My head is exploding right now.
Not because Matt Damon has a ponytail (although that’s some impressively thick hair, non?). But because Matt Damon and Andy Lau are shooting a movie together. Matt Damon and Andy Lau are at a press conference together. Matt Damon and Andy Lau are laughing together. Matt Damon and Andy Lau are friends!
Andy Lau is one of the most enduring superstars in Asia. I started watching him in Hong Kong television soap operas when I was 10 years old, I swear. Then he moved on to movies. And music. He’s 53 years old now. And he looks EXACTLY the same.
Andy and Matt are working on The Great Wall, Zhang Yimou’s first film in English. Pedro Pascal is in it too. Jesus Christ, Pedro, Andy, and Matt, all of them at the same time, how is this happening? Anyway, The Great Wall will be shot in China and it’s about fighting off an alien attack using the Great Wall as a weapon. Um, yeah, you go get that China money, Matt Damon. You go get it…while your best friend tries to manage the Batmobile.
Matt might be a Hollywood A-lister, and Andy might be a legend, but they were actually overshadowed today. They did not elicit the most screams, the most hysteria. Not in the presence of Luhan. Luhan is 25 and looks 15. Luhan came from a boy band. Think of him like an Asian cross between Justin Bieber and Harry Styles. They go crazy for Luhan there. So much so that Matt Damon’s practically been a nobody on the shoot because all the fans keep following Luhan around. Here’s a shot that Luhan posted of him and Matt on his Weibo:
The Great Wall will be released November 2016 and if performs the way they expect it to, there will be more. More co-production, more Chinese money, more Chinese collaboration on big blockbusters. So, you know, as I keep saying, who cares about the Chinese limits on free speech and humanitarian and environmental violations when there’s so much cash to be had? How long before Leonardo DiCaprio shows up there?
