A model stands in front of a video presentation before the start of an official signing ceremony between Wanda Group and AMC Entertainment in Beijing. (Photo : REUTERS)
Pegasus Entertainment will open its first multiplex in mainland China at the VivoCity Mall, currently being built in Shanghai's Minxing district.
Pegasus, a production and distribution company controlled by showbiz personality Raymond Wong Pak-ming, has taken a 15-year lease on a cinema through a 60:40 joint venture with Lander Investment.
The mall is developed by the Mapletree Group of Singapore and scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2016.
Pegasus and Lander have guaranteed performance payments of up to 8.3 million yuan ($1.35 million) to the mall owners.
The new complex will use 4DX motion technology with at least nine screens and 1,400 seats.
"Cinema City Shanghai not only forms part of our group's expansion strategy into film exhibition business, but is also a complementary extension of our existing core business of film production," said Wong in a statement.
"We will continue to capture sound business opportunities and strive to establish cinemas in more top-tier cities, so as to further expand our foothold in the PRC."
China is experiencing a rise in cinema constructions, with around 1,015 cinema complexes that opened in 2014, delivering 5,397 new screens. There are now a total of 23,600 screens in the country. Box office was up by over 30 percent last year.
Hong Kong cinema firms can acquire majority ownerships of Chinese theaters due to the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Other companies from Hong Kong that have availed the CEPA to operate multiplex circuits include Broadway (Edko), Emperor and UA Cinemas/Lark International.
Korea's CJ-CGV also availed the CEPA to operate in China.
