| Le Vision Pictures 乐视影业 | |
| Type: | Private |
| Founder: | Zhang Zhao |
| Area Served: | China |
| Key People: | Zhang Zhao (Chairman & CEO) |
| Industry: | Film Production, Entertainment |
| Products: | Movies, Television Shows, Web Series |
| Net Income Year: | 2015 |
| Equity Year: | 2015 |
| Foundation: | 2011 |
| Location City: | Beijing |
| Locations: | 4 |
| Footnotes: | financial data unaudited[1] |
Le Vision Pictures is a film production and distribution company in China. Founded in 2011, Le Vision Pictures was originally a subsidiary of LeEco, a Chinese conglomerate founded by Jia Yueting. In 2018, Le Vision Pictures was sold to Chinese property group Sunac and renamed "Suniverse Film Entertainment".[2]
The company engaged in film production, film publicity and release, copyright operations, and business development. In 2019, Suniverse Film Entertainment was incorporated under the Sunac Culture Group with the goal of building a platform for family entertainment.[3] Popular films produced and distributed by the company include The Expendables franchise, The Bullet Vanishes, and the Tiny Times. The company also owns the copyrights to popular Chinese TV drama series such as Empresses in the palace, Legend of Mi Yue, and Red Sorghum.[4]
In 2011, former president of Enlight Pictures, Zhang Zhao, founded Le Vision Pictures, and is its chairman & CEO.
In May 2013, Zhang Yimou joined the firm as a contracted movie director and creative director.
In March 2014, director Lu Chuan joined.
During its first two years, Le Vision launched its “O2O Marketing System”, a business model to connect with consumers across new and established on-line/off-line platforms.
In August 2013, the firm raised RMB 200MM in its first round of financing, valuing it at RMB 1.5 billion.
In 2014, the company was the sixth-largest film distributor in China, with 4.1% of the market.[5]
In September 2014, Le Vision announced a second round of financing of RMB 340 million, at which time its value reached RMB 4.8 billion.
On 5 December 2015, LeEco announced that Le Vision Pictures would be sold to sister company le.com, subject to the approval of the shareholders of the listed company. As at 8 November 2016, the deal was not completed.[6]
In January 2017 Sunac China acquired 15% stake from LeEco.
Le Vision produced and distributed six films in 2012. The Bullet Vanishes was nominated for four Golden Horse Awards (Taiwan), including “Best Picture”, and thirteen Hong Kong Film Awards. The Expendables 2, in which Le Vision co-invested and also co-distributed in China, grossed over $57 million in China, accounting for 18.5% of its total global box office revenue.
In 2013, Le Vision released nine films, grossing a total of $170 million. This included Love Will Tear Us Apart, Tiny Times & Tiny Times 2. Tiny Times took in $78.9 million at the box office that summer, setting a new record in China for a 2-D film opening.
During 2014, Le Vision released 13 films, grossing nearly $390 million in box office revenue 3. set a new box office record for a domestic animation film. Zhang Yimou's Coming Home was selected for the “Special Feature” section at the Cannes Film Festival and made nearly $48.4 million—breaking the existing record for arthouse films.
Le.com, once the sister company of Le Vision Pictures, was one of the video-on-demand online entertainment platforms in China.