The warriors are to expected to rise from the grave and become heroes to rival Marvel's Ironman [VETTA/GETTY]
The warriors are expected to rise from the grave in the Far East to rival Hollywood comic heroes such as Iron Man and Spider-Man.
In the first collaboration of its kind, all three countries will produce a superhero movie based on the 8,000 sculptures of soldiers which were buried in about 210BC and discovered by farmers at a city-size mausoleum in China’s Xi’an province in 1974.
The intricate and remarkably intact figures are believed to have been placed in the ground to protect first emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife.
US giant Paramount and executives from Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire, say the big-budget project, which will be called either Rise Of The Terracotta Warriors or Super Terracotta Warriors, could be the first of many films.
They have been in talks with Shanghai Film Group, whose president Ren Zhonglun confirmed: “A lot of projects have reached a practical stage.
“In the last month of 2013 and the first month of this year, there have been people from Paramount and Marvel and Pinewood Studios coming to talk to us.”
The blockbuster’s plot will see the terracotta warriors come back to life in modern times to save the world from an alien invasion. It will be shot at Shanghai’s Chedun studio which technical experts from Pinewood will help to transform into what Mr Zhonglun describes as a “world class film city”.
The project is the brainchild of producer Avi Arad, whose credits include movies from the Iron Man and Spider-Man franchises.
An executive at Paramount said: “The Chinese film market is already the second biggest in the world, after the United States.
“This is the first of what we hope will be many future collaborations that will create new revenue streams in both motion picture industries.
“It is an important step forward in a relationship we believe will lead to truly global branding and franchising, with all the commercial, merchandising and advertising spin-offs that will open up.”
The Terracotta Army project will also be the first genuine film- making partnership deal between all three countries.
Marvel shot several Chinese scenes for last year’s massive hit Iron Man 3 but the extra content was derided as a stunt.
The Paramount source said: “There are more than 1.3 billion people in a country that is hungry for films. That is a market place four times bigger than the United States.
“It is a market we are anxious to play a part in and we believe the future possibilities are almost limitless.”
