The new movie Southpaw which is building a lot of hype about a possible Oscar nomination for the committed performance by headline star Jake Gyllenhaal, is also shining the spotlight on its backer, China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin.
Mr Wang is no stranger to the cinema after all he already owns the second largest US cinema chain, he recently acquired the Hoyts cinema chain in Australia and New Zealand and is building the world’s biggest studio-plus-theme park on China’s eastern coast.
Then there is his domestic Wanda Cinema Line, which has 150 theaters in more than 80 cities in China, so distribution of any movie he is backing will not be an issue.
Wanda Pictures is said to have invested US$25 million to get Southpaw made and predictions from the US are that the movie will gross around double of that sum.
However for Wanda Pictures it is not all about the money but learning the process and infrastructure of western movie making and creating strong content. As the opening credits roll you can expect to see the name of Wanda Pictures flashing across your cinema screen with more frequency.
