Dalian Wanda to buy stake in Legendary Entertainment

The Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, which already owns the AMC chain of multiplex cinemas, is poised to buy a majority stake in a Hollywood production company that makes blockbuster-style movies, giving the politically powerful company with close ties to the Communist Party's ruling elite a foothold in the heart of America's entertainment industry.

中国综合性大企业大连万达集团已买下了运营多银幕影院的AMC电影公司，如今，万达正准备购买好莱坞一家制作大片风格电影的制片公司的多数股权，这将让万达在美国娱乐业腹地拥有一个立足点，有强大政治背景的万达与共产党的统治精英关系密切。

Investors in the production company, Legendary Entertainment, have agreed to sell Wanda their stakes in a deal that values Legendary at about $4 billion. The investors cashing out of Legendary own a little more than 50 percent of the company, these people said.

该制片公司是传奇影业，公司的投资者已同意把他们所持的股份出售给万达，这笔交易把传奇影业的价值估计在约40亿美元。这些知情人士说，投资者出售的传奇影业股份加起来略高于公司50％的股权。

The rest of Legendary will continue to be owned by its management, including Thomas Tull, a former laundromat owner who founded the production company in 2000 and turned it into a Hollywood powerhouse. Legendary's hits include "Godzilla" and "Pacific Rim." It has also been trying, with limited success, to develop a television division.

传奇影业的其余股份将继续由公司管理层拥有，包括前洗衣店老板托马斯·图尔，他于2000年创建了这家制片公司，使之成为一家好莱坞巨头。传奇影业制作的高票房大片包括《哥斯拉》和《环太平洋》。公司也一直在努力发展电视事业，但只取得了有限的成功。

Industry experts say the deal makes sense for both Wanda and Legendary, which tends to produce the type of big-budget, special-effects-driven movies that Chinese audiences like. In addition to owning AMC, Wanda controls the biggest cinema chain in China, where box office receipts are set to eclipse the North American market in coming years. Wanda, a company owned by China's richest man, can provide Mr. Tull with money, a growing audience and a champion in China that can get more of his films into the tightly controlled market.

业界专家表示，这笔交易对万达和传奇都有道理，传奇影业倾向于制作大预算、以特殊效果为主的电影，而中国观众喜欢这类影片。万达除了拥有AMC外，还控制着中国票房收入最高的电影院线，中国的电影票房收入预计在未来几年内将超过北美市场。万达由中国的首富拥有，公司可以为图尔提供现金、越来越多的观众，及其在中国的倡导者，这样就可以让传奇影业制作的更多片子进入中国严格控制的市场。

"Wanda represents a good source of funding for him," Peter Schloss, managing partner of CastleHill Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the media and sports industries, said by telephone from Beijing. "Wanda likes the deal because it segues into the approach that they are using to build themselves into a multifaceted entertainment conglomerate."

"万达对他来说代表一个很好的资金来源，"彼得·施洛斯从北京通过电话说，他是一家专门投资媒体和体育产业的商业银行CastleHill Partners的管理合伙人。"万达欢迎这笔交易，因为这笔交易是让其转型的一种方式，万达正在把自己打造成一个多方面的娱乐集团。"

The deal, earlier reported by Reuters, deepens Wanda's foray into the movie production business. Wanda made a splash in 2013 when it announced the construction of a mammoth, $8.2 billion studio in eastern China, flying in stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman for the occasion. Last year, Wanda helped produce "Southpaw," a boxing movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams, which was released by the Weinstein Company. Wanda bought the AMC chain for $2.6 billion in 2012, including $2 billion in assumed debt.

路透社在早些时候报道了这笔交易，交易加深了万达向电影制作业的进军。万达2013年曾引起轰动，当时公司宣布在中国东部投资500亿人民币建设规模最大的影视产业基地，还请来了莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥和妮可·基德曼等明星到场助阵。去年，万达帮助制作了《左撇子》，这是一部由杰克·吉伦哈尔和瑞秋·麦克亚当斯主演的有关拳击的电影，由温斯坦公司发行。2012年，万达花了26亿美元收购了AMC电影公司，其中包括所承担的20亿美元的债务。

Ticket sales in China grew nearly 50 percent in 2015, to $6.78 billion, according to government data. ("Pacific Rim," for instance, collected $112 million in China in 2013.)

据报道，中国的电影票房收入2015年增长了近50％，达到约439亿元人民币。（2013年，《环太平洋》在中国的票房收入是1.12亿美元。）

Coming Legendary films include a "Godzilla" sequel that pairs the radioactive lizard with King Kong, and "Warcraft," an expensive adaptation of the popular video game. Legendary releases its films in partnership with Universal Pictures, a division of the Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.

即将上映的传奇影业片子包括《哥斯拉》的续集，放射性蜥蜴将在续集中与金刚对打，另一部是花了许多钱根据流行视频游戏改编的《魔兽争霸》。传奇影业与环球影业合作发行电影，环球影业是康卡斯特拥有的NBC环球的一个部门。