Hong Kong's famous Shaw Brothers studio to be revived as TVB goes to the movies
Broadcaster is in talks with major Hollywood studios to develop global Chinese-language films under revived Shaw Brothers brand
Free-to-air television giant TVB is reviving the Shaw Brothers brand to venture into the film business and develop Chinese-language titles with Hollywood for global distribution.
TVB's group chief executive Mark Lee Po-on told the South China Morning Post that the company aimed to produce films on the scale of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and it had been in talks with major studios in Hollywood.
"We are not just about Hong Kong and mainland China films. The collaboration will be east and west," Lee said yesterday. "We are talking to major Hollywood studios."
Lee declined to reveal details of projects under development or investment plans, but said announcements would be made in about six months.
TVB's film ambitions emerged after six years of trial. In 2009, the company entered into a joint venture agreement with Shaw Brothers to produce films, with a total capital contribution capped at HK$20 million.
The venture's latest success was Wong Jing's star-studded action comedy From Vegas to Macau II, which topped the mainland's Lunar New Year box office and has grossed more than HK$1 billion worldwide. Romantic drama Triumph in the Sky, developed from a popular TVB series of the same name, raked in more than HK$16 million in the box office at Lunar New Year.
"This proves our plan worked. Now we want to make film a part of our core business," Lee said.