Latest in Huayi Brothers

Heading into the traditionally lucrative summer period, China's censors are in overdrive as two local films with big potential have been yanked from schedules at the 11th hour, while the fate of at least one other hangs in the balance. This is particularly notable given the upcoming frame would typically kick off the…

Alibaba Pictures Group, the film division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has agreed a deal with film studio Huayi Bros, which includes a loan of $103M (RMB700M). Alibaba said the agreement was part of a plan to be more closely involved in major movies released during China’s four key holidays: Chinese New Year…

The status of Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, who has disappeared from public view amid speculation that she might be under government control in relation to a tax-evasion matter, could have a widespread impact on everything from film projects to media companies and brand relationships. In some cases, it already has…

The CEO of China's largest privately held film firm, Huayi Brothers Media Corp, says he’s eager to "renew and deepen” his company’s cooperation with Robert Simonds' STX Entertainment. Huayi's James Wang told Bloomberg over the weekend that — with their landmark three-year co-production and distribution deal due to…

André Rieu has done it again. The Dutch violinist’s CinemaLive holiday special, André Rieu: Christmas With André, has topped his own previous box office record, becoming the highest-grossing single-day music concert event of all time at UK and Irish turnstiles. Screening at 480 locations on Saturday, the concert…

Banijay Group has set drama veteran Takis Candilis as Head of Scripted. In the newly-created role, Paris-based Candilis will be directly in charge of Banijay's scripted production company in France and will oversee the entire scripted production business for the Banijay Group which recently merged with Zodiak Media…

EXCLUSIVE: Joe and Anthony Russo, who follow Captain America: Civil War with back-to-back sequels to The Avengers, are in negotiations to strike a substantial production partnership with China-based Huayi Brothers Media Corporation. The goal here is to hatch a full-service production and financing company to ramp up…

Stuart Ford’s sales-finance outfit IM Global is being majority acquired from India’s Reliance Group by Chinese media group Tang Media Partners. The news would mark the latest investment from China into the film business. Ford’s company, a mainstay of film markets since the former Miramax exec launched it in 2007, has…

China's Huayi Brothers is teaming with electronics giant Xiaomi on a joint venture into film production. This is Xiaomi's first foray into the movie business and according to local reports, will focus on developing writing talent. “We want to promote screenwriting, and the significance of screenwriters to film…

China’s stock market suspended trading on Thursday after the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell below 7% early in the session. That triggered for the second time this week a “circuit breaker” provision that eventually shuttered all trading for the day after only about 15 minutes. That was bad news for…

BREAKING: An impressive voice cast has boarded the animated family comedy Blazing Samurai with Samuel L. Jackson leading the way for the film that will be directed by Chris Bailey (Alvin And The Chipmunks) and Mark Koetsier (Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon). The film is about a scrappy dreamer of a dog named…

Two of China’s biggest Internet-focused companies — Alibaba and Tencent — have put their rivalry to one side to invest in China Media Capital’s smart-TV start-up Whaley Technology. The new company, which was founded by state-backed private-equity fund CMC this year, makes smart TVs. Alibaba, which is China’s biggest…