Promoting culture via the big screen

Director Zhang Yimou (center) teams up with the movie's cast including (from left) Damon, Hong Kong singer-actor Andy Lau, actress Jing Tian and Wang Junkai at a Beijing event. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He also says around 20 percent of the dialogue will be in Mandarin in both the domestic and international versions; both are predominantly in English.

Moviegoers will also see two other American actors, Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man films) in the cast, which also includes actress Jing Tian, veteran actor Zhang Hanyu, and heartthrobs Lu Han and Wang Junkai.

The movie has two of the world's top visual effects companies, Industrial Light and Magic founded by George Lucas and Weta Digital backed by Peter Jackson.

To understand what went into the making of the visual spectacles, these figures may provide a context.