BEIJING, May 22, 2019 – Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, took its first step in the international movie market with the distribution of director Han Han’s car-racing comedy “Pegasus” in Japan.
With Maoyan as the lead distributor, “Pegasus”, written and directed by Han Han, has been in Japanese theaters since May 3. The movie was released in February in China during the Chinese New Year holiday and earned RMB1.7 billion (US$255 million) in the domestic box office.
“China’s movie industry has been growing rapidly in recent years and generating more and more high-quality movies,” said Maoyan Chief Operating Officer Kang Li. “As a leading distributor in China, Maoyan will leverage its experience and resources to help drive the movie industry’s growth, and bring more Chinese movies to the overseas market.”
While Japanese movies are gaining popularity in China, very few Chinese movies have typically entered the Japanese market. Even for the limited number of Chinese movies that have been distributed in Japan, there are frequently some delays for release in Japan after their distribution in China. Japanese movie-goers are curious about Chinese movies, and there is huge opportunity and potential for good Chinese movies in Japan, said Kang.
As the lead distributor for “Pegasus” in China, Maoyan decided to bring the movie to Japan to test the waters. The story of “Pegasus”, about the comeback of a former racing champion, is a good fit with Japanese pop culture. The friendship, family and never-give-up spirit conveyed in the movie are appealing to Japanese movie-goers, Maoyan believed.
Han Han is a well-known novelist, rally driver and movie director in China. “Pegasus” is his third movie after Duckweed (2017) and The Continent (2014).
“Pegasus” successfully entered Japan only three months after release in China. The Maoyan team developed a targeted distribution and promotion strategy for the movie. It first focused on the Chinese population in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama, and then expanded the campaign to other areas targeting broader audiences.
Cooperating with its Japanese partner ORIX China, Maoyan launched online and offline promotion campaigns for the movie, including big LED screen ads in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and posters in public transportation facilities in Japan.
“There is more to overseas movie distribution than just a transaction,” said Kang. “We are focusing on content marketing, so more overseas audiences can enjoy Chinese movies. Good movies are borderless.”
With its large user base and data insights, Maoyan has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider in China to a leading integrated platform in the entertainment industry empowering players in content production, distribution and promotion.
Maoyan pioneered Internet-based promotion and distribution services for movies, and became a leader in entertainment content services in China. In the first nine months of 2018, Maoyan provided entertainment content services for movies that contributed to approximately 90% of the gross box office in China.
About Maoyan Entertainment
Maoyan Entertainment (Hong Kong: 1896) is a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, offering online entertainment ticketing services, entertainment content services, e-commerce services, advertising services and others. Maoyan was the largest online movie ticketing service provider in China with a market share of 61.3%, as measured by GMV of movie tickets sold in the nine months ended September 30, 2018, according to the iResearch Report. Maoyan was the first to provide Internet-based promotion and distribution services for movies in China, and have now expanded such services to a broad range of entertainment content. In the nine months ended September 30, 2018, Maoyan provided entertainment content services for movies that contributed to over 90% of the gross box office in China. Maoyan’s MAU averaged 134.6 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2018.
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