Hollywood hears wolf at door

Wu Jing.[Photo/Xinhua]

"Wu Jing's 'sturm und drang' is making Hollywood sit up and take notice," Grillo told Xinhua.

"I've got about 15 calls from Hollywood studio people, casting people and producers, asking, 'Can Wu Jing speak English?'" revealed Grillo. "Wu Jing can do anything. He's breathing very thin air right now and is in a room with very few other people."

Celina Jade, Chinese-American singer-turned-actress who plays the beautiful doctor in the movie, echoed Grillo's words.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua last week, she recounted, "Wu Jing called me the very last minute and said, 'I'm doing a movie and I need a lead actress. Can you fly tonight?' I really wanted to help because my acting career wouldn't exist if it weren't for this guy pushing me forward ... I knew this was my opportunity to help him back."

"On top of that, my Mom is Chinese and she was worried I was losing my heritage and roots. She wanted me to do it," Jane said.

She emphasized that Hollywood can noticed that this movie is far more technically sophisticated than a typical B-movie and easily outstrips Wu Jing's franchise-founding predecessor, "Wolf Warrior", as Wu clearly styled himself after Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo" with more than a pinch of Jackie Chan thrown in for good measure.

"It is an amazing movie first," both Grillo and Jade used the same words before involved in the controversy.

The film uses high-production value cinematography, complete with sweeping aerial and crane shots, massive underwater and high action, military set pieces featuring deadly drones, seagoing vessels and marauding tanks.

There's also no shortage of gut-pummeling, hand-to-hand combat scenes and elaborate stunt sequences designed by Marvel's top stunt master, Sam Hargrave ("Captain America", "Hunger Games"), along with China's fight choreographer Wai Leung Wong ("Operation Mekong").

Hargrave said at a recent press conference, "It' s a big movie and a big challenge. With 50 to 100 explosions, it's like the 'Fast and Furious' with a tank!"

Clearly, Wu's type of explosive, flag-waving, nationalistic action-adventure strikes a deep chord with Chinese audiences. What remains to be seen is whether, like Jackie Chan before him, Wu Jing can make the leap from homegrown superstar to a global box office draw.

Grillo's prediction? "The next iteration for Chinese and American cultures is: we go in and make movies that both cultures can connect to."