The unparalleled success of the movie Warcraft in China is crossing platforms as the film is now slated to be released on some of the country's online streaming services. Legendary Entertainment, Warcraft distributor in China, sold the movie's exclusive rights to PPTV. The exact terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Legendary Pictures confirmed that it was record breaking.
According to Variety, PPTV acquired the rights to Warcraft for more than $18 million. Although the figure is still unconfirmed, the amount is more than double the previous highest licensing fee paid by a Chinese company for a single, imported film.
Since PPTV acquired exclusive rights for Warcraft, the company is allowed to syndicate the movie to other streaming platforms. Prices of streamed content in China usually varies. Most of the time, the film's overall rating, and audience demand will determine the price. Also, the time it takes for a movie to transition from the silver screen to the digital platform also affects the price with a trend showing that the quicker a movie transitions online, the higher its value will be.
Warcraft earned $24.5 million in the United States, a small amount compared to its China box office record of $156 million in just a span of five days.
Online video streaming is becoming a lucrative market in China. Companies operating in this market usually earn revenue through ads. However, some enterprising ones have also ventured into original content production, subscription schemes and transactional models.
PPTV is a company partly owned by Suning, a Chinese retail group. Suning made international headlines last week after the company bought a stake in Italian Serie A football club Inter Milan.
