Steven Spielberg is teaming up with China’s second- richest man in the latest big tie-up between the U.S. film business and a Chinese industry titan, it was reported today.
Amblin Partners, Spielberg’s entertainment company, has signed a pact with Alibaba Pictures, the entertainment arm of Jack Ma’s ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, in a wide-ranging deal that allow the two to co-produce and co- finance movies, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Amblin hopes the alliance with Alibaba will give its movies a leg up in trying to reach the growing audience of Chinese moviegoers. Alibaba is looking to Spielberg to help it become a bigger film business player as China tries to learn from Hollywood and make movies for a global audience, according to the newspaper.
The agreement, announced at a news conference Sunday in Beijing, will also allow Alibaba to take a minority stake in Amblin Partners, which is owned by a consortium that includes DreamWorks, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media and Entertainment One, The Times reported. An Alibaba representative will have a seat on Amblin’s board of directors.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We can bring more China to America and bring more America to China,” Spielberg said at the news conference with Ma, who is worth an estimated $28.8 billion.
Alibaba has previously invested in individual movies, including Paramount Pictures’ “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” helping to boost the blockbuster’s prospects in China. It was the first Hollywood deal of its kind for Alibaba.
The latest deal comes at a time when Chinese companies, including Dalian Wanda Group, Tencent and Hunan TV are investing heavily in U.S. entertainment assets — a trend that has raised some concern among members of Congress.
Wanda has been the most active. The media conglomerate run by Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, owns theater chain AMC Entertainment and Burbank film producer Legendary Entertainment and is trying to buy Dick Clark Productions. It recently signed a deal with Sony to invest in some of the studio’s movies, giving Sony access to Wanda’s theatrical and marketing clout.
