Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has come on board to support the Chinese release of Russian animated feature “Sheep and Wolves.”
The film was picked up for China release by Flame Node Entertainment and is headed for theatrical distribution from this summer. It is the third instalment in the “Snow Queen” franchise, and is produced by Moscow-based Wizart Animation and CTB.
Wizart, handling sales, also licensed the film to European distributors including Barter Entertainment (for Italy), European Dreams Factory (for Spain) and Lanterna de Pedra Filmes (for Portugal.)
The story involves a wolf who is transformed into a sheep after drinking a magic potion.
“China is one of the key territories for us. We are delighted to work with a market expert like Alibaba. Flame Node and Alibaba together will bring the powerful performances of Sheep and Wolves to as wide an audience as possible,” said Wizart producer Yuri Moskvin.
Alibaba Pictures Group, the movie arm of Alibaba, now offers a range of services to the film industry from project investment, to merchandizing sales and theatrical release support. Last week it announced that it is to invest $155 million in the shares of Dadi Cinema, China’s second largest cinema operator.
