Tencent Holdings Ltd. has entered agreements with two major Hollywood studios to distribute in China online the entire James Bond franchise and upcoming movies such as the next installment of “Star Trek,” the company announced on Friday, Nov. 6.
In a statement, Tencent said that Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures has agreed to make it the exclusive online distributor in China of the film studio's future theatrical releases, including "Star Trek Beyond," which is slated for release next year.
Tencent is also acquiring from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) the online distribution rights in China for the James Bond franchise, including the new "Spectre" film.
The deals come as China's Internet giants race to expand their entertainment business to meet the Chinese viewer's growing appetite for online movies.
Tencent and e-commerce provider Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. both operate film production units and have been expanding their movie libraries via deals with both domestic and international partners.
China, the world's biggest Internet market with around 650 million online users, is also the world's second-largest film market by box-office revenue, after the U.S. And because there are virtually no legal DVD sales in China due to widespread piracy, box-office receipts account for virtually all movie revenue in China, compared to less than half in the U.S. and other countries in the West.
Under the Paramount deal, which takes effect in April next year, Tencent will be able distribute a new movie from the studio for 12 months. Some of the upcoming movies that would be made available to Tencent include "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" starring Tom Cruise.
Tencent said that its deal with MGM makes it the sole Chinese company with online rights to James Bond movies. "Spectre" will also be made available on Tencent's online platforms. MGM said that the deal goes into immediate effect.
Action films tend to be wildly successful in China and Bond films have a huge fan base in the country. The 2013 Bond film "Skyfall" earned $59.2 million in Chinese box offices despite a two-month delay and censorship issues, while "Quantum of Solace" raked in $21 million in 2008.
The agreements with Paramount and MGM, which include subscription video-on-demand and on-demand pay-per-view, are among the latest in a series of movie-related deals made by Tencent in recent months.
In September, the company announced it will partner with U.S. studio Legendary Pictures and invest in the coming Hollywood fantasy epic, "Warcraft."
In the same month, Tencent signed deals with Walt Disney Co. and Twentieth Century Fox to become the sole online distributor in China of six "Star Wars" films.
In 2014, Tencent struck a deal with Time Warner's HBO network to become its exclusive online distributor in China.