Although the giant Qingdao Movie Metropolis in Huangdao District is still under construction, a Hollywood movie has bitten the offer of the Dalian Wanda Group, the owner of the movie complex. Dalian Wanda, owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, is offering a 40 percent rebate to producers that would film in Qingdao.
Legendary Movies Shoot in Qingdao Facility
“Pacific Rim: Uprising” is the second Hollywood movie that has filmed in the Qingdao Movie Metropolis. The first was “The Great Wall” which unfortunately flopped. “Pacific Rim: Uprising” just finished shooting in the $8.2-billion movie metropolis which would officially open in August, The Guardian reported. The two films shot in the Dalian Wanda facility because the Chinese conglomerate became the owner of Legendary Pictures which produced the two movies.
With 45 sound stages spread in 400 acres of land, the facility would make some Hollywood studios look small. One of the stages would break the record because of its size of 10,000 square meters when Qingdao Movie Metropolis would finish in August.
The movie complex is not the only infrastructure being built in Qingdao. There are also an artificial island, apartment blocks, marina, hospital, and hotels.
Actor Picks “Papillon” over “Pacific Rim 2”
According to Steven DeKnight, director of “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” the upcoming movie would no longer star Raleigh Becket who starred in the original “Pacific Rim” movie, Slash Film reported. Because the first “Pacific Rim” movie was a hit in China, Legendary wanted to make a sequel.
In the early draft of “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” made by director Guillermo del Toro, Charlie Hunnam was tapped to play the lead role, but things changed after Wanda Dalian acquired Legendary Pictures as timetables changed. The actor came to a point if he would do the sequel or the remake of the 1973 classic prison film “Papillon.”
DeKnight picked “Papillon” where Hunnam would play the lead role of Henri Charriere, originally played by Steve McQueen who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor Drama for his role. The other key character – played by Dustin Hoffman in the 1973 version – went to Rami Malek.