Hollywood studio Legendary teams with state-owned China Film to make big-budget blockbusters

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FILE - In this March 26, 2006 file photo, an actor clad in a Batman costume greets local spectators after the grand opening ceremony of the Warner Bros. Studio Store in Shanghai, China. Hollywood studio Legendary Entertainment which produced "The Dark Knight" from 2008 signed an agreement with the state-owned China Film Group on Thursday, May 30, 2013 in Beijing. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

HONG KONG – Hollywood studio Legendary Entertainment and state-owned China Film Group have signed a deal to make big-budget movies.

It’s the latest example of growing collaboration between entertainment companies in the world’s two biggest movie markets.

Legendary said its Chinese venture, Legendary East, signed an agreement with China Film on Thursday in Beijing. The deal calls for the companies to fund development and production of multiple films over three years.

Their first collaborations will be announced in the coming months. Legendary said each will be a US-China co-production. That means China’s import restrictions on foreign movies won’t apply.

Faced with stagnant box-office growth at home, Hollywood studios are keen to break into China, now the world’s second-biggest film market.

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