Owner of Leawood-based AMC Entertainment reportedly close to pact with Sony

Sony Corp. and the Dalian Wanda Group Co., the owner of Leawood-based AMC Entertainment, are close to an agreement to collaborate on a number of movie projects, a source told Bloomberg News.

An accord could involve co-financing and other forms of cooperation, such as marketing, said the source, who asked not to be identified. Wanda may finance up to 10 percent of some films, the person said.

The deal would ally Sony Pictures, a studio that has struggled to find hits in recent years, with a theater owner that’s become an active investor in the movie business worldwide. Sony, whose franchises include “Spider-Man,” could gain greater access to China, where Wanda is the largest exhibitor.

Wanda, controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, China’s second-richest man, has been an active investor in the movie business, snapping up the independent film producer Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion in January and more recently agreeing to buy U.S. theater operator Carmike Cinemas Inc. through its AMC Entertainment movie chain.

Bloomberg News

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Owner of Leawood-based AMC Entertainment reportedly close to pact with Sony."