Wanda scales back its Hollywood dreams

Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin was on the verge last year of becoming the entertainment industry’s newest mogul, snapping up prime media assets and setting his sights on a major Hollywood studio. But according to The Wall Street Journal that breakthrough now seems remote with the $13 billion sale of assets by Wang’s majority-owned company Dalian Wanda Group to Sunac China Holdings. Buried in the fine print of filings related to the asset sale is the disclosure that Wang is unloading his nascent sound-stage business, known as Wanda Studios. The 30 film and TV sound stages are part of the Qingdao Movie Metropolis entertainment complex Wang was building in the seaside city of Qingdao. Once billed as a $7.4 billion project with production facilities, a studio tour, outdoor theme park, yacht club and hotels, the Qingdao Movie Metropolis was the focal point of Wang’s filmmaking ambitions.