Everyone but the Chinese are worried about Matt Damon in 'The Great Wall'
The marketing wheels are turning ahead of the premiere of one of China's biggest budget movies ever, The Great Wall.
The $150 million epic, directed by one of China's most famous directors, Zhang Yimou, has promised movie monsters, a historical backdrop and huge explosions.
Oh, and Matt Damon's starring in it.
But in facing the press this week to promote the movie, Damon inevitably had to respond to one of the biggest complaints about the movie so far -- that the main role should've gone to an Asian person.
He reportedly said that stories labelling the movie as "whitewashed" were "outrageous," and that his role as a mercenary going to China to steal gunpowder had always been intended as European.
Western sentiment on Twitter has not been keen on the casting choice, either.
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Matt Damon's been receiving a warmer response in China
But in China, Matt Damon's been receiving a decidedly warmer response.
The official Xinhua News Agency praised the cast lineup, which includes Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal (of Game of Thrones and Narcos), as well as Chinese stars Andy Lau, Wang Junkai, and actress Jing Tian (who was last seen in Kong: Skull Island.)
Xinhua also reported on the 103 Oscar awards and nominations that the crew had won collectively, as director Zhang talked about the feat of bringing together 1,300 people from 37 different countries to make the epic.
Meanwhile, an entertainment reporter for Sina praised Damon's Chinese calligraphy skills -- demonstrated on the red carpet in a glitzy event on Tuesday.
On Weibo, users shared the movie trailer, many commenting that they were excited to see China portrayed in a big Hollywood production.
One user said: "Finally, China has a monster movie to call its own, haha, the Great Wall of China is awesome!"
Commenting on English reports of the movie's "whitewashing", another user disagreed, saying: "Zhang Yimou's goal is to make an epic that appeals to an international audience."
Another said: "The movie looks good, that's key."
The film is set to be screened on Dec.16 in China.
U.S. filmgoers will have to wait until Feb. 17 to see it, reports Variety.
Check out the trailer for The Great Wall here:
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
