China’s ‘Flying Swords’ to receive U.S. Imax release

China’s”Flying Swords of Dragon Gate,” a 3-D martial arts film starring Jet Li, will receive a one-week run in U.S. Imax theaters starting Aug. 31 in an unusual premiere to try to draw American moviegoers to the Mandarin-language film.

For all of the success that American movies have enjoyed in China, few films from the world’s most populous nation have done any business in domestic theaters. On Aug. 3, for example, China Lion opened the Mandarin-language “Girlfriend Boyfriend” in 16 American theaters, with a dismal gross of just $56,810.

“Flying Swords,” the first Chinese movie shown in the stereoscopic Imax format, opened to a strong $22 million in its first weekend of release in China late last year and has grossed more than $86 million to date.

In China’s Imax theaters, its total haul there trails only “Avatar,””Transformers: Dark of the Moon”and “Titanic 3D.” The film recently won five awards at the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards.

IMAX and Indomina Releasing will show “Flying Swords” in 14 American Imax theaters, which the large-format theater system said was the first time a foreign-language production debuted in the United States that way.