\u201cThe Dark Knight Rises\u201d producer Thomas Tull will join with China\u2019s largest film production and distribution company to make big-budget films for release throughout the world, Tull\u2019s Legendary East studio said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Chinese company, China Film Co, is majority-owned by state-owned China Film Group, Legendary East said.<\/p>\n
With 2012 ticket sales of $2.7 billion, China is the second-largest film market in the world, after the United States, according to the trade group Motion Picture Association of America.<\/p>\n
Legendary East and China Film did not identify planned film projects or the amounts each side would contribute to the joint venture, other than to say they plan to fund \u201cmultiple pictures over an initial three-year term.\u201d<\/p>\n
The films will be distributed outside China by another Tull company, Los Angeles-based Legendary Entertainment.<\/p>\n
Legendary Entertainment, which produces big-budget films such as the \u201cDark Knight\u201d Batman series and this summer\u2019s \u201cMan of Steel,\u201d is negotiating with Hollywood studios for a new deal to replace its long-standing distribution agreement with Time Warner Inc\u2019s Warner Brothers studio.<\/p>\n