Fox International Productions and Ivanhoe Pictures have signed a four-year deal to co-finance local language films in China, India, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, the partners said Tuesday.
Ivanhoe was launched by international financier Robert Friedland, producer John Penotti and media executive Ray Chen. The company has committed to investing an initial $130 million towards Fox International productions.
Fox International is a division of 20th Century Fox, and currently has local production businesses in 11 countries throughout Latin America and Western Europe. The studio said its local language films have made more than $500 million at the box office since the company began producing them four years ago.
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With China and Japan emerging as the second and third biggest sources of box office revenue, studios are increasingly looking for ways to break into that market. The new partners noted that Asia represents 42 percent of the international box office and local language films globally account for $6.5 billion, or roughly 30 percent, of the international box office.
“With the top four local product markets all being in Asia (India, China, Japan, and Korea), it continues to be a priority for Fox International Productions as we expand our activities in the region with this new deal,” Fox International Productions President Sanford Panitch said in a statement.
The pact will kick off with Ivanhoe investing in ten Fox International-produced films in India, Korea, China and Taiwan.
The deal was negotiated for Ivanhoe Pictures by Walk the Walk Entertainment’s