LOS ANGELES — “The Great Wall,” an epic fantasy film that cost at least $150 million to make, opens with Matt Damon fleeing on horseback through red stone formations in Northwest China. A snarling swarm of razor-toothed green monsters is hot on his heels.

One fast plot twist later, he stands atop a monumental stone wall, one guarded by thousands of Chinese warriors in dazzling uniforms. Cut to generals with furrowed brows fretting in Mandarin as the monsters come tumbling over a hill.

Will their megastructure do its job?

The same question, more or less, faces “The Great Wall” as it begins its global theatrical release. The movie, filmed entirely in China, was engineered not just as escapist entertainment but also proof that the Chinese film industry can serve up global blockbusters too — that event films can rise in the East and play in the West. The last Chinese-language film to become a breakout hit in North America was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which awed with its martial arts and stunt work and took in a surprising $180 million in 2000, after adjusting for inflation.

“If this doesn’t work, then I don’t know what will,” said Stanley Rosen, a political-science professor at the University of Southern California who has studied China’s efforts in recent years to emerge as a moviemaking superpower. “The film addresses a lot of the previous issues that China has faced as it’s tried to internationalize its film industry, like language and the lack of internationally known stars.”