‘The Great Wall’ Cast, Updates: Matt Damon Plunges Into Epic Battle with Monsters, Men in New Official Film Poster

‘The Great Wall’ recently released an official poster showing Matt Damon plunging into the heart of an epic battle from the Great Wall of China.

A new official poster posted on Bloody Disgusting featured Damon’s character jumping off the Great Wall of China clad in complete war gear. Damon is set to play the lead protagonist in the upcoming American-Chinese epic historical film directed by prominent Chinese filmmaker Yimou Zhang and written by Tony Gilroy, Doug Miro, Max Brooks, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and Carlo Bernard.

Principal photography began in Qingdao, China on March 2015 and is reportedly the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China. Legendary East CEO Peter Loehr confirmed that Zhang’s English-language film has a budget of $135 million.

Damon leads a cast that included Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Jing Tian, Andy Lau, Lu Han, Zhang Hanyu, and Eddie Peng among others. Damon was embroiled in a whitewashing controversy with many critics question how a Caucasian actor could take the lead in what was believed to be a Chinese historical film.

According to IndieWire, actress Constance Wu was one of the casting decision’s most vocal critics. She took to Twitter to write a lengthy post slamming poor casting choices. Wu said in the statement, “We have to stop perpetuating the racist myth that only a white man can save the world… Our heroes don’t look like Matt Damon.”

Zhang addressed the supposed whitewashing controversy in a statement. He said, “In many ways The Great Wall is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent pole scale for a world audience. I believe that is a trend that should be embraced by our industry.”

He clarified, “Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall. Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them — the other four are all Chinese. The collective struggle and sacrifice of these heroes are the emotional heart of our film.”

Zhang concluded, “As the director of over 20 Chinese language films and the Beijing Olympics, I have not and will not cast a film in a way that was untrue to my artistic vision. I hope when everyone sees the film and is armed with the facts they will agree.”

According to Movie Web, the film follows an elite force that struggles to keep not only Mongolian intruders out of the nation with the use of the gigantic structure but also to use it as a defense against more dangerous supernatural creatures. It is reportedly a monster film set in 15th century China and focuses on British warriors who happened upon the construction of the great wall.

‘The Great Wall’ is an upcoming action-adventure and fantasy film directed by Yimou Zhang. It is produced by Legendary East, Atlas Entertainment, Kava Productions, Le Vision Pictures, and Legendary Pictures and is distributed by Universal Pictures worldwide and the China Film Group Corporation in China.

It is scheduled to premiere in U.S. theaters on February 17, 2017.