'xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage' - Mumbai Fan Screening (Photo : Getty Images)
Huahua Media and Shanghai Film Group’s partnership with Paramount Pictures had expanded beyond marketing the action film “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” which premiered in China on Thursday.
The two companies invested $1 billion to provide the American studio with cash and stability. Under the deal, Huahua and Shanghai Film would finance one-fourth all films to be produced by Paramount for the next three years. The deal could be extended to four years, Reuters reported.
Chinese Movie Market
The partnership is in recognition of the strong potential of the Chinese film market, currently the second largest in the world – although growth slowed down to 3.7 percent in 2016. According to Brad Grey, CEO and chair of Paramount, the studio is interested in producing movies in China.
The partnership is part of the turnaround plan of Viacom, the parent company of Paramount, under Bob Bakish, the new CEO. Bakish replaced Philippe Dauman who attempted to sell 49 percent of Paramount to the Dalian Wanda Group, a real estate conglomerate in China owned by the country’s richest man. Instead, Dalian Wanda acquired in 2016 for $3.5 billion a majority stake in Legendary Entertainment, a film studio in the U.S.
More Films from Paramount
With the capital infusion, Paramount would be able to produce more movies to 15 to 17 films a year. In the last few years, when Dauman led Paramount, the production of the studio plummeted to as low as only eight movies a year. “You really can’t operate a major studio with that,” Grey noted.
“xXx: Return of Xander Cage” is the third partnership of Huahua with Paramount after marketing deals on “Transformers: the Age of Extinction” and “Star Trek Beyond.” Grey met in Shanghai with Ren Zhonglun, chairman of the Shanghai Film Group, and Wang Kefei, chairman of Huahua Media. The two Chinese companies would open and maintain jointly an office on the Paramount lot beginning in the later part of 2017, Variety reported.
