U.S.-based outfit Film Financial Services (FFS) has signed a cooperation agreement with Citic Guoan, the movie unit of Chinese conglomerate Citic Group, to produce a $40 million 3D fantasy movie called "An'shu".
Mtime, the country's leading movie site, reported that FFS and Citic Guoan were planning to produce five movies, and will also focus on cooperating to foster new talents.
FFS CEO David Sheldon said the script would come from a team in Hollywood, while Citic Guoan's film production base in Hebei province would provide location services. VFX work will be completed place in China but under the supervision of a Hollywood expert.
Qu Jianping, general manager for Guoan New Bridge Media Investment Company, said Citic Guoan's film production base focused on the whole industry chain, and aimed to foster talents, production and finance.
"Currently we have established collaboration with the Beijing Film Academy and the Communications University of China, ready to foster special effects talents and give them the opportunity to work with the Hollywood team," Qu said.
The aim would be to discover Chinese actors to star in the movie, with fundraising planned to take place over the coming year. The target release date for An'shu is Chinese New Year in 2018.
FFS co-finances several projects, including a number based on Sony PlayStation video game franchises such as "Heavenly Sword", "Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper", and it operates joint venture film funds with Chinese broadcaster Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation.