Alibaba Pictures Group has acquired China rights to Korean romantic thriller “Life Risking Romance.”
The film is directed by Song Min-kyu (producer of “My Way”) and stars Ha Ji-won and Chun Jung-myung as well as China’s Chen Bolin.
APG, which Friday issued a warning of losses in the first half of this year, has picked up theatrical and online rights. The film will play theatrically in Korea in the fourth quarter of this year. But a release date in China has not yet been set.
Production of the film was by Korea’s Novus Mediacorp and B.A. Entertainment. Novus, and investor and ancillary distributor, is part of the Singapore-listed Spackman Entertainment mini-conglomerate that also owns Zip Cinema (“The Priests,” “Cold Eyes”) and operates a café in fashionable Gangnam.
"The partnership with Alibaba Pictures to distribute our film allows us to make headway in China and reach a wider audience. Previously, our films were mostly limited to theatrical releases, but leveraging an integrated platform combining both traditional theatres and the Internet will provide more exposure for the Group’s film. The rise of online and mobile platforms in China will benefit our Group, and we plan to focus our efforts in delivering top quality Korean content to the Chinese market through these traditional and new channels,” said chairman Charles Spackman.