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| Wang Jianlin of the Dailan Wanda Group |
The Dailan Wanda Group want to bring Hollywood to China.
On Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, Wang Jianlin announced that his Dailan Wanda Group will spend 50 billion yuan ($8.7 billion USD) to build the world's largest entertainment district in Qingdao, China. Movie stars in attendance of the announcement were Leonardo di Caprio, John Travolta, Nicole Kidman, and Ewan McGregor.
The Dailan Wanda Group's investment could create the world's most influential film industry in China. If successful, it would trump Hollywood's influence in the film industry. Wang Jianlin also hopes that an annual film festival in Qingdao, China would rival that of the annual Cannes Film Festival.
The Dailan Wanda Group has already signed a preliminary deal with global film and television giants for 30 foreign and 100 local films a year. The new state-of-the-art film complex, called the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis (or Chinese Hollywood), will house 20 studios, movie theaters and its own film museum. It is expected to be fully operational by 2017.
Wang Jianlin made this comment: "The future of the world's film industry is in China because we have 1.3 billion people. We will have the biggest film business in the world by 2018."
He went on to say: "Our cultural [entertainment] business is number one in China, but what about the world? This is our future investment direction. Our goal is to become on of the top 10 cultural companies in the world."
The Dailan Wanda Group has donated $20 million USD to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (host of the Oscars). In return, the academy is now a big supporter of the Qingdao film festival.
The Dailan Wanda Group bought the AMC cinema chain in 2012 for $2.6 billion to add to their portfolio of hotels and department stores. Wang Jianlin already has 75 shopping centers and 40 five-star hotels, among others that currently being built.
Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons by World Economic Forum
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