Eddie the Eagle (Courtesy image)
Eddie the Eagle, a feel-good sports comedy about a Winter Olympics underdog ski jumper, starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman, will be released in China on Friday, March 18, 2016, local media reported.
Chinese appetite for stories related to the Winter Olympics could be high in China following Beijing’s successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, the release date for the Twentieth Century Fox movie is only days before the mainland release of the much-anticipated DC Comics superhero film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (蝙蝠侠大战超人：正义黎明)
The film, which also stars Samantha Morton, was inspired by the true story of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, a British laborer who became a famous ski jumper at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. It has has received positive buzz in China following an advance screening at the Sundance Film Festival, reported Chinese entertainment industry website MTime.
Egerton, whose career was launched last year in Kingsman: The Secret Service, takes the titular role as Eddie. Kingsman topped the China box office on its opening weekend, grossing $24.25 million in three days.
Hugh Jackmamn, the other half of the film’s comedy duo, has had a string of hits in China, including Wolverine, Real Steel, and Les Miserables.
