Action man far from expendable

British actor Jason Statham visits China to lend some of his star power to promotional efforts for his latest film, The Expendables. Wang Kaihao reports on why the movie is expected to do big business at the box office.

For an action movie as big as The Expendables 3 with an all-star cast familiar to Chinese audiences, launching a large-scale promotional tour seems redundant. But when British movie star Jason Statham visited China in July to promote the film that stars Sylvester Stallone, distributers were happy to exploit his star power to further push the action-packed film, which will hit cinemas later this month.

Statham did not need to say much during his short trip to China. The buff star simply had to pose for cameras to prompt screams from his many fans.

"I am a fan of Bruce Lee," Statham said at a news conference in Beijing. "I always been passionate about coming to China."

The previous two installments of The Expendables raked in more than 460 million yuan ($75 million) at the box office in China. The latest, however, is not expected to do as well because a pirated version of the film appeared on the Internet in July. Nevertheless, Chinese distributor Le Vision Pictures remains optimistic.

"This movie has every reason to drag audiences to the cinemas as Transformers: Age of Extinction has done," says Zhang Zhao, CEO of Le Vision Pictures. "You cannot underestimate the power of these old faces in China."

He cites Harrison Ford, who is a new addition to the third episode, as an example. Ford's movie The Fugitive (1994) was the first Hollywood blockbuster to be officially screened on the Chinese mainland.

Jet Li had a leading role in the first installment of The Expendables, but he plays a smaller part in this film. Nonetheless, Zhang says Li, as one of the most globally recognizable Chinese action stars, remains a big attraction for the domestic audience.

"We don't worry about ticket sales if they (the stars) appear in the movie," Zhang says. He says he expects the movie to top this summer's Chinese movie market.

Statham says there is a high possibility he might star in a movie made for Chinese audiences in the future.

Twelve years ago he appeared in The Transporter alongside actress Shu Qi from Taiwan and directed by Corey Yuen from Hong Kong. Statham says he hopes to one day work with Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

His comments may have simply been platitudes to win support from the Asian market, but they have prompted much gossip in industry circles.

"Jason is traditionally known in China as a man of iron," says Liu Gang, who is in charge of developing games from LeTV, a Beijing-based video portal company that owns Le Vision Pictures. "He is a perfect model for us to design relevant game figures and win success in the market."

Statham appeared in Shanghai during his first trip to China to attend the 2014 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (China Joy) to promote a mobile phone game The Expendables released by LeTV. The group had previously announced that it will release a TV game adapted from the movie within the year.

"Our cooperation with Hollywood will keep escalating, and The Expendables is beyond a movie," CEO Zhang says. "This will create an entertainment system to include many derivatives. More crossover in multiple fields will bring fresh experiences to the audience, whose different senses will be engaged."

Contact the writer at wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 08/07/2014 page9)