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Sony and Wanda Team Up to Market Films in China
Move could help Sony Pictures boost box-office returns and strengthen Dalian Wanda’s profile in the movie business
By WAYNE MA in Beijing and ERICH SCHWARTZEL in Los Angeles
Updated Sept. 22, 2016 11:59 p.m. ET
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Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is teaming up with Dalian Wanda Group to help market its films in China, a move that could help Sony boost box-office returns and strengthen Dalian Wanda’s profile in the movie business.
Under the deal, Wanda would tap its massive ticketing platform, entertainment plazas and theme parks to help market future Sony films to Chinese moviegoers. Wanda might buy a small stake in some of these films if both companies agree, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
The partnership is the latest foray by Wanda and billionaire founder Wang Jianlin into the global entertainment industry. Earlier this year, Wanda purchased Legendary Entertainment, a producer of summer blockbusters, for about 3.5 billion dollar. Wanda is the largest cinema owner in China and owns the U.S. theater chain AMC Entertainment. Its pending acquisition of Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas Inc. would also make it the largest theater operator in the U.S.
The new deal will move Wanda beyond exhibiting and co-financing U.S. films and into the critical area of marketing, building its expertise in the Hollywood studio trade.
Wanda said its goal was to ultimately work with the so-called “Big Six” Hollywood studios—which include Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner and Disney. “Wanda will strive to highlight the China element in the films in which it invests,” the company said in a statement. 21st Century Fox and The Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp were part of the same company until mid-2013.
For Sony, which has struggled at the box office, the partnership will help it market films in a country that is becoming increasingly important to the bottom line of studios, and which is expected to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest box office within two years.
Wanda’s knack for helping Hollywood films become successful in China was on full display earlier this year, when it helped Legendary’s “Warcraft” rack up more than 220 million dollars from Chinese audiences, according to Box Office Mojo. The push helped turn the film into a hit despite lousy box office results in the U.S.
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