John Cusack-Starring Chinese Thriller ‘Decoded’ Sets Global Release (EXCLUSIVE)

CMC Pictures, the Chinese studio behind “The Meg” shark action franchise, has set plans for the global release of its John Cusack-starring cryptography thriller “Decoded.”

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The film will release in Chinese theaters on Saturday and is headed for an international rollout at the end of August. CMC Pictures will operate as the direct distributor in a limited number of territories and as the sales agent handling the rights in others.

The film has a strong pedigree and is on course to make a splash.

Directed by Chen Sicheng, one of China’s most consistently successful writer-director-producers, the film has a screenplay by Chen and Christopher MacBride (“Flashback,” “The Conspiracy”) that is adapted from a novel by the Mao Dun Literature Prize-winning novelist Mai Jia.

Set in the volatile era of the 1940s, “Decoded” chronicles the journey of Rong Jinzhen (played by Liu Haoran), an autistic young man with an exceptional talent for mathematics. His uncanny ability to untangle complex mathematical knots, showcased through a challenge set by his professor (Cusack), doesn’t go unnoticed. He is forced to give up his academic studies and is recruited as a codebreaker and spy.

Shot entirely on Imax-certified cameras, Chen has given the film a kinetic and swirling look and a narrative that jerks between 1944 and 1964, which Chinese preview audiences have compared to the works of Christopher Nolan.

While the film is still officially unreleased, it has started a run of previews that have already amassed $8.03 million. A wide release at the weekend may make it the film to depose runaway hit “Successor” at the top of the daily charts.

In other key roles, “Decoded” boasts veteran Chinese actor Chen Daoming (“Coming Home,” “Aftershock”), Daniel Wu (“Into the Badlands,” Westworld”) and Yu Feihong. The supporting cast includes Ren Luyao, Chen Yusi, Wang Yutian, Zhou You and Zhu Zhu.

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Production credits include CMC Pictures and Maoyan Weiying Media.

Chen, who is known for the “Detective Chinatown” series of film blockbusters and was a producer of last summer’s $490 million-grossing smash “Lost in the Stars,” has reportedly called “Decoded” his creative peak, though he has also suggested that he is “standing on the shoulders of literary giants.”

Chen said that he was interested in exploring how individual destinies are shaped by the era they live in. “‘Decoded’ portrays life as a unique cipher, awaiting decryption,” he said.

“We used a relatively limited financial budget to attempt to make something that is not inferior to Hollywood blockbusters in terms of the audio-visual experience and in every other aspect. We want to break the rule that such big movies can only be made by Hollywood,” Chinese state media reported Chen said at a recent screening.

Cusack joins a growing list of (male) Hollywood stars who have had key roles in major Chinese titles. Others include Christian Bale in Zhang Yimou’s “The Flowers of War” and Matt Damon in Zhang’s “The Great Wall, as well as Adrien Brody and Tim Robbins in Feng Xiaogang’s “Back to 1942.” Cusack also previously starred in Mikael Hafstrom’s Chinese-set period piece “Shanghai.”

Watch the trailer for “Decoded” below.

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