US animation company DreamWorks Animation SKG and its Chinese partners will set up a 20 billion yuan (HK$25.5 billion) theme park in Shanghai and produce Kung Fu Panda 3 in the city by 2016.
With initial investment of US$330 million, Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture between DreamWorks and three Shanghai government-backed investors - China Media Capital (CMC), Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment - aims to become a world-class animation studio. The US company will hold a 45 per cent share.
At a signing ceremony yesterday, the partners also announced plans to build a mega entertainment park on the riverfront area in the city's downtown Xuhui District, which is on the west bank of the Huangpu River. The total investment could top 20 billion yuan, making it one of the largest projects in China's cultural sector.
'We want to produce excellent original Chinese animation films,' said Li Ruigang,' chairman of CMC, who will also be the chief executive of Oriental DreamWorks. ' With the goal of improving 'soft power,' we want to produce top-class animation movies.'
Kung Fu Panda 3 will be the studio's first major film. The plan is to produce one to three movies each year from 2018.
DreamWorks' Shanghai project follows the success of its Kung Fu Panda franchise in China. Those two films commanded takings of 744 million yuan on the mainland.