BEIJING, Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Heyi Pictures,
the movie business unit of Youku Tudou, unveiled its movie
projects for 2015. The six projects are mostly genre films,
reflecting Heyi's underlying strategy to bring successful
Intellectual Properties (IP) across the online and offline worlds
to the silver screen. They include a film adaptation
of Gardenia Blossom, a song performed by top TV show
host/actor Jiong He that captured
the hearts and minds of a generation of young Chinese students, and
a feature length version of Surprise, a top web comedy
show that has become a social phenomenon in China.
While (parent company) Youku Tudou has continued to expand its
presence in entertainment content, its movie production unit Heyi
Pictures has made remarkable inroads into the sector since the
unit's launch only six months ago:
- Heyi Pictures has co-produced 11 movies with total box office
receipts of RMB3.3 billion, including
The Continent, Fleet
of Time, and The Taking of the Tiger
Mountain 3D, which took 3 spots in China's top 10 domestic movies in 2014.
- Youku Tudou has marketed 88 movies with total box office
proceeds of RMB28 billion,
representing 42% of China's
overall box office receipts in the past three years, making it the
go-to company in Internet movie marketing in China.
"We are committed to building a multi-screen media and
entertainment ecosystem. The launch of Heyi Pictures gives us
crucial access to the movie industry, the crown jewel of
entertainment business, and I'm confident that the team is well on
track with the six movie projects planned for this year to
date," said Victor Koo, Chairman and CEO of Youku Tudou
and Chairman of Heyi Pictures.
Heyi Pictures attributes its initial success partly to the rise
of genre films in China in 2014: the two genre
films Fleet of Time and The Taking of the Tiger
Mountain 3D pulled in more than RMB500 million and RMB800
million, respectively. Heyi Pictures believes that the
domestic Chinese movie industry has evolved to a stage in which
genre films will rise to represent a significant share of the
market, as they do in many mature movie markets. The big success of
the above two titles was based on the right combination of themes
with local appeal with the proven genre formula, the former being a
top selling Internet novel, the latter being a household legend in
Peking Opera.
"I see 2015 as the year of genre films. We are capitalizing on
this opportunity by bringing successful Intellectual
Properties (IP) from the online and offline worlds to the silver
screen, transforming them into genre films that suit their original
stories," said Allen Zhu, CEO of Heyi Pictures. "It's a fast
and reliable way to create content for the silver screen.
IPs are in essence unique stories with branded characters, and
they have a word-of-mouth based reputation as well as an
existing community of fans. Our experience in Internet video and
incubating productions such as Old Boys and Little
Apple can be leveraged toward incubating other IPs as well.
We're sharing these experiences and we aim to become China's No.1 movie incubation platform."
Summary of Movie Projects
The 6 Intellectual Properties have accumulated total video
views/impressions of 6 billion to date in China, averaging almost 4 impressions for
every Chinese.
Surprise is China's top
web comedy with over 1.6 billion cumulative video views since its
2013 debut. Already a commercial success, it follows the day-to-day
misadventures of Dachui Wang as he navigates though hilarious
modern and classic situations. Surprise is full of laughs
and its quotability has created new everyday lingo for Chinese
netizens.
Let's Get Married is a popular Chinese romance TV series
from 2013 that achieved the highest viewership rating that year.
With over 4 billion cumulative views on the Internet, the series
depicts the meeting of two single thirty-somethings. One is afraid
of repeating the past while the other seems destined to be left
behind. Despite this, big sparks fly between the two, but will they
be big enough to ignite their future or fizzle into nothing?
You've Got to Have a Dream, What if it Comes True? is a
top selling comic book with a large Weibo following. Full of
heart-warming stories that feed the soul of all captivated by its
pages, followers have retweeted each cartoon more than 100,000
times. The title of the comic was even used by the CEO of Alibaba,
Jack Ma, as the title for Alibaba's
IPO Speech, showing how all connect with its substance.
Gardenia Blossom, is a song that captured the hearts
and minds of graduating Chinese students. Released in 2004, it
topped the charts for weeks and became "the song" for the
millennial generation. The lyrics trigger nostalgic memories of
growing up and friends drifting apart. Popular today, the
singer/TV personality has more than 56 million Weibo followers.
How Much Love Can Be Played, is a record setting
small theater stage play which has scored more than 3,000
shows across China since its debut
in 2006. It tells the story of a millennial and his personal
evolution through three romantic relationships. Easily relatable,
it begs the question whether everyone is destined for true love or
will some have to accept their fate in life, whatever it may
be.
A Teacher's Diary, was hailed as the best romance movie
for 2014 and a box office champion in Thailand. It was also recommended by the
National Federation of Thai Film Association as its candidate for
the best foreign-language film at the 2015 Oscars. The story
follows how a shared dairy connects two young teachers assigned to
a rural school a year apart. Although they have never met, the
pages in the dairy take life and they bond through their shared
emotions and experiences. Separated by time and the unknown,
will the future bring these two together?
About Youku Tudou Inc.
Youku Tudou Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) is China's leading Internet television company.
Its Youku and Tudou Internet television platforms enable users to
search, view and share high-quality video content quickly and
easily across multiple devices. Its Youku brand and Tudou brand are
the most recognized online video brands in China. Youku Tudou's American depositary
shares, each representing 18 of Youku Tudou's Class A ordinary
shares, are traded on the NYSE under the symbol "YOKU."
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SOURCE Youku Tudou Inc.