In pursuit of success

Despite the film's star attraction in Jackman, a major reason for Chinese moviegoers to visit the theaters, China's sports authorities hope the film will lure more locals to participate in winter sports.

Beijing and the northern Chinese city Zhangjiakou will jointly host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

This year's Beijing International Film Sports Week, an annual event to carry on with the 2008 Beijing Olympics' spirit, signed an agreement with the biopic's producer, 20th Century Fox, and plans to provide special screenings for professional athletes and sports enthusiasts.

Jiang Xiaoyu, deputy head of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, hopes the film will get more cinema lovers interested in winter sports, a rise he has been noticing since July, when China won the bid to hold the Games.

But inspirational sports films such as Eddie the Eagle might find it difficult to crack the box office in a big way, trade analysts say.

Similar films To the Fore, based on cyclists' story, and the American biopic Rush, on the real-life tales of two legendary Formula 1 drivers, were poorly received at mainland cinemas earlier.

Other than the genre's weakness in drawing people to the cinemas, Eddie the Eagle will face a powerful rival in The Revenant, another Hollywood film that will be released on the Chinese mainland the same day.

It has Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who has a huge fan base in the world's second-largest movie market.