Comedian Jimeoin's feature film The Extra will be one of a select few international films, and the first Australian movie since Crocodile Dundee, to gain a mainstream release in China when it hits Shanghai screens next week.
The low-key comedy will be released by the HuaXia Film Distribution Company, one of China's largest film distributors, which is among a handful of companies allowed to distribute commercial foreign films in the country's heavily regulated industry.
HuaXia releases about 20 foreign films a year, mostly sourced from Hollywood.
The Extra fell flat at the Australian box office when it was released with minimal fanfare in 2005.
Its writer and star Jimeoin said he had dismissed the project as a failure but the attention from China had "lifted his spirits".
"When you put a lot of work into something and it doesn't do very well it can be disheartening," he told AAP at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on Thursday.
The Extra was first exposed to the Chinese market during a series of Australian film festivals organised in the country by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) last year.
Jimeoin said the film enjoyed a groundswell following in China after it was pirated and broadcast on the internet.
The Chinese distributor contacted The Extra's producers Stephen Luby, Bruno Charlesworth and Mark Ruse of Ruby Productions about six months ago and brokered the deal.
An HuaXia spokesman commended the film for its treatment of a theme to which people in China can relate.
"People in China are attracted to the dream of fame and celebrity like everyone else The Extra treats the aspiration in a way Chinese audiences will respond to," the spokesman said.
"It is a cleverly structured film with some wonderful performances and a lovely balance of drama and humour."
After its release in Shanghai, The Extra will be rolled out to other Chinese provinces.
"There are some many films in the world and when you release an Australian film you're up against all of them," Jimeoin said.
"The Extra is a simple film and it was released with no fuss, we paid for that but it shows every cloud has a silver lining."
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