Wang Jianlin: The Chinese Billionaire buying entertainment companies

Community Tech Policy & News
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Who is Wang Jianlin? Well he is from China. This is what he looks like:

He owns:
Dick Clark Productions [Bought it recently]
AMC theatres
Legendary Entertainment

He has placed in a bid to buy Carmike Cinemas

Why am I bring this up? Partly because I find it really interesting. China is a huge market for entertainment. He also wants to buy one of the major motion picture production companies.

Congress is pushing back saying this result in censored films. The thing is Hollywood does already try to make films appeal to a China audience. Huge example is Doctor Strange. Did you know the original Doctor Strange story line takes place in Tibet? The film has no reference to that. Still takes place in Asia [Partly.]

I personally think with this guy getting involved with film making could be a good thing. More films being made in China with Asian actors making it over to the US and being major motion picture to boot.

One film being made as a result of Wang buying Legendary is THe Great Wall film:

If you wonder why does it have Matt Damon? You can read what the director says in response:

Text of what he said cause autoplay video at link:

In many ways The Great Wall is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent pole scale for a world audience. I believe that is a trend that should be embraced by our industry. Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall. Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them — the other four are all Chinese. The collective struggle and sacrifice of these heroes are the emotional heart of our film. As the director of over 20 Chinese language films and the Beijing Olympics, I have not and will not cast a film in a way that was untrue to my artistic vision. I hope when everyone sees the film and is armed with the facts they will agree.

I imagine with time this will change.

What are your thoughts about Wang Jianlin getting involved with film making?

1 Like
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I am sure there will be boycotts of his movies in Hong Kong and other places.

.#HongKongisnotChina

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Make one more Matt Damon movie and I swear to Batman, I won't be responsible for my actions. Lol j/k. Except I really am tired of him. The Martian would have been way better had someone else been in it.

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Are we allowed to make Wang jokes ...

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Wouldnt be suprised if he also does a bid at eyeworks.

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I do not like consolidation of companies in the same field, also don't really like a Chinese mogul, or any foreign entity, outright buying US based companies.......

But I guess we get what we deserve, and if no one in the US is doing what he is doing and the public does not care shrug

I would only care if it comes out he is allowing movies that doesn't talk about china in a bad way or some sort of censorship.

Also that great wall movie looks like a movie you have to turn your brain off at best, trash at worst lol but I wont call it garbage tell I see it. Who thing sounds like marketing to me.

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The Matt Damon thing makes me cringe. I am so tired of Asian films being whitewashed for American consumption because Americans are too racist to watch an Asian actor in what should be an Asian role in an Asian language in an Asian film (see The Last Samurai). This needs to stop.