Fox invests in 1st Chinese movie, romantic comedy now filming on the mainland

Fox invests in 1st Chinese film, a romantic comedy

HONG KONG — Fox Filmed Entertainment says it has invested in its first Chinese film, becoming the latest Hollywood studio to enter the booming mainland movie market.

The Chinese-language romantic comedy “Hot Summer Days” will be a co-production between Fox International Productions, China’s Huayi Brothers Media Corp. and satellite TV operator Star Television Asia Ltd., Fox and Star said in a joint statement late Tuesday. Fox and Star are both units of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

“China is undoubtedly one of the most exciting markets in the world today. And we hope this is just the beginning for Fox to make movies in the region,” the statement quoted Fox International Productions President Sanford Panitch as saying.

The film’s budget and the financial terms of the deal were not announced.

The film started shooting Aug. 12 and is filming in Beijing and the southern cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It combines six love stories starring Hong Kong pop stars Jacky Cheung and Nicholas Tse, Chinese-American actor Daniel Wu and Taiwanese actresses Rene Liu, Vivian Hsu and Barbie Hsu. Fashion photographer Wing Shya and screenwriter Tony Chan are making their directorial debuts.

Huayi Brothers, one of China’s leading film studios, will release the movie in China in early 2010, while Fox will distribute the film in other countries. Star holds Asian pay-TV rights outside China.

Mindful of its huge potential, studios have plunged ahead in China despite frustrations over censorship, piracy and access. China allows foreign movie studios to share profits on only 20 imports a year. Co-productions with Chinese companies like “Hot Summer Days” are exempt from the import quota.

Government statistics show the Chinese box office surged from 920 million yuan in 2003 to 4.3 billion yuan ($630 million) in 2008 — compared to $9.8 billion in the U.S. last year.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has had a long presence in the region through Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which invested in Ang Lee’s kung fu hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle.” Warner Bros. Pictures set up a joint venture with China’s state-run China Film Group and Hengdian Group in 2004. The Walt Disney Co. released the 2007 Chinese-language children’s film “The Secret of the Magic Gourd.” NBC Universal unit Focus Features recently invested in Hong Kong director Roy Chow’s thriller “Murderer.”