Lionsgate is about to see top movie titles like Mark Wahlberg's Patriots Day and American Assassin streamed by Chinese audiences as part of its latest output deal with China's iQiyi.
The studio on Tuesday unveiled a new licensing agreement with the Chinese partner that covers streaming rights to a host of upcoming movie releases and library titles. The agreement covers subscription video-on-demand, transactional VOD and advertising VOD rights for films streaming on iQiyi's platform in China.
iQiyi will have exclusive streaming rights in China to Lionsgate movie titles covered by the pact, enabling the streaming and promotion of the titles on its platform. The Lionsgate deal follows earlier tie-ups between iQiyi and major studios like 20th Century Fox, NBCUniversal and Paramount and a 2015 output deal for varied Lionsgate and third-party feature films.
Lionsgate's latest agreement with iQiyi, which has been streaming the studio's titles in China since fall 2015, covers movies like Otto Bathurst’s Robin Hood, starring Jamie Foxx; Lionsgate/CBS Films’ American Assassin and Patriots Day, starring Mark Wahlberg; the Brie Larson-starrer The Glass Castle; and Wonder, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.
"We’re delighted to expand our relationship with iQiyi, a world-class platform at the cutting edge of delivering premium quality films to online Chinese audiences,” Lionsgate executive vp, international sales Wendy Reeds said Tuesday in a statement. iQiyi was Lionsgate’s promotional partner earlier this year on Now You See Me 2, the highest-grossing Lionsgate film ever released at the Chinese box office.
"Lionsgate has emerged as a major creative force in the global marketplace, and we’re proud to continue adding their incredible pipeline of star-driven movies to our platform,” Yang Xianghua, senior vp of iQiyi, said in his own statement as the Chinese streamer expands its stable of Hollywood movies available to its subscribers.
The agreement was negotiated for Lionsgate by senior vp, international business and legal affairs Christian Perala, who's based in the U.K.