CHINESE film distributor Bona Film Group Ltd will invest US$235 million into a slate of Twentieth Century Fox movies, the latest in a wave of tie-ups between Hollywood and Chinese partners to tap China’s fast growing box office.
Bona Film will invest through a financing body TSG Entertainment Finance, which has funded Fox movies including “X-Men Days of Future Past” and current box office hit “The Martian,” the Chinese firm said in a statement.
Twentieth Century Fox is a division of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.
“We look forward to participating in more mainstream Hollywood productions and bringing high-quality foreign films to the domestic market,” US-listed Bona Film’s CEO Yu Dong said.
China’s box office takings are catching up fast with the US, with ticket sales set to rise to US$8.9 billion in 2019 from about US$5 billion this year, said PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hollywood has been pushing hard in China: Warner Brothers unveiled a joint venture with China Media Capital in September, while Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and Walt Disney Co have all tied up with local partners.
