'Cinema city' opens in China to rival Hollywood

China on Saturday opened what it calls ‘’ a city of cinema’‘, the size of 500 football fields. It is hoping to rival Hollywood, attract foreign productions and boost the Chinese film industry.

“The creation of the Oriental Film Metropolis is a milestone in the industrialization of Chinese cinema that fills a void in the heavy film production industry.It encourages the development and promotion of Chinese films around the world’‘, Wang Jianlin , chief executive of Wanda group said.

The Chinese private conglomerate Wanda, initiator of the project, said some 6.5 billion euros have been spent to build this 376 hectare complex located in the seaside town of Qingdao.

Ten studios of the highest international standards have already been built. Ten more will follow in the coming years, including real estates, hotels and sport facilities.

“We are confident in our ability to bring together the world’s film resources to make Qingdao Eastern Movie Metropolis a new production centre in the global film industry’‘, Jianlin added.

This pharaonic site also includes a concert hall, a school, a hospital, luxury hotels and a yacht club, inspired by the one in Monaco.

Also planned is a 360,000 square metre shopping centre, including an ice rink, an amusement park and the largest cinema in Asia.

Two Sino-American blockbusters have already been shot in this city of cinema, “The Great Wall” in 2016, and “Pacific Rim Uprising” in 2018.

The project was launched in 2013 in the presence of Hollywood’s actors, Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio.

AFP