Shen Teng usually makes cinema audiences laugh by falling flat on his face or scheming through absurd sports competitions. In his latest feature, you see him standing over a smoking wok in an apron, counting dirty banknotes to pay down domestic debts before gunfire shatters the street outside.
The film is Wen Muye’s “Once Upon a Time in the Middle East,” and Well Go USA Entertainment announced on Friday that it secured the North American rights, scheduling a cinema release for 9 October. Back home, the project has already gathered over US$318 million.
The plot follows Xu Fu, a cook from Shenyang who relocates overseas for higher wages. Together with his manager Ma Junsheng, played by Jiang Qiming, he turns the failing Dragon Restaurant into a functioning haven. When regional conflict escalates, the establishment transforms into an impromptu shelter for civilians caught between armed factions.
Shifting Ground
Wen made his name turning systemic reality into commercial cinema. His 2018 hit “Dying to Survive” tackled pharmaceutical distribution regulations through the lens of a smuggler, earning him Best New Director honours across Chinese industry showcases. Here, he turns his camera toward foreign conflict.
The official release notes that “Xu transforms the struggling Dragon Restaurant into a thriving business and an unlikely gathering place for the surrounding community.”
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The film relies on an ensemble that crosses borders. Egyptian actor Omar Sharif appears as Seif, an orphaned kitchen apprentice who finds refuge inside the diner. Hong Kong performer Aarif Lee plays Tony, an unsettled Chinese American soldier stationed nearby. Sherif Sabby rounds out the principal cast as a municipal worker pulled into violence. Producer Ning Hao steers the venture alongside screenwriter Zhong Wei.
Reaching Western Screens
Well Go USA routinely acts as the main bridge for mainstream Chinese productions entering American theatres. Bringing an overseas war picture fronted by Shen to Western screens tests whether domestic box-office appeal translates across oceans.
For Wen, the goal centres on ordinary people navigating sudden catastrophe. As the announcement states, “when war engulfs the city, their hard-won success is shattered” and Xu “must move beyond his instinct for self-preservation and risk everything to protect the community he has come to call his own.”
You will find the film in North American theatres on October 9th 2026
