eOne to Open Peppa Pig World Theme Parks in China by 2019
eOne, the IP rights holder of British animated series Peppa Pig, recently announced that the company planned to open Peppa Pig World theme parks in China by 2019. The theme parks will be operated by Merlin Entertainment Group, which also operates Legoland and Madame Tussauds in China. According to Chen Jie, General Manager of Merlin Entertainment China, two Peppa Pig World theme parks will be opened next year in Beijing and Shanghai. Debuted on China’s CCTV in 2015, animated series Peppa Pig gained huge popularity among Chinese audiences. On Chinese video platform Youku, the series has been viewed over 1 billion times. Read more on entgroup.cn
China’s Uni Pictures and Canada’s Cambridge Media to Co-produce Crime Drama ‘The Abyss’
On April 18, China’s Uni Pictures and Canadian studio Cambridge Media officially announced their plan to co-produce crime drama film The Abyss. The film is set in both China and Canada, and eyes a 2019 global release. Uni Pictures was founded by Mike Mao and specializes in film financing, production and distribution. Striving to facilitate international co-production, the company launched online platform yoouni.com to provide co-production related resources and licensing services. Upon completion, the film’s global rights will be available on yoouni.com for sale. Read more on Mtime
Actor Chang Chen to Join Cannes Film Festival Jury
The 71st Cannes Film Festival unveiled this year’s full list of jurors. Taiwanese actor Chang Chen appears on the list as the only juror from Asia. Previously, Chinese actor Jiang Wen was on the jury of the 56th Cannes Festival. This year’s Cannes jury is led by renowned actress Cate Blanchett. In addition to Chang Chen, American actress Kristen Stewart, French actress Lea Seydoux, Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev, French director Robert Guediguian, Burundian singer Khadja Nin, and Canadian director Danis Villeneuve are also on the jury. Chang Chen is best known for his performance in films by various top Asian filmmakers, including Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, Ang Lee, John Woo, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Read more on xinhua
China Box Office Projected to Exceed $14.3 Billion by 2022
On April 18, an industry forum on the essence of Chinese cinematic storytelling took place at the 8th Beijing International Film Festival. At the forum, Chinese entertainment trade publication and business information service provider Ent Group released its forecast for future China box office. Ent Group predicts that China’s annual box office will exceed 90 billion yuan ($14. 34 billion) by 2022. In addition, film-related sectors will generate over 200 billion yuan ($31.87) in total revenue. It also predicts that future growth of the Chinese box office will heavily rely on cultivating moviegoing habits in third and fourth tier cities as well as improving the storytelling of domestic films. Read more on entgroup.cn
