The golden age of Hollywood could stage something of a comeback. Chinese property tycoon Wang Jianlin is interested in buying Lions Gate Entertainment, the $5-billion producer of movies including "The Hunger Games". In a nod to the early integrated film-making business model, that would put a studio under the roof of Wang's conglomerate Dalian Wanda alongside US cinema chain AMC Entertainment.
Beijing allows ownership of both studios and exhibitors, but such combinations were deemed anti-competitive by the US Supreme Court in 1948. Under the so-called Paramount Decrees, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros and others were forced to break up in a ruling that began the dismantling of the original Hollywood studio system and which also became a broader, landmark antitrust case.
Wang met with Mark Rachesky, Lions Gate's chairman and biggest owner, about two months ago, and said in a Bloomberg interview published on Monday that he wants control of the moviemaker. Owning a marquee producer would be a big step for Wanda's global ambitions. In addition to its 80 per cent stake in $2.6-billion AMC and the fast-growing cinemas it owns in China, Wang wants to buy in Europe to achieve a goal of controlling a fifth of the worldwide market by the end of the decade.
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Dreamworks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg raised eyebrows in April when he said movies are not a growth business. As a result, he predicted, after 17 days - or the three opening weeks in which almost all theatrical revenue is generated anyway - movies soon would be available on TV and mobile devices. That suggests the economics of exclusivity might be appealing, especially given AMC's 60 per cent decline in net profit for the first nine months of 2014. Reverting to a century-old script also suits Tinseltown, which loves little more than a remake.
