(CFI) Leading Chinese studio Huayi Brothers Media broke ground on a new film studio in Nanjing, in China’s Jiangsu province on Wednesday.
Set in Nanjing’s Jiangning district, the development covers an area of 517 acres and is expected to attract at least 3 million domestic tourists per year.
The development, dubbed the Huayi Brothers Film Village, is being built for an undisclosed amount, and will principally be used for the shooting of period films.
Built within the Qinhuai wetland culture area, the film village will also include an “Italian/European” area for the shooting of films set outside of China.
Veteran Chinese directors Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Guoli joined Huayi Brothers’ Wang Zhongjun at the opening ceremony on Wednesday.
Feng, who has had a long-term relationship with Huayi Brothers, lent his name to their first tourism project, Feng Xiaogang Film Town, which started operating in Haikou, Hainan province, in 2015.
The company has plans to build 20 such projects across 13 cities in China. Huayi is reportedly receiving RMB 100 million from each park developer and a 10 percent cut of profits.
The exact amounts involved in the Nanjing deal, which is between Huayi Brothers and Nanjing Future Science And Technology City, have not been disclosed.
Rival film company Wanda is building a US$8 billion facility in the coastal city of Qingdao that is expected to be the biggest movie studio in the world when it opens in August 2018.
China is already home to Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang province which, at over 700 acres, is home to full-scale replicas of ancient imperial palaces.
Source: China Film Insider by Fergus Ryan