Zhang Yimou for more Hollywood-China collaborations

Zhang Yimou's China-US coproduction, The Great Wall, starring an international cast, including American actor Matt Damon, fails to make a splash in both markets.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Zhang Yimou says the disappointing US performance of the biggest budget China-US coproduction to date, The Great Wall, may have been down to a weak story, but he hopes other filmmakers won't be put off from attempting such ambitious Hollywood-Chinese collaboration.

"The actors are all very good; (star) Matt Damon and everyone was splendid," said the acclaimed director on Tuesday.

"Probably the story is a bit weak, or the timing of it wasn't right, or we didn't do a very good job in making the film. There could be many reasons."

Zhang spoke amid preparations for the Beijing opening of the stage play 2047 Apologue, which he described as a "conceptual performance" linking Chinese traditional culture with an imagined future of how humans will interact with technology.

Producers of The Great Wall had hoped the movie with a $150 million production budget could buck the trend of China-US coproductions failing to make a splash in both markets, at a time when movie makers wrestle with how to appeal to Chinese and Western audiences at the same time.

The script for the 3-D adventure fantasy that has Damon and Chinese warriors fighting monsters with China's iconic Great Wall as protection took Hollywood seven years to develop. Zhang added elements of Chinese culture and his opulent visual style, seen in the romantic kung fu drama House of Flying Daggers and the 2008 Beijing Olympics ceremonies.

The Great Wall has pulled in a disappointing $45 million in the US since its February release, though it has earned $332 million globally. In China, where it was released in December, it made $171 million, making it the eighth-highest earner in the country last year.