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    $1 Billion Co-Financing Deal Set Between Paramount, 2 Chinese Firms

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2589 Views
    The main gate to Paramount Studios is seen on Melrose Avenue, Wednesday, July 8, 2015, in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

    By Kelvin Chan, Business Writer

    HONG KONG (AP) --

    Paramount Pictures said Friday it has inked a co-financing deal with two Chinese companies for the Hollywood studio's slate of movies over the next three years.

    Under the terms of the deal, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media will also set up an office on Paramount's lot later this year, the studio said in a statement.

    The Chinese companies will provide roughly $1 billion to finance at least 25 percent of Paramount's films, according to a person familiar with the deal who was not allowed to speak publicly.

    Film industry publications cited the same figures.

    Paramount is planning to produce 15 to 17 films in 2017.

    It's the latest China-Hollywood tie-up, as both sides aim to beef up their presence in each other's movie industries.

    Chinese investors have been expanding into entertainment companies overseas in a bid to boost the country's international cultural influence, also known as "soft power," as well as acquire expertise. Foreign producers, meanwhile, are seeking greater access to China's growing film market.

    Last year, Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group teamed up with Sony Pictures to make big-budget films while Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners partnered with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's media arm to co-produce films for global audiences.

    Paramount Pictures has already cooperated with Huahua on several films including "Transformers: the Age of Extinction" and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." Shanghai Film Group was an investor in the latter movie.

    Paramount, whose corporate parent Viacom was embroiled last year in a bitter management battle, has been struggling to produce hits.

    Category:News
    Tags:Huahua MediaParamount PicturesShanghai Film Group



    Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    "Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.

    The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.

    And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).

    This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.

    "'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."

    As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More

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