Fury, a Hollywood blockbuster starring US actors Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf, is set for a North American release in November, and it's likely to enter Chinese theaters at the same time. Huayi was a major investor in the film, which has a budget of $75 million.

Huayi also helped finance three other Hollywood productions that are scheduled for release in 2015, including two animated features.

Huayi reported revenue of 2 billion yuan ($328 million) in 2013, up 45.2 percent, with net profit surging 172.7 percent to 667 million yuan.

The combination of capital from China, the movie mogul's extensive industry connections and Sony's strong distribution networks will make the new venture competitive, Peng said.

But there are risks in the deal. For example, Sony had a hard time last summer, mainly because of two big-budget flops-White House Down and After Earth-which were responsible for its fall in the top 10 US film distributors list by market share. Its position declined from first in 2012 to fourth in 2013.

"A lack of clear corporate development orientation is to blame for Sony's performance decline last year," said Shao Gang, deputy director of consulting for the culture and entertainment industry at Horizon Research Consultancy Group in Beijing

For Huayi, the significance of the deal is perhaps more symbolic than anything, Shao said.

"Another potential risk (is that) film producers have to satisfy a global audience as well as Chinese moviegoers when it comes to the content" of movies, said Peng.

Robinov left the US film studio in June last year after losing a contest for the chief executive officer's job to home-entertainment chief Kevin Tsujihara.

 

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