Comic-Con International 2015 Instant Views (Photo : Getty Images)
iQiyi, an online streaming portal in China, inked an exclusive agreement for the company to distribute movies of 20th Century Fox. Among the movies that would be available to Chinese viewers are “X-Men: The Apocalypse,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant,” “Snoopy and Charlies Brown: A Peanuts Movie” and “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.”
“X-Men” is set for release in China, but “Maze Runner” has been shown in the country. iQiyi hit 10 million paying subscribers in December 2015, a 100 percent growth in the past six months, according to Variety. It is an independent subsidiary of Baidui, China’s equivalent of Google search engine.
Instead of bombarding subscribers with advertisements that viewers hate, online streaming companies in China are purchasing exclusive content from foreign movie and TV companies and charging viewers for advertising-free movies and shows, reported Global Times.
The two companies also have an existing library licensing deal signed in 2015. With this new agreement, the “close collaboration between 20th Century Fox and iQiyi will significantly expand the content options for Chinese audiences,” stated Yu Gong, founder and CEO of the firm that offers streaming content similar to Netflix.
In turn 20th Century Fox CEO and Chairman Jim Gianopulos said the agreement is “another example of thee continuing growth of our important relationships in this rapidly expanding marketplace.” China is now the second-largest film market in the world.
Other online streaming companies with distribution deals include Alibaba, which signed an agreement in 2014 with Lionsgate, and Tencent, which got the exclusive rights to popular HBO TV series such as “Game of Thrones and “True Detective.”
iQiyi also has similar deals with DHX Media, Lionsgate and Universal Pictures, making it the owner of one of the biggest online film libraries in China.
