
The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics, but received some praise for its action sequences. It was released by China Film Group in China on December 16, 2016, the United States on February 17 by Universal Pictures, and in Japan on April 14 by Toho-Towa. Principal photography for the film began on March 30, 2015, in Qingdao, China, and it premiered in Beijing on December 6, 2016. The Great Wall is Zhang's first English-language film. An American and Chinese co-production starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Lau, the plot centers around two European mercenary warriors (Matt Damon and Pedro 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. The Great Wall ( Chinese: 長城) is a 2016 monster film directed by Zhang Yimou, with a screenplay by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro and Tony Gilroy, from a story by Max Brooks, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
