THE EXPENDABLES sequel to be shot and co-produced in China

The Expendables sequel is set to be shot and co-produced in China, according to the LA Times. Despite being the the 10th-highest-grossing release of the year in China, and making $32.1 million Nu Image collected less than $1 million from the country. The Chinese government only allows approximately 20 revenue-sharing slots per year for imported pictures, forced Nu Image to sell rights to a local distributor for a flat fee. As you can expect, major studios like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures take up the valuable revenue-sharing slots.

For the sequel, Nu Image is currently in talks to partner with a Chinese distributor and shoot some scenes in in the country. The plan is to generatet $8 million from the local company with which it works. This partnership will also guarantee the sequel will be released in China and bypass the revenue-sharing slots completely.

According to Nu Image CFO Trevor Short scenes will have to be added into the current screenplay that will be shot in China. In addition, they must be approved by government censors. Short said, “It can’t be detrimental to China." This type of deal was attempted for Conan the Barbarian, but Nu Image was turned down. Short said, “They seem to have a problem with mysticism and fantasy."

This deal sounds like it makes a lot of sense to me. It will be interesting to see if the scenes will make past the Chinese censors. What are your thoughts?