Currently the second biggest movie market on the planet, China’s stake in the global film industry continues to grow and grow with each passing year and in 2017, we’ll be welcoming the country’s most expensive blockbuster to date in the form of The Great Wall.
Mixing high-profile Chinese actors such Andy Lau as Jing Tian with western stars in the vein of Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal, if successful, Zhang Yimou’s fantasy epic could be a harbinger of things to come. One actor that’s certainly a big draw overseas is Samuel L. Jackson, and Variety brings word today that the Kingsman star has now landed a role in sci-fi epic Inversion.
Helmed by director Peter Segal, Liu Yifei has climbed aboard alongside Jackson, rounding out a preliminary cast that already boasts Travis Fimmel. It has all the makings of a true sci-fi romp, too, following a “street-wise American con man (Fimmel) and a young Chinese physicist (Liu) as they race against the clock to save the earth from a terrifying loss of gravity.” Jackson, meanwhile, is attached to the part of a senior Homeland Security investigator, one who will no doubt be barking orders at those below him. Paul Haggis (Casino Royale), David Arata (Children of Men) and Bragi Schut (Season of the Witch) all contributed to the screenplay.
There’s no mention of a production timeline for Inversion just yet, but rest assured that the wheels are in motion. Among Jackson’s upcoming projects are Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ monstrous origin story Kong: Skull Island and xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the latter of which just unveiled its high-octane new trailer earlier in the week.
