Legendary East’s first film project: scaling China’s ‘Great Wall’

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Legendary Pictures is kicking off its new China venture with a movie about the country’s best-known structure. The newly formed Legendary East announced Tuesday that its first production will be ‘The Great Wall,’ which will tell ‘why this magnificent structure came to be,’ according to the company.

‘Last Samurai’ and ‘Love and Other Drugs’ writer-director Edward Zwick is penning the screenplay with his longtime collaborator Marshall Herskovitz. It’s based on a story by Max Brooks, writer of the upcoming thriller ‘World War Z,’ and Thomas Tull, Legendary Pictures’ chairman.

Legendary East aims to produce English-language movies in China based on local culture that are intended to be released around the world. Because it works with a local distributor, Huayi Brothers, its films are not subject to the communist country’s restrictions on how many foreign movies can be imported each year.

‘The Great Wall’ will be directed by Zwick, but does not yet have a release date.

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-- Ben Fritz