BURBANK (CNS) – Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese media and real estate
conglomerate, is in advanced talks to buy the U.S. studio Legendary
Entertainment, a person familiar with the matter told the Los Angeles Times.
Wanda is closing in on a deal to acquire a majority stake in Legendary
for at least $1 billion, said the source, who was not authorized to comment
publicly on the negotiations, the newspaper reported this morning.
Legendary’s best known films include last year’s hit “Jurassic World,”
as well as “The Dark Knight” and “The Hangover” movies.
Legendary already has a significant presence in China, where it has an
agreement to co-produce movies with the powerful state-owned China Film Co.
The co-productions include the big-budget science fiction movie “The Great
Wall,” the upcoming Universal Pictures release starring Matt Damon.
A deal with Wanda would give Burbank-based Legendary a stronger foothold
in a market expected to surpass the size of the North American box office by
2017, according to The Times.
At the same time, a deal with Legendary could significantly boost the
ambitions of Wanda — China’s largest cinema company — to expand into film
production. Parts of “The Great Wall” were filmed in the eastern Chinese city
of Qingdao, where Wanda is building Wanda Studios Qingdao. The company bills
the facility as “the world’s largest film and television studio.”
