Billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. is pushing back the opening of the world’s biggest movie studio by more than a year .
The studio, part of the 50-billion-yuan ($7.6 billion) Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis complex in eastern China, is now scheduled to open in August 2018, Wanda said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg queries, without explaining the reason for the delay. The company, which previously said the entertainment complex would debut to the public in April 2017, couldn’t provide a timeline for when the other projects will open.
For Wang, the project builds on his ambitions to expand his global entertainment empire, which already includes AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s cinema chain in the U.S. Earlier this month, Wanda announced it would buy “Godzilla” producer Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion.
The park itself is poised to be massive and goes beyond making movies. Besides occupying 3.76 million square meters — enough to fit more than 900 American football fields — it will include an exhibition center, mall, yacht club, hotels and a hospital, according to Wanda.
Wang has a fortune of $27 billion, rivaling Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Jack Ma for the top spot in China and Asia, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
