If you’ve ever wondered exactly how the Great Wall of China came to be, you might want to consult an encyclopaedia. But if that seems like far too much hard work, help is at hand, slackers! The Last Samurai**’s Ed Zwick has agreed to co-write and direct a film about the huge structure’s history.
It’s all part of a plan cooked up by Legendary Films overseer Thomas Tull, who has been busy launching a spin-off company, Legendary East, to make films based in China and Hong Kong with international investors.
And this first project to roll off the company’s production line will be based on a story originally crafted by Tull and World War Z novel author Max Brooks.
Zwick is on board to write the full script with regular partner Marshall Herskovitz and direct the film. He’s clearly thrilled with the idea: “Legendary East has given us the chance to do what we most love – to create an adventure on a grand scale,” Zwick blabbed in a statement picked up by Deadline.
There are few details about the actual plot, though it’s expected that it’ll tell the story of how the various chunks of the wall came to be across several generations in northern China. Originally constructed to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire in the 5th century BC, it has since been modified, demolished and rebuilt several times between the earliest structure and the 16th century. There’s a lot of history to pack in, so we expect the pic will focus on one or two specific periods…
It’s not Zwick’s only possible pic on the go, though: he’s also signed on for an adaptation of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp book American Assassin.