Mark Wahlberg Wishes Luck to Gaokao Students in Preparation for Transformers 4

Kipp Whittaker | Jun 13, 2014 6:30 pm | Add a comment | 2152 reads

There is no doubt that, Transformers is the most popular Hollywood franchise in China. When the last film was released 2011, it raked in $177.3 million, holding the record as the second highest grossing foreign film ever screened in the mainland.

Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, and Jack Reynor, the stars of Transformers: Age of Extinction, posted videos last week to wish high school students good luck on their gaokao exams (college entrance exams). The Chinese financiers probably put the actors up to it and thought this would go over well with fans of the franchise, and generate a little more hype before it hits the theaters on June 27.

This installment of the series, is trying hard to appeal to a greater Chinese audience by featuring a couple big name actors like Li Bingbing and Han Geng, along with having portions of it filmed in Hong Kong, where eight months ago, director Michael Bay was assaulted with an air conditioner.

Mark Wahlberg said the following before the streamed version of a Transformers 4 movie preview.

Quote:
“Hey, everyone, I’m Mark Wahlberg, star of the new movie Transformers 4: The Age of Extinction. The annual college entrance exam is coming, so I’d like to wish all of you students out there lots of luck, and don’t forget to catch Transformers 4 – after the exam!”

The gaokao is the national college entrance exam, and probably the most important test in a young student's academic career. Perform exceptionally well and you can go to the school of your choice, which is ultimately a serious factor in your placement in China’s tough job market. Of course all of that has passed now and a bajillion students have already been doomed to servitude for the rest of their lives but at least they'll still have Transformers!

Here are some events to keep you entertained this week: