China, it's the Hollywood of the Far East. Or at least it's certainly beginning to look that way as the region is quickly becoming the fallback option for failed domestic releases. Probably the greatest example this year is Warcraft, which only made $47M here in the U.S. but $386M elsewhere and $220M of that from China. Wonder why we're getting a Pacific Rim sequel when it barely eked out $100M? Because it made $411M overall and $111M of that in China. It's also a good place to revive flagging careers; just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Governator is set to star in and produce The Guest of Sanxingdui, a 3D Chinese production with a huge $200M budget. Unsurprisingly, the film is expected to be an international venture with hopes of reaching a global audience (think Matt Damon in The Great Wall), although the story about the Sanxingdui ruins is specific to China. Some believe these ruins are the remnants of the lost Shu Kingdom that disappeared 3000 years ago.
So why Schwarzenegger? Well, he's still a huge star overseas even if he can't do much of anything here anymore. Terminator: Genisys bombed stateside with only $89M, but in China it killed with $113M and $440M worldwide. Production on 'Sanxingdui' is to begin next March for a release in 2019, but first a director needs to be named. [DailyMail]
