Alibaba wanted to team up with Sony on movie franchises, hacked e-mails show

Alibaba Group Holding showed interest in teaming up with Sony on movie franchises including Ghostbusters when founder and chairman Jack Ma Yun met Hollywood executives in October, e-mails revealed by hackers show.

Asia's largest internet company also considered investing in Pixels, a 3-D, computer-animated comedy starring Adam Sandler, and intends to produce about 10 films a year, according to messages to Sony Pictures Entertainment chief executive Michael Lynton.

Sony was the only studio where Ma met executives in person during Alibaba's whirlwind tour of Hollywood, with actor Jet Li Lianjie and others in his team of advisers talking to production houses to learn about co-investment in movies, the e-mails show.

Alibaba is hunting for films and television shows to compete against Tencent Holdings in the mainland's online video market, which could be worth 40 billion yuan (HK$50 billion) by 2017, according to iResearch estimates.

Alibaba also expressed interest in investing in a movie about Spider-Man villains known as the Sinister Six; Dragon Raja, a series of fantasy novels popular among young Chinese; and co-producing a film about One Piece, the best-selling manga comic series.