In 2018, the film industry was another world. At that time,
Jackie Chan
e
Sylvester Stallone
They had joined to make an action movie with maximum power,
Ex-Baghdad
, hoping to have a big blockbuster that would make all this physical effort worthwhile. But Stallone left the ship in time to save himself from a production full of problems.
Stallone’s exit was just the first setback they faced. Then came the pandemic and diplomatic conflicts, which further delayed a production that no one was convinced to release. The shortened story is that it was filmed in 2018 and did not see the light until 2023, but between those moments there was much more.
John Cena
arrived to replace Stallone in the movie together with Jackie Chan – who at that time had changed his name and was known as
Project X
. They had conceived it as a co-production between China and the United States and thought of replicating major Chinese hits such as
Warrior Wolf 2
The idea was beautiful: to unite two very powerful markets through two superstars.
It will be very special. Not only will we make a good movie, I will learn a lot
Declarated Cena. They managed to shoot the film with 80 million dollars, but it almost got shelved.
There were no plans to release it in 2019 – at that time it had changed its name again and had the title
Snafu
– and then came 2020 and the pandemic that we all know. The film needed the Chinese audience, but the cinemas in the country did not reopen until July 2021, so the premiere was stalled. Cena would occasionally talk about the project when the media remembered it, and always with affection for his colleagues and the production.
Meanwhile, the Chinese interest had shifted towards local projects with stars from their own country, so it seemed that a film with so much Hollywood flavor would not be well received in the theaters. At the same time, it lacked the necessary ingredients to become a big success in the United States. The Chinese brand was too obvious for the American audience. It seemed that it had both markets against it.
In May 2021, while promoting the ninth installment of Fast & Furious, Cena spoke about Taiwan as a country, something that Chinese media discourages. China reacted negatively, and the actor apologized, but the comment remained in the minds of many citizens of the Republic and caused his popularity to drop significantly. Not even Chan’s fame could compensate for this mistake.
When no one was going to give space to the movie, Netflix arrived and released it under the name
Extração Project
.
The company acquired the distribution rights, and on July 28, 2023, it was added to its catalog. Although it received 0% rating at the time of its premiere – now it has at least 25% and the audience gives it up to 55% -, it was a big success among subscribers. The film topped the platform in 73 countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and many places in Europe such as Italy, Netherlands, France, and Spain. It remained on top for 2 weeks and recorded 56.8 million views worldwide in its first 28 days of release. It was the sixth most-watched film globally on Netflix in 2023.
It took time to find its audience, but when it did, it made itself noticed.
Read the article at radarsantri.com
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