Delayed Chinese War Drama ‘The Eight Hundred’ Cleared for Release

The long-awaited film is expected to generate sorely needed revenue for an industry hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s highly anticipated war movie “The Eight Hundred” will finally hit theaters this month after its domestic premiere was abruptly canceled last year.

Directed by Guan Hu, the $80 million war saga will be screened nationwide Aug. 21, according to an announcement Sunday. “The Eight Hundred” tells the story of Kuomintang, or nationalist, soldiers defending a warehouse against Japanese forces during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937.

The movie is likely to become the first China-made blockbuster to hit the big screen this year, since the coronavirus pandemic effectively froze the country’s entertainment industry in January. Before its release, “The Eight Hundred” was touted as the first domestic film to be shot entirely with Imax cameras.

Last year, the war drama made headlines over being pulled at the last minute from opening the Shanghai International Film Festival. According to its producers, the cancellation — an unusual measure against a homegrown film at a domestic festival — was due to “technical reasons.”  Continue to read the full article here

 

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone.