It's Matt Damon's birthday.
As a crowd of thousands sings to him at Madison Square Garden for New York Comic Con and Request MoviesDamon still rides the high of reprising his role as Will Hunting the night before, the elephant in the room is that he isn't the biggest star here.
When ear-splitting shrieks cut through the air at MSG, it's for Junkai Wang, the 17-year-old singer who makes his film debut alongside Damon in the The Great Wall.
If The Great Wallcasting Jason Bourne alongside China's Zayn Malik seems like a bizarre creative decision, know that it's representative of director Yimou Zhang's vision.
"This movie is made for the world audience," Zhang said via translator at the panel.
The film took three years to complete and stars Damon and Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos) as foreign soldiers who stumble into an ancient war bigger than anything they could've imagined -- a war waged along the Great Wall.
"Ultimately it's a monster movie," said Damon, referring to the mysterious mythical creatures glimpsed in the trailer (below). "Monsters are attacking the Great Wall and we all defend it."
Damon and Pascal were both massive fans of Zhang's work before reading The Great Wall. Pascal wanted to work with the director ever since seeing Hero. Yimou has directed almost 30 films, and also helmed a cute little variety hour known as the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.
The female lead is Chinese actress Jing Tian, who describes her character as "strong, brave, determined" and "incredibly powerful" as a leader in the army.
"One of the things that I love most about the story is the equality between men and women in leadership roles," Tian said to wild applause at the panel. "The respect that all these characters have for one another regardless of gender is something that I wish we could see more in films, and in real life for that matter."
Wang's fans fill the front rows at Madison Square Garden, standing and jumping for his arrival and holding up handmade signs (these stay up, as do the phones on which they photograph and record as much of his speech as possible). Damon laughs when the moderator says he isn't the biggest name in the movie. "I'm not even close," the actor laughs.
But he's an integral part of what Damon himself describes as a "spectacular international cast," which also includes Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Numan Acar, Najid and Eddie Peng. Wang's name isn't even in the trailer, but it doesn't look like that will in any way deter his fans from coming out in droves.
Halfway through the panel, Damon gets a birthday text from his father.
"Happy birthday, my boy," Damon read to the crowd. "My birthday present to you is letting you know that in exactly one month we can kiss Trump goodbye."
That'll be one less wall to worry about.
Previous：I’m Sticking with My President
Fire and Fury
A Space for Bette Howland by Honor Moore
Fecund Sounds Like a Swear by Nina MacLaughlin
The Royally Radical Life of Margaret Cavendish by Michael Robbins
Laboring Academia
Killing Time by Anna Funder
Writers’ Fridges: Kristen Arnett by Kristen Arnett
So What If Lincoln Was Gay? by Louis Bayard
Our Refugees
Poetry Rx: An IV Dripping into Something Already Dead by Kaveh Akbar
Bafflersplainer: Win the Future
The Hidden Harper Lee by Casey N. Cep
Gangster Bedtime Stories by Rich Cohen
On Summer Crushing by Hanif Abdurraqib
State of the Unions
In Praise of Travel, Particularly on Horseback by Antoine Compagnon
Visual Magicians in the Hills of Connecticut by Robert Pranzatelli
Poetry Rx: Sometimes Sadness Is Just What Comes between the Dancing by Claire Schwartz
The Deal of the Art
Cooking with Martial and Catullus by Valerie Stivers
Trump gets trolled by a nerd in congress and a Wikipedia Twitter botSimple jackGoogle brings over 50 family games to Google Assistant'The Simpsons' Puerto Rico message gets a thank you from San Juan's mayorAmazon Fire TV 4K (2017) review: Serious HDR streaming power for $70'Justice League' running time revealedHere’s the YouTube video that inspired 'SNL' to make David S. PumpkinsInstagram now lets two people share the same live stream'Pay with Google' wants to take the forms out of online shoppingSheEO has a plan to build a $1 billion fund for female foundersOne of the internet's oldest gaming forums is imploding over sexual harassment charges'The Walking Dead' Season 8 premiere was full of easter eggsAtlanta could beat the odds to nab Amazon's HQ2, according to this gambling siteAmazon's Cloud Cam security camera plays nice with AlexaAmazon receives 238 proposals for its second headquartersSocial media inflames violent hatred of Rohingya Muslims in MyanmarNintendo announces 'Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp' for mobileMegyn Kelly calls out Bill O'Reilly and Fox NewsAustralia's first bubble tent glamping hotel opensQantas offers to pay for Americans' passports, if they visit Australia Apple reveals what happens when a game leaves Apple Arcade Minecraft says it wants nothing to do with NFTs, blockchain Wordle today: Here's the July 17 Wordle answer and hints Throw some cheese on your dog because the internet said so A reminder from the Jan. 6 investigation: Deleting a text may not mean it's gone forever. Someone tried roasting Alexandria Ocasio Kid delivers perfect scowl on picture day We're obsessed with the latest royal family photo Samsung confirms Galaxy Unpacked is back on Aug. 10 11 gift ideas for those trying to lose weight in the New Year Here's what Tom Hiddleston's cryptic teaser on Twitter actually means 'Fake Tricia' is the realest thing in 'The Rehearsal' premiere Michelle Wolf scorches Trump over Saudi Arabia's murder of a journalist Amazon admits Ring gives cops footage without customers' knowledge or consent WhatsApp will finally let you hide your online status Facebook launches new Feeds and Home tabs on its app New Russian law bans crypto payments for goods and services 'Heardle Decades' lets you guess all the '80s and '90s bangers How to buy an NFT safely without getting scammed UK's extreme heat smashes all
2.1237s , 10129.046875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Request Movies】,Miracle Information Network