HK firm invests in US film producer

BEIJING - Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) Ltd announced on Monday that it has invested nearly 170 million yuan ($25 million) in Legendary Pictures, the US film producer of movies including The Dark Knight, Clash of the Titans and Inception.

"It is the first time that a Chinese movie company has tapped the overseas movie market," said Chen Xiaowei, co-chief executive officer of Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) Ltd.

The Hong Kong-based film company has produced more than 600 films since it was founded in 1970.

The film producer's businesses cover capital investment, film production, movie circulation and cinema operation.

By the end of June, Orange Sky Harvest Entertainment ran 29 cinemas with 229 screens on the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Founded in 2004 by Thomas Tull, the US-based Legendary Pictures' Inception, released in summer, has already grossed more than $750 million in box-office receipts globally to date.

"We chose Legendary Pictures as our partner due to its strong film production and operational management capability," said Chen.

"This acquisition allows us one position on their board of directors and we are the only strategic investor among the six directors, while the rest are from funds," she added.

Under the agreement, the Chinese company will get priority in areas such as film production and circulation, developing online games and other movie derivatives, with Legendary Pictures.

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There are many game elements in Legendary Pictures' movies, and since Orange Sky Harvest Entertainment is quite experienced in the online game business, the prospect of cooperation in this field is promising, Chen said.

Chen is also the former president of 9 Limited, one of China's biggest online game companies.

This is more of a strategic cooperation than just capital investment, Chen said.

It will bring the US' advanced technologies in film production and high-quality screenplay to China.

Chen said Tull is likely to visit China in mid-October to reveal the details of the cooperative endeavor.