Big international stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Catherine Zeta-Jones, descended on East China to attend the launching ceremony of the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis on September 22.
The film and television industry complex is being funded with 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) by Wanda Group. Some 30 billion yuan of that will be invested in the complex's culture and tourism facility. Occupying an area of 3.76 million square meters, the project features a film and television industrial park, a film museum, a film and television celebrity wax museum, a yacht club and other leisure facilities.
For directors shooting films, it also offers multiple scenic backdrops, such as European, ancient Chinese, and Arabic.
"I had considered building an oriental movie metropolis for years, but the right time did not come until we acquired the world's second-ranked AMC Theatres in the US last year," said Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group.
He said he originally wanted to only build a film studio, but after investigating in a dozen of places in the world, they decided to develop a project capable of more functions, including tourism and commercial property, in order to get rid of the pressure caused by the unstable cash flow in the film industry.
Wang explained that Qingdao was chosen as the base is because Wanda can earn money in the city, as well as get support from local government.
"Qingdao has an advantageous location. The Oriental Movie Metropolis sits against mountains and faces the sea. And the local government has promised the ongoing subway construction program will connect up to the Oriental Movie Metropolis," he said.
Wang noted that whether Chinese movies can succeed abroad depends on their quality and distribution channels. "Acquiring distribution channels abroad is our effort to help Chinese movies be successful," he said.
Since the acquisition of AMC, Wanda has screened eight Chinese movies in the US. He said that though the box office receipts might not be satisfactory, if new distribution channels are available, he will continue giving the world more access to Chinese movies, "to let them increase their understanding [of Chinese movies] gradually."
After the Oriental Movie Metropolis is completed, about 30 foreign movies and at least 100 domestic movies will be shot and produced in it every year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the world's top four talent agencies, CAA, WME, UTA and ICM, and the China Film Association have signed an agreement to jointly support Wanda Group in hosting a Qingdao International Film Festival every September starting from 2016.
This is the first time in 86 years for AMPAS to throw its support behind film festivals outside the US. Cannes and the Tokyo Film Festival have repeatedly requested cooperation from AMPAS with no success.
Wang is confident in the Chinese movie market. He said China's box office revenue will surpass North America's by 2018 and will double it by 2023.
"The future of the world film market's development is right here in China, both because of China's 1.3 billion population that is gradually becoming affluent, and the annual growth of what now numbers over 4,000 high-quality movie screens," he said. "Those in the world film industry who realize this first and are among the first to cooperate with China will be the first to reap the benefits."
China Film Association Chairman Li Qiankuan praised the project, saying, "Once construction is completed, it will not only become a center for China's film industry but also a center for the global film industry."
The first phase of the project is expected to open for business in June 2016 and the entire project will become operational in June 2017.