Hollywood has long dominated the commercial film market but it now looks like China is moving in on that territory with Chinese owned and operated ‘Wanda Pictures’ financing its first major Hollywood film – Southpaw.
The recent investment of Wanda Pictures in Hollywood is the first of its kind and with the backing of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin (the richest individual in China) and his titanic company Dalian Wanda Group (the parent company of Wanda Pictures) it is clear that they have big plans. It’s not just the financing of Southpaw which is signalling the eastern giants move on the western movie market, Wanda Pictures has also bought land in Beverly Hills with plans to build a 1.2 billion dollar movie complex which Wang Jianlin refers to as “First important step into Hollywood” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In addition to these recent investments Dalian Wanda Group also owns the second largest cinema chain in America and is currently building the biggest studio and theme park at Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis on China’s Eastern Coast, according Dawn.
With this growing portfolio it is clear that Wang Jianlin has his sights firmly set on the global cinema audience and is moving to invest his interests in the two biggest film industries in the world.
The soon-to-be-released Southpaw was the result of a business partnership made between Weinstein Films and Dalian Wanda Group. Marc Ganis, co-founder of Jiaflix Enterprises, which helps distribute films in the Chinese market has said that the partnership has helped Wanda become “a complete international entertainment company”.
Though Southpaw isn’t expected to be a major financial winner, with initial estimates seeing the film generate a modest $45 million, it is generating quite the buzz with talks of an Oscar nomination for lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal who gained 15 pounds of muscle for the role of a down-on-his-luck-boxer.
The expected critical success of the film will offer Wang Jianlin and his mega movie corporation some very valuable publicity which will likely help build the Wanda Pictures brand within the United States as well as the greater western audience.
