Universal’s “The Fall Guy” will open in mainland Chinese cinemas next month, ahead of its debut in the U.S. and star Ryan Gosling’s native Canada.
The film is set to release officially in China on April 30. That puts it a few days behind the film’s first commercial outings on April 25 and 26 in Europe and other parts of Asia, but a week ahead of its May 3 release in North America.
Directed by David Leitch (“John Wick,” “Bullet Train”), the film co-stars Gosling and Emily Blunt, with Gosling playing a veteran stunt double for a self-obsessed movie star.
The film had its world premiere in SXSW earlier this month and received warm praise for its heart and Gosling’s return to a role with charm. Variety’s SXSW review of the picture called it “an epic stunt spectacular,” with Gosling back at his “charisma-radiating” best.
While Hollywood movies have lately struggled to achieve the box office performances of the 2010s in China, Gosling is a known quantity in the Middle Kingdom. The film will be his third to release in China in the past year, after the sleeper success of initially slow “Barbie” and the re-released “La La Land.” He previously toured China in 2017 for promotion of the first release of “La La Land.”
The release date puts “The Fall Guy” in Chinese theaters in time for the significant May Day (May 1) holidays. These are both an annual political event celebrating workers and a family-friendly season for movies.
“The Fall Guy” will not have Chinese theaters to itself, of course. Competition is scheduled to include Japanese animated spy action comedy “Spy × Family Code: White,” Japanese animated fantasy “Howl’s Moving Castle” and Chinese films “GG Bond: Interstellar Action,” “Formed Police Unit,” “The Last Frenzy,” “Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a Hot Pot” and “Ocean Rescue.” But with Hollywood holdovers “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” by then several weeks old, it could be among the freshest import titles.