To win over China’s 1.34 billion consumers, companies have rolled out custom-made cars and clothing lines. They’ve launched hot and spicy sour-fish soup potato chips and green tea Oreos to suit their palates.
Now one is creating a special line of Chinese-inspired superheroes.
Chinese entrepreneur Bruno Wu’s film company, Seven Stars Entertainment, is launching a joint venture with Arad Productions, led by Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad, to develop a franchise of blockbuster films, animated television series and retail products that feature heroes based on Chinese culture, according to a statement from the companies.
First in the joint venture’s pipeline is “Rise of the Terracotta,” according to the statement. The film is based on the country’s own army of underground terracotta soldiers, who were buried underground to protect emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife.
The Arad-Wu tie up, which aims to pair Mr. Wu’s funding with Mr. Arad’s production experience, is an attempt to tap into China’s growing appetite for films–and in particular big-budget action films that feature dynamic superheroes. China’s box office sales jumped to $2.1 billion in 2011, up 29% from a year earlier, according to the State Administration of Film, Radio and Television.
Much of the country’s box office growth this year has been propelled by action films such as Warner Bros.’ latest Batman chapter, “The Dark Knight Rises,” which earned $53 million at Chinese box offices, and Sony Pictures’ “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which saw box office sales of $48.8 million in China, according to box office database Box Office Mojo.
Other Chinese companies are testing the waters for homegrown superhero films, though not necessarily Chinese heroes. China’s DMG Entertainment is in the midst of filming “Iron Man 3″ with Walt Disney Co's Marvel Studios. The first and second “Iron Man” movies combined took in more than 271 million yuan (about $43 million) at Chinese box offices, according to film research company EntGroup.
Mr. Wu is betting big on China’s film industry. He has been building up Chinawood, a media complex outside of China’s northeastern city of Tianjin in which Seven Stars and Tianjin’s government have invested more than a $1 billion.
Mr. Wu’s investment firm, Sun Redrock Investment Group, also co-launched earlier this year with China’s Harvest Alternative Investment an $800 million private equity fund to fund big studio projects that appeal to China and a wider Asian market.
Mr. Arad has been credited for his role in building up franchises such as the “X-Men” and “Spider-Man,” “Fantastic Four” and “The Incredible Hulk.” He founded his own production company in 2006, after having served as chief executive of comic film house Marvel Studios.