Walt Disney Co. on Monday said that it has signed a deal to make live-action and animated feature films available online through Chinese social-media and entertainment company Tencent.
The Burbank media and entertainment conglomerate joins the other major U.S. studios in distributing content through the “Hollywood VIP” digital service from Tencent, based in Shenzehn. The other studios include Warner Bros. Entertainment, in Burbank; Universal Studios, in Universal City; and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., in Santa Monica.
The deal with Disney includes films from the Walt Disney Studios, Pixar and Marvel Entertainment film units. Titles include “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Toy Story 3,” “Up” and “The Avengers”.
“With its extensive user base and wide range of platforms and content, Tencent is ideally-placed to drive the growth of the Chinese digital distribution market and meet increasing consumer demand, supported by some of Hollywood's biggest studios,” said Tencent Vice President Sun Zhong Huai in a prepared statement.
Tencent was founded in 1998 and began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004.
Shares of Disney gained 20 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close at $61.59 on the New York Stock Exchange.