Transformers: Age of Extinction, the fourth movie in the hit Transformer series, will hold its world premiere in Hong Kong on June 19.

Hong Kong was one of the major locations for the movie, which is expected to continue the massive box-office successes of its three predecessors in China.

Like Us on Facebook

The third Transformer movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, raked in $177.3 million in tickets sales in China in 2010. It remains the second-highest grossing foreign film to be screened in China. The top foreign film is Avatar.

The selection of Hong Kong, which is a part of Greater China, confirms China's standing as a major market for Hollywood films. China is Hollywood's second largest source of box-office revenues after the USA.

Total box office receipts in China for local and foreign films in the first quarter of this year hit $1.08 billion, more than the total for all of 2009.

The movie is a Sino-U.S. co-production involving Paramount Pictures, film distributor Jiaflix and the state-run China Movie Channel. Its classification as a Sino-U.S. co-production means the movie's producers are allowed to take a bigger share of box office earnings.

Transformers: Age of Extinction, which is partly set in Hong Kong, features five Chinese actors and actresses, including Li Bingbing who plays a major role in the movie as Su Yueming.

Other Chinese performers in the movie are Han Geng, who plays a kung fu fighter; Byron Li in the role of a computer geek; Candice Zhao, won the Miss Bikini International China pageant, plays a sexy goddess while USA-born Teresa Daley (Chi Pei-Hui) plays a "Cute Loli" or a cute underage girl.

Transformers: Age of Extinction was shot substantially in Hong Kong and in many locations throughout mainland China.

The movie is the first film in the series with an entirely new cast and the first to feature the Dinobots. It stars Mark Wahlberg in the lead role and was directed by Michael Bay.

Bay was attacked and injured on the set in Hong Kong by two Triad gang members that demanded he pay them protection money. The criminals were later arrested by Hong Kong police.

This sequel to Transformers: Dark of the Moon takes place four years after the previous film. Returning Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Brains. Transformers: Age of Extinction will premiere in the USA on June 27 in IMAX and 3D.

TagsEntertainment, Transformers