news than I did learning that Werner Herzog is remaking BAD LIEUTENANT. As it turns out, one of my favorite directors is remaking my favorite filmmaking brothers’ first film BLOOD SIMPLE. The Coen Brothers transitioned from shorts to their first feature-length film with BLOOD SIMPLE in 1984.
The original stars John Getz as Ray and a young Frances McDormand as Abby, a couple in love who are trying to escape the evil clutches of Abby’s wealthy but jealous husband Julian, played by Dan Hedaya. In an effort to quench his disturbed curiosity and know for sure if his wife is cheating, Julian hires an unscrupulous private investigator, played by M. Emmet Walsh.
Zhang Yimou, a much celebrated filmmaker in China, isn’t nearly as well-known in the States but a couple of his films are. Yimou directed the HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, the two closely released Jet Li fantasy/martial arts epics that received rave, yet mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. However, his best films are those not so well known in the States, such as SHANGHAI TRIAD, RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DOU.
His last major release in the US was CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER in 2006 starring Chow Yun-Fat and Li Gong. Normally, I would be crying foul to learn that someone is remaking a Coen Brothers film, but given it’s being remade as a Chinese-language film by an extremely talented and respected filmmaker, I’m totally cool about it. Besides, I imagine Joel and Ethan are thrilled and see this as a great honor.
You see, these are the kind of rumors that I not only hate, but have a really hard time coping with. Apparently, MoviesOnline.ca got wind of a rumor (no source was given) that Sam Raimi could be preparing to remake ‘House of Flying Daggers’. What?!?
The reason this is a troublesome rumor for me is that [a] I really like Sam Raimi and don’t want to see him do “bad” projects… and [b] I love ‘House of Flying Daggers’ and more importantly, I LOVE director Zhang Yimou’s work. He is one of my top five favorite filmmakers currently working and I don’t want to see any of his work remade. For me, it’s like someone trying to remake a Stanley Kubrick and terry Gilliam movie. You just don’t do it!
What do you think? Is this a REAL possibility, or is the rumor simply bogus? Personally, I wouldn’t want to see this project happen, regardless of which director takes it on. If it were to happen, is Raimi the right guy, or is someone else better suited?
