(THR) Alibaba Pictures, the film financing and production arm of Jack Ma's Alibaba Group, is gearing up to give Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible — Fallout a muscular marketing push in China.
The company inked a deal some time ago with Paramount, boarding the film as both an investor and local marketing partner.
Fallout has already earned $457 million and counting worldwide, and it's set to open in China, the world's second-biggest film market, on Aug. 31.
Alibaba says it will be giving the film broad support with both digital and in-theater promotional campaigns, as well as supporting ticket sales through its influential and ubiquitous online movie-ticketing platform Taopiaopiao. The internet giant will also promote Fallout through mobile ads and splash screens across the Alibaba digital ecosystem, which reaches more than 500 million Chinese consumers.
Alibaba played a similar role in 2015 for the China release of Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, which earned $682.7 million worldwide, with $135.7 million coming from China.
"China represents one of our most robust and important markets, particularly with the kind of adrenaline rush that the Mission: Impossible franchise offers,” said Mark Viane, Paramount's president of international theatrical distribution. "We look forward to continuing this partnership with Alibaba and bringing more box-office hits to China in the years to come."
Alibaba Pictures has had an up-and-down summer. The studio was an investor and online marketing partner for two of China's biggest hits of the season — Beijing Culture's Dying to Survive ($452 million) and Mahua FunAge's Hello Mr. Billionaire ($348 million and counting). But it also co-produced and supported China's biggest flop of all-time, fantasy epic Asura, which cost more than $110 million to make but was bizarrely pulled during its opening weekend after earning just $7 million.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by