Eros International’s Trinity Pictures announces two
Indo-Chinese co- productions with leading Chinese film companies, Peacock
Mountain Culture & Media Ltd and Huaxia Film Distribution Co. Ltd.
The films will be directed by Kabir Khan & Siddharth
Anand and released in Fiscal 2018
Eros International Media Ltd, a
leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced
today that Trinity Pictures, India’s first franchise feature film studio, is
planning two landmark Indo-China co-productions to be released in Fiscal 2018
—Kabir Khan’s travel drama The Zookeeper (working title) and Siddharth Anand’s
cross-cultural romantic comedy Love in Beijing (working title). The films will
co-produced with China’s Peacock Mountain Culture & Media Ltd. and Huaxia
Film Distribution Co. Ltd.
The two films are the first ever Indo-China
co-productions set in both India and China and will have Han Sanping, former
Chairman of China Film Group, as their Creative Producer. Sanping has produced
more than 300 films and 100 TV series, including Red Cliff, Karate Kid and Let
the Bullet Fly.
With the cast from both India and China - a leading
Indian male actor and leading Chinese actress, Kabir Khan’s human drama, The
Zookeeper, tells the journey of an Indian zoo keeper to China to find a panda
to return to India with in order to save his zoo. Siddharth Anand’s
cross-cultural romantic comedy, Love in Beijing, also with an A-lister Indian
actress and leading Chinese male actor is based on an Indian girl who falls in
love with a Chinese man. Production costs for The Zookeeper by Kabir Khan are
expected to be (approximately) USD $25.0 million and Love in Beijing
(approximately) USD $15.0 million. The films will be shot simultaneously in both
languages and are due for release in Fiscal 2018.
While the original stories were developed by the Trinity
Pictures Writers’ Room, creative teams from both Trinity Pictures and the
Chinese film companies have worked closely on the scripts to create storylines
that blend Sino-Indian culture. The films will be shot across India and China
with major parts of Kabir Khan’s The Zookeeper shot in Chengdu while Siddharth
Anand’s Love in Beijing will be shot in Beijing and its suburbs.
Commenting on the Indo-China co-productions, Jyoti
Deshpande, Group CEO, Eros International said, “We continue to establish our
dominant global distribution network including entry into the Chinese market.
We believe China to be a significant market opportunity for Indian films. Following
our co-production treaties last year, we are very proud to announce the first
of our joint productions going into production soon. With Trinity, we also want
to tell stories that transcend the language barrier and have mainstream appeal.
We believe our Indo-China co-productions will be game-changing as we pave the
way to open up one of the largest film markets in the world.”
Ajit Thakur, CEO, Trinity Pictures added, “It’s a
revolutionary milestone for Indian cinema as Eros’ Trinity Pictures becomes the
first Indian studio to collaborate with China’s Huaxia Film Distribution Co.
Ltd and Peacock Mountain Culture & Media Ltd and deliver our vision for a
truly global film. Having two acclaimed directors like Kabir Khan and Siddharth
Anand on board with us, is a big leap towards opening one of the biggest and
the fastest growing film markets in the world.
With these co-productions being shot in both languages, we hope to
present compelling film content, weaving in the socio-cultural worlds of both
countries, which should appeal to the massive Sino-Indian market".
Creative Producer, Han Sanping said, "Creating an
entertaining movie for two of the biggest markets in the world is a big
challenge. But having good creative people from both India and China working
together we are sure to be successful."
Allen Liu, Partner, Peacock Mountain added on the
association, “It's exciting to finally pull the curtains over the efforts from
writers from both India and China side. Getting the right and the organic story
was one of the most important aspect for both the teams from beginning. Hope
the movie shapes up to be a true co-production”.
Director Kabir Khan commented, “It’s an exciting
challenge to shoot the film in two languages, a first for me and creating a
whole new world of completely unique characters. There is tremendous potential
with similarities in art and culture and I hope to present a film that will be
a complete package and will combine the ethos of both the countries."
Director Siddharth Anand said, “I am thrilled to be part
of a film that will cater to a much wider audience, span new geographies and
reach new territories. We are working on a story and creating characters that
should resonate with audiences in both markets."
Last year, Eros International signed memorandums with
leading Chinese state owned film companies China Film Group Corp, Shanghai Film
Group and Fudan University for the exploitation of intellectual property rights
as well as to develop, co-produce and distribute Indo-China films across all
platforms in both countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state
visit to China.
As per PwC Outlook 2016, China is expected to overtake
the US box office in 2016 growing to $10.3 billion. In 2015, the box office grew to $6.3 billion
marking a 49% year on year growth. In comparison,
the US box office is expected to contract from $10.3 billion to $10 billion
next year, with Hollywood’s share of the Chinese box office slipping to 38.4%
in 2015 from 45.5% in 2014. In early 2014, China had just under 19,000 screens
and by end of 2015, that number grew to almost 32,000. Overall, China is
propelling Asia-Pacific’s growth (including Indonesia, Malaysia) with box
office revenue across Asia-Pacific expected to grow to $21.11 billion by 2020
and thus continue to emerge as important growth markets for Bollywood.
About Eros International Media Ltd
Eros International Media Ltd. (BSE Script Code: 533261;
NSE Script Code: EROSMEDIA) is a leading global company in the Indian film
entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films
across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media.
Eros International is part of Eros International Plc, which became the first
Indian media Company to raise capital and be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a
global platform for Indian cinema. The company has a competitive advantage
through its extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 2,000 films,
which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. Eros
International has built a dynamic business model by combining the release of
new films every year with the exploitation of its film library. For further
information please visit: www.erosintl.com
About Trinity Pictures
Trinity Pictures, Eros International’s motion pictures
production division, launched in February 2015, is India’s first and only
character-driven franchise feature studio. Trinity Pictures furthers the
company’s endeavor to invest in developing intellectual property in-house. With
a focus on creating fresh concepts in new spaces, Trinity is also the first
Bollywood studio in India with a dedicated in-house team of writers in the
‘Trinity Writers’ Room’. Trinity will leverage its characters across entertainment,
publishing, licensing and digital.
About Peacock Mountain
Peacock Mountain Culture & Media Ltd. is film project
planning, production, artist management company. The primary focuses of the
company are co-production of non-Hollywood films, domestic productions in space
of theatrical, web and TV and investments in both global and domestic movies.
