ASIN: B01G48AGVE
Publisher: The Atavist Magazine
Pages: 36
In 2009, Jonathan Lawrence, a struggling Hollywood director, got an extraordinary job offer: to oversee the production of Empires of the Deep, a fantastical adventure movie. The film was to be China’s Avatar—a $100 million production featuring mermaid sirens, Greek warriors, pirates, and sea monsters, complete with cutting-edge special effects and an international cast. The film’s producers hoped that it would become the first Hollywood-style blockbuster made in China to captivate audiences around the world, and launch everyone involved into international fame. There were just a few problems. For one, the film’s producer was Jon Jiang, a billionaire real-estate mogul and film fanatic, had written Empires himself, drawing on his favorite action-adventures. The cast was an odd mix of first-time leads, B-movie actors, and Jiang’s girlfriend. The costumes and sets were equal parts grandiose ...
