Man, do you remember the collective "Wait, what?" that echoed across social media when the first The Great Wall 2016 trailer dropped? It was July 2016. The world was already a bit chaotic, and then suddenly, there’s Matt Damon. In 11th-century China. Sporting a ponytail and a vaguely European accent that sounded like it had been through a blender.
It was a massive moment for film marketing.
The trailer didn’t just show off a movie; it signaled the arrival of the most expensive co-production ever between the U.S. and China. We’re talking a $150 million budget. This wasn't just another action flick. It was a bridge—or at least it was supposed to be. But the minute that footage hit YouTube, the conversation pivoted away from the spectacle and straight into a firestorm about "whitewashing" and the "white savior" trope. It’s wild to look back now and see how much that two-minute clip defined the movie’s entire legacy before anyone had even seen the full film.
The Visual Language of the Great Wall 2016 Trailer
The trailer opens with sweeping shots of the Great Wall. It’s iconic. It’s gorgeous. Zhang Yimou, the director behind Hero and House of Flying Daggers, clearly brought his signature color palette to the table. You see these vibrant blues, reds, and purples—the different divisions of the "Nameless Order."
Then, the twist.
Usually, when we think of the Great Wall, we think of defense against nomadic tribes or Mongol invaders. The The Great Wall 2016 trailer flipped that script. It revealed that the wall wasn't built to keep out men. It was built to keep out monsters. Specifically, the Tao Tei. These are mythical creatures from Chinese folklore, though in the trailer, they just looked like lean, green, biting machines.
Honestly, the CGI in that first teaser was... a choice. Some fans loved the scale of it. Others felt it looked a bit like a video game cutscene. But the real hook was the mystery of what these things were. The trailer leaned hard into the "What are they?" angle, using heavy percussion and quick cuts to build tension. It was effective, sure, but it also felt weirdly disconnected from the historical epic vibes the opening shots promised.
The Matt Damon Factor
Let's be real: the trailer was built entirely around Matt Damon. At the time, he was coming off the massive success of The Martian. He was a safe bet for a global audience. The The Great Wall 2016 trailer introduced his character, William Garin, as a mercenary searching for "black powder."
But there’s this specific line in the trailer that launched a thousand think pieces. Damon’s character says, "I was born into battle. I fought for greed and gods. This is the first war I’ve seen worth fighting."
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That line was the lightning rod.
Actress Constance Wu famously took to Twitter to criticize the casting, arguing that we don't need "another white man saves the world" narrative. The trailer made it look like the Chinese army, despite their high-tech weaponry and thousands of years of culture, couldn't handle some lizards without a guy from Europe showing up. Director Zhang Yimou later defended the film, explaining that Damon wasn't playing a role intended for a Chinese actor and that his character was one of five heroes, but the damage in the court of public opinion was done. The trailer sold a specific story, and that story rubbed people the wrong way.
Why the Trailer Failed to Bridge the Gap
Marketing a movie to both the East and the West is a nightmare. Truly. The The Great Wall 2016 trailer tried to please everyone and ended up confusing a lot of folks.
For the Western audience, it looked like a standard monster movie with a weird historical skin. For the Chinese audience, it featured a massive star in Jing Tian and the legendary Zhang Yimou, but the pacing felt very "Hollywood." It’s interesting to note that the trailer for the Chinese market focused much more on the ensemble cast and the mythology. The version we saw in the States? It was 90% Matt Damon looking intense.
- The music was generic "epic" trailer music.
- The dialogue was sparse.
- The focus was on the "Wall as a weapon."
The trailer spent so much time trying to show off the scale of the production that it forgot to explain why we should care about the characters. You saw Pedro Pascal (pre-Mandalorian fame!) and Willem Dafoe for about three seconds each. If you weren't a die-hard fan of Zhang Yimou’s visual style, the trailer didn't give you much to hang your hat on besides "monsters on a wall."
The Legacy of the First Look
When the movie finally came out in early 2017 (after the late 2016 release in China), the reviews mirrored the reaction to the trailer. It was a "mixed bag" at best. People praised the visuals—the "Bungee Soldiers" were a highlight that the trailer teased perfectly—but the story felt thin.
The The Great Wall 2016 trailer is now taught in some film marketing circles as a cautionary tale. It shows how a trailer can accidentally set a narrative that the filmmakers can't escape. Whether the "white savior" criticism was entirely fair to the actual plot of the movie is debatable, but the trailer made it the only thing people talked about for six months.
It’s also a snapshot of a specific time in the film industry. This was the peak of the "China-US Co-Production" era. Studios were desperate to crack the Chinese box office by inserting Western stars into Chinese stories. After the lukewarm reception of The Great Wall, that trend cooled down significantly. We started seeing more organic crossovers or just straight-up Chinese blockbusters like The Wandering Earth taking over the global stage without needing a Hollywood lead.
Breaking Down the Action Beats
If you go back and watch the The Great Wall 2016 trailer today, the action choreography still holds up decently. Zhang Yimou knows how to use color to tell a story. You see the Crimson Brigade (infantry), the Deer Detachment (cavalry), and the Crane Corp (the blue-clad women who dive off the wall).
That diving sequence in the trailer was the "money shot." It was graceful, terrifying, and visually distinct. It’s one of the few moments where the trailer felt like a Zhang Yimou film rather than a generic action flick.
But then you have the arrows. The trailer spends a lot of time on "trick shots." Matt Damon catching an arrow, Matt Damon firing three arrows at once. It felt a bit Legolas in a way that didn't quite fit the gritty, dusty atmosphere of the Wall. It was this clash of styles—Wuxia meets Jason Bourne—that made the trailer feel so disjointed.
Moving Beyond the Hype
If you're looking back at the The Great Wall 2016 trailer to understand why the movie didn't become a massive franchise, look at the lack of emotional stakes. The trailer tells us the world is at risk, but it doesn't tell us why these specific people matter.
We see explosions. We see a lot of fog. We see a big green monster hand.
What we don't see is the heart.
Compare this to the trailers for Hero (2002). Those trailers promised an emotional, philosophical journey wrapped in martial arts. The Great Wall trailer promised a theme park ride. And while the ride was colorful, it didn't leave people wanting to get back in line.
Facts and Figures from the 2016 Launch
Let's look at the numbers because they don't lie. When the trailer dropped, it racked up millions of views within 24 hours. The interest was massive.
- Budget: $150 million (estimated).
- US Box Office: Roughly $45 million.
- China Box Office: Over $170 million.
The trailer did its job in China. It sold a massive spectacle. In the US, the trailer's "Damon-centric" approach might have actually hurt it by sparking the controversy that overshadowed the film's release. It’s a classic case of a marketing department knowing exactly who their audience is but failing to realize how the rest of the world would perceive the message.
What You Can Learn from The Great Wall's Marketing
If you're a film buff or someone interested in media, the The Great Wall 2016 trailer is a goldmine. It teaches us that context is everything. You can't just drop a mega-star into a cultural landmark and expect people to ignore the optics.
Honestly, the movie is a fun "popcorn" flick if you go in with low expectations. The costumes are incredible. The "Nameless Order" lore is actually pretty cool. But the trailer didn't sell "cool lore." It sold "Matt Damon saves China."
Actionable Insights for Movie Fans and Creators:
- Watch the international trailers: If you ever want to see how a movie is "positioned" differently, compare the US trailer for The Great Wall with the Chinese theatrical version. The difference in tone is staggering. One is an action-thriller; the other is a historical fantasy epic.
- Research the Director: To truly appreciate the visuals teased in the trailer, check out Zhang Yimou’s earlier work. Raise the Red Lantern or Shadow (2018) show a much more refined version of the aesthetics he was trying to bring to this blockbuster.
- Analyze the "White Savior" debate: Use this film as a case study. Look at how the trailer’s editing contributed to the narrative, versus how the movie actually plays out. It's a great exercise in understanding how marketing shapes perception.
- Give it a re-watch: If you only know the movie from the 2016 controversy, it might be worth a look on a streaming Saturday. It’s not a masterpiece, but the production design—largely skipped over in the frenetic trailer—is actually top-tier.
The 2016 trailer remains a fascinating relic of a time when Hollywood and China were trying to figure out how to dance together. It was awkward, it was loud, and it was undeniably colorful. Whether it was a "success" depends entirely on which side of the Wall you were standing on.