The Great Wall trailer teases a Matt Damon monster hunt in Ancient China

Legendary Pictures really like themselves a monster movie; In 2014 they brought back Godzilla, and next year they'll be reviving King Kong before having the two creatures square off in a battle royale in 2020. The company is also helping renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou bring monsters to Ancient China in The Great Wall - which "tells the story of an elite force making a valiant stand for humanity" against dangerous creatures - and the first trailer for the 2017 release has made its way online. 

Check it out below...

While the visuals are as spectacular as you might expect from a Yimou film, this trailer really didn't do much for me. My biggest concern lies with the fact that this looks to be yet another white saviour story; I'm a big fan of Matt Damon and I'm relatively sure he'll do a good job in the role, but having him be the hero of a film set in Ancient China is, at best, odd. We'll find out just how out of place Damon looks when the film arrives in cinemas next February.

Directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, and Andy Lau, The Great Wall will be released in US theatres on February 17, 2017 before making its way to the UK a week later on February 24, 2017.

Images: Legendary Pictures/Universal Pictures

Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.

Latest in Movies
Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World
Brave New World box office crosses milestone for Captain America movies, even though it still might not break even
Michael Bay
Michael Bay and James Cameron had a call to commiserate over the state of the movie industry: "No one can greenlight anything anymore"
Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place Part 2
A Quiet Place 3 is finally happening, but it'll be a while because John Krasinski is so busy: "It's hard to get him"
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State star Giancarlo Esposito explains why adapting the bleak novel into a family friendly adventure was the right decision: "I'm going to bring my children with me"
Daniel Craig in No Time to Die
James Bond will reportedly remain male and British under new Amazon management, as Pierce Brosnan says it's "a given" that the next actor must not be American
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State may be the Russo brothers' most challenging VFX project yet, but stars Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito say it's one of the easiest films they’ve ever done
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2