A Chinese marketing firm that will be handling the Beijing release of the summer popcorn flick “Transformers: Age of Extinction” announced today it plans to open its first U.S. office in Los Angeles.
With China the second-largest box office market in the world, China Movie Media Group’s expansion to Los Angeles will be “only the beginning of the relationship between the two biggest countries in the rising global film market,” company CEO Zhang Genming said.
The Chinese movie market has grown 30 percent annually in recent years, with revenues expected to surpass that of the United States by 2018, according to the company.
The company’s partnership with Paramount Pictures for the Beijing release of the latest “Transformers” film was “natural and compelling,” Zhang said, with parts of the movie filmed in China and its production done in collaboration with several Chinese companies, including China Movie Channel (CCTV6) and China Film Group.
Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore said the studio is “thrilled to be working in partnership” with China Movie Media Group.
Michael Bay-helmed movies are a hit with Chinese audiences, Moore said, “and with CMMG’s support, we hope ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ will continue that tradition.”
CMMG also offers movie services in the areas of production, investment and distribution. According to the company, it works with China’s top 10 movie theater chains to place advertisements for foreign and domestic films.
