Vin Diesel scored big this week when Paramount Pictures action thriller xXx: Return of Xander Cage became China’s #1 movie grossing over 500 Million Yuan ($72.6 Million).
Paramount Pictures and Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media signed an historic $1 billion slate financing deal for this film, making it their inaugural release under this agreement.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures is one of the oldest film studios and boasts a distinguished history in creating and releasing an array of films. Established by Adolph Zukor in 1912 with the intention of creating movies targeted towards working class people, Paramount quickly established itself as an industry titan.
Over time, it grew into a massive movie production, distribution, exhibition company with an expansive cinema chain. Additionally, it established itself as an esteemed studio that produced and distributed many critically-acclaimed and best picture winning movies such as Wings, Going My Way, The Lost Weekend Terms of Endearment Forrest Gump Braveheart Titanic No Country for Old Men among others.
Paramount was at its most prolific in the late 70s and 80s with movies like Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Friday the 13th Parts 1-8 Raiders of the Lost Ark Star Trek The Motion Picture Flashdance Footloose as well as numerous successful television series such as MASH. During this period Paramount also released many popular television shows like MASH or House Party.
Paramount began to transform itself with its increased emphasis on producing and distributing hot movies during the 1980s and 90s, when its focus shifted heavily toward high concept flicks like Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Friday the 13th.
At that time, the Paramount logo was altered to depict a mountain with stars encasing it – still used today although its details have altered slightly from when first designed.
Paramount Pictures has also established partnerships with Chinese media firms to expand its movie slate. Just this week, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media announced they had inked an agreement that will finance and promote Paramount films across China – an expected deal that is estimated to be worth up to $1 billion and provide Chinese companies access to Paramount’s library.
Huahua Media
Huahua Media is a Chinese film production company that has invested in Hollywood blockbusters such as Transformers: The Last Knight and Star Trek Beyond. They also imported, promoted and distributed movies like Godzilla: King of Monsters’, Song of the Sea’, Perfect Strangers’ and 'Allied’.
Wang Kefei established Oriental Times Media Corporation in 2012 with his vision to develop content vehicles, channels, and platforms globally. Since its establishment, Oriental Times Media Corporation has fostered an expansive global network of subsidiaries and affiliates dedicated to working towards this vision.
Paramount Pictures and Huahua Media struck a three-year agreement valued at over $1 billion that will finance at least 25% of every film on Paramount’s slate, Deadline reported. Deadline stated that an option exists to extend it for a fourth year as well.
Since its establishment, Huahua Media has supported numerous films such as 'Star Trek Beyond’, 'Transformers: Age of Extinction’ and 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’ as well as serving as exclusive China marketing partner for 'Transformers: The Last Knight’.
As well as working alongside OTMC on projects such as Silk Road Television and World War Z, the company consolidated all its resources under one organization to better meet market needs.
Huahua Media boasts an experienced film investment management team equipped with valuable industry resources that enables it to identify financing opportunities, share information about financiers in China, conduct investment evaluations and create financing plans. Furthermore, this company provides full-service support for international film import, distribution and promotion in China.
Ay’s Corporate Entertainment World and FilmOne Entertainment have come together to produce 30 Days in China, which will mark a first China-Nigeria co-production that will premiere in 2020. This landmark project marks the first time Nollywood actors will collaborate with Chinese filmmakers, and introduce Nigerian talent into China’s movie market.
Shanghai Film Group
Before 1949, Shanghai was home to China’s film and animation industry, boasting experienced production staff and enough capital for growth. But with the Communist Revolution came many filmmakers fleeing for Hong Kong or elsewhere.
Shanghai became the epicenter of Chinese cinema due to its flourishing economy and lively moviegoing culture, drawing top talent, ample resources, and an extensive base of patrons together into one concentrated hub for elite and popular filmmaking. Shanghai gave Chinese cinema its inaugural golden era.
Shanghai film studios were responsible for producing an array of classic Chinese movies during this era, as well as some of its most acclaimed and influential ones. Cinemas and film production in Shanghai played an essential role in developing modern Chinese culture as well as its multicultural identity.
Shanghai was an attractive locale for foreign film companies to open shop during the late 19th century, financing and producing both silent movies as well as talkies for Shanghai audiences.
Film production came to a halt during the Second Sino-Japanese War; filmmakers continued creating movies but production was less active than before.
Once production resumed, Shanghai witnessed an explosion of urban cinema featuring both international films and local adaptations – eventually earning itself the moniker „Eastern Hollywood”.
Today, however, Shanghai’s film industry has lost much of its luster; many once-prestigious film studios now sit vacant.
No doubt this decline is caused by both internal and external factors, as well as changes in Chinese society, but studios are taking steps to adapt. One such project is XXx: The Return of Xander Cage which marks their first joint venture production starring Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, and Kris Wu.
Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen is one of the most celebrated and highly successful action movie stars in China, having appeared in blockbusters such as Ip Man and Tiger Cage as well as choreographing fight scenes for many films he stars in. His martial art skills and action choreography skills have won multiple awards over his career; moreover, Donnie himself has won several accolades himself!
He began his acting career in 1984, debuting in Drunken Tai Chi starring alongside Jet Li. Soon thereafter he made the leap into many films and quickly established himself as one of China’s premier action stars.
He quickly demonstrated his talent with roles he portrayed in films such as Xian (1997) and Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) by Ang Lee. His performance in Xian earned him the Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, leading him to earn lead roles for director Yuen Woo-ping’s films.
After his breakthrough performance in Xian, Yen quickly rose through the ranks as an acting talent, appearing in films such as Once Upon a Time in China III and Iron Monkey. Working alongside Yuen on his adaptation of Wu Xia won him Best Action Choreography honors at Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 2010, Yen made headlines as Commander Tung in Disney’s live-action version of Mulan, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office. Since then, he has appeared in multiple Hollywood films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.
Kris Wu
Kris Wu (full name: Wu Yifan) is one of China’s most beloved entertainers, having toured across China, made his film debut, and even participated in an influential hip-hop competition.
He is also an online celebrity in China, boasting more than 13 million followers on Weibo and millions of views online for his autotuned rap style.
Recently, a young woman alleging sexual assault by Wu launched an online backlash campaign, sparking online animus against him and one of China’s most prized celebrities. Her allegations published on NetEase led many netizens into cyberwar against one of China’s highest paid actors and actresses.
After the scandal surfaced, businesses across the globe started cutting ties with Wu. Porsche and Bulgari are among those reported as pulling their products from her stores shelves.
This news caused widespread outrage on Chinese social media, with many supporting former fan Du Meizhu but some Wu’s fans believing these allegations to be unjustified slander.
On Friday, a Chinese court sentenced Wu to 13 years of prison for crimes including rape and sexual promiscuity. A post to their Weibo account by the court indicated Wu had been found guilty of „raped three drunken women” in 2020 as well as „assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity” in 2018.
China’s #MeToo movement celebrated a major victory with Wu’s sentencing, demonstrating what can happen when victims feel empowered to come forward and seek justice. Additionally, Wu was fined 600 Million Yuan for tax evasion between 2019 and 2020.