Here’s a concept for ya: When the Chinese were building that big ol Great Wall of China, they weren’t simply intent on keeping the Mongols out… They wanted to keep out something… inhuman and more dangerous!
That’s evidently the pitch for THE GREAT WALL, a film being prepared by Ed Zwick, a guy for whom the historical epic is not unusual (GLORY, THE LAST SAMURAI), but something along more “inhuman” lines certainly would be. We’re not sure just how much toward our beloved horror genre THE GREAT WALL will ultimately skew, but for now I’m just going to take Deadline.com’s brief synopsis and run on the assumption that there’s supernatural business afoot:
An adventure film about British warriors traveling through 15th Century China who happen upon the hurried construction of the massive wall. As night falls, the warriors realize that the haste in building the wall isn’t just to keep out the Mongols. There is something inhuman and more dangerous.
Henry Cavill (aka the next Superman) has already been cast as the lead in THE GREAT WALL, while Alexander Skarsgard (“True Blood”) and Benjamin Walker (aka Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) are angling for the co-lead.
The film’s concept was hatched by Legendary Pictures’ Thomas Tull (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, CLASH OF THE TITANS) and WORLD WAR Z author Max Brooks; with those two involved, it would certainly seem as though there’s something otherworldly going on behind that wall. We’ll keep an eye on it.