Hollywood connections are more important than financial resources. Wang Jianlin needs to wait patiently

In Hollywood, who you know and whether the most important insiders trust you are equally important. There are many things in Hollywood history: it lures wealthy newcomers into the game but never fully rewards the promise to them.

Original title: Hollywood is at risk, Wang Jianlin should be cautious

In the movie "Kong: Skull Island", the gentle giant ape King Kong is back. The movie, the latest in the old Hollywood series "King Kong", took first place at the box office in its first weekend after being released in the United States. That relieved the film's producer, Legendary Entertainment, and its owner, China real estate group Wanda.

Wanda needs some good news after its recent failed $1 billion acquisition of Dick Clark Productions. Dick Clark Productions is an American television group that produces awards ceremony programs such as the Golden Globes. Wanda doesn't want to become another classic Hollywood figure: a foreign investor who tried to squeeze into La La Land with glistening eyes but was eventually slaughtered.

For China companies that have recently queued up to invest in Hollywood-including a copper-processing company in Anhui Province that wants to enter the film industry-there are dual risks. Not only may they suffer humiliation in the U.S. entertainment industry, but they may also cause damage to their domestic business by alienating Beijing.

This became obvious not long ago. In mid-March, China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan described part of the US$220 billion overseas investment by China companies last year as "blind and irrational investment." He added that some investments "have also had a negative impact on the country's image." In China, where political connections are crucial, getting this kind of evaluation is unbearable.

Wanda has not yet been humiliated, but as the legendary and owner of AMC, the American movie theater chain, it is the most visible China company in Hollywood and therefore the most watched. For Wang Jianlin, billionaire and founder of Wanda, he should show some patience now rather than continue to knock on the door of Los Angeles 'six major film companies and seek to reach another acquisition deal.

So far, Wang Jianlin has shown King Kong's directness in the entertainment industry, which is exactly the same as his style in China's real estate industry. He has built a large number of Wanda Plaza leisure shopping centers across China. After building an international cinema network by acquiring AMC in the United States, Odeon in Europe and Nordic Cinema, Wang Jianlin publicly said he would be a "happy buyer" for film production companies like Paramount.

If he continues to knock hard, he is likely to end up knocking as he wishes. Sony Pictures, which reached a financing agreement with Wanda in September last year, is in a difficult situation. Similar difficulties have arisen many times since Sony Pictures acquired Colombia Pictures in 1989, becoming the first Asian company to enter Hollywood. The slowdown in growth in China, the world's second-largest film market, last year also dragged down other markets.

Wang Jianlin is in a strong position in some aspects. Wanda's funds are very strong and can be used as he pleases. He can provide preferential access to the China market. China is a restricted market: there is a limit on the number of Hollywood films that can be shown each year, but there are no such restrictions on films co-produced by China and foreign countries. Producers also have a higher share of the China box office where co-produced films.

But Hollywood does not operate solely on brute force and financial resources. Some people have learned this lesson before. In Hollywood, who you know and whether the most important insiders trust you are equally important. There are many things in Hollywood history: it lures wealthy newcomers into the game but never fully rewards the promise to them.

As a China developer, Wang Jianlin should be familiar with this trick. Wang Jianlin founded Wanda in Dalian when Bo Xilai, a former Politburo member who has now been dismissed, was mayor of Dalian. Since then, he has benefited greatly from maintaining close relations with local authorities. He has deep connections within the ruling Communist Party of China, dating back to the 1930s, when his father participated in Mao Zedong's Long March.

This brought opportunities within China, but he lacked such connections in Hollywood. Legend encountered setbacks after Wanda acquired a majority stake in 2015 for a high price of $3.5 billion and founder Thomas Tull left in January this year. The US$1 billion Wanda had originally paid to acquire Dick Clark Productions was also seen by rivals as overpaying.

The huge difficulty Wang Jianlin faces is that he is pursuing something that does not yet exist: a global film market. Hollywood's dependence on China financing has led to more films being made in China and more China actors-such as Jing Tian in "King Kong: Skull Island"-appearing on the screen. But although the world is used to American heroes, American movie audiences are not interested in China's myths and legends.

"Great Wall," a monster action film starring Matt Damon, produced by Legendary Company to fill the gap, is set in the Song Dynasty of China. The effort seemed clumsy. In February, the film's box office fell sharply in the U.S. market. This in turn casts a shadow on the prospects of Wanda's Oriental Movie Metropolis. Oriental Film Capital is a film shooting site and resort located in Qingdao City. Part of "The Great Wall" was filmed here. Wanda hopes to use "The Great Wall" to attract more international films to be produced here.

If Wang Jianlin can wait, he will still gain something. Aynne Kokas, author of "Hollywood Made in China," points out that China President Xi Jinping craves the kind of soft power where "everyone in the world wants to see China movies." Balancing this desire is another desire: that China companies not squander money or make fools of themselves in Hollywood and elsewhere. But his ambition for China films has not been lost.

A ill-judged takeover could anger not only US politicians but Mr Xi, who is struggling to balance those two aspirations. Patience is not one of Wang Jianlin's strengths, but he must become patient.

Editor: Nancy