MUMBAI: India's Reliance Big Entertainment and Hollywood's Steven Spielberg have signed an 825-million-dollar deal to make half a dozen films every year, the companies said in a joint statement.
The agreement with Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios was signed late Wednesday in New York in the presence of the US director and Anil Ambani, chairman of the giant Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
Ambani said in a statement that he was 'delighted' with the partnership forged with Spielberg and his DreamWorks associate Stacey Snider, calling them 'uniquely talented individuals'.
Spielberg added: 'This venture with Reliance opens a new door to our future. Their visionary step has given us a new set of dreams to work toward.'
Reliance will put in 325 million dollars while the Walt Disney Company, which will handle worldwide distribution, except in India, will invest 125 million dollars, a Reliance Big Entertainment spokeswoman in Mumbai told AFP.
The balance of 375 million dollars will come from banks and financial institutions, she added. Reliance initially signed a tie-up with DreamWorks last year and has since been finalising the small print of the deal. The first films are expected to be released from 2010.
The Indian company has previously signed deals to expand its Hollywood reach with a number of US production companies owned by A-list actors including Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
In reaction to the deal, shares in the Reliance-owned Adlabs Films surged 19.5 percent to 354 rupees in early trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange Thursday, before retreating to just under 335 rupees.
Reliance ADA Group's media and entertainment business owns 428 cinema screens in India, the United States, Malaysia and Mauritius. -AFP
Its interests stretch from FM radio, music, gaming, animation and the Internet to mobile portals, direct-to-home television, Internet TV and mobile TV. -AFP
1 comment:
ambani is a very shrewd businessman .. i am sure he sees a lucrative return on investments for Reliance .. needless to say the rising power of indian entrepreneurial conglomerate transcends hindustan borders and asserts itself as a global trading power to reckon with!
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