DEBUNKED: Disney Partners With Youku Tudou To Market Marvel Movies In China

UPDATE August 4, 2015: During a conference call with stockholders, Disney said that this story was [...]

By Russ Burlingame

marvel-studios-eventUPDATE August 4, 2015:

During a conference call with stockholders, Disney said that this story was not true, and that they haven't yet cracked exactly how they want to handle the Chinese home video marks going forward.

They suggested that while there is a lot of opportunity in China, the piracy issues in the market have prevented a legitimate home video market from "really taking off."

Walt Disney Studios will team with Youku Tudou to market Marvel films in China, the two corporations announced today.

Youku Tudou will serve as the exclusive online movie marketing platform in China for its Marvel collection of movies and TV series. This cooperation will see the popularity of Disney's Marvel brand and Youku Tudou's position as the #1 online video platform to drive online marketing through promotion of trailers, online ticketing, live events and original programming dedicated to Marvel's products.

"We are committed to expanding our media and entertainment ecosystem by working with strong partners. These partnerships, like the one with Disney, are multifold and give Youku Tudou the opportunity to use its strengths to further its business model and drive future revenue streams through high-quality content, innovative marketing efforts, and merchandising channels," said Victor Koo, Chairman and CEO of Youku Tudou.

Disney's Chinese Iron Man 3 production partner DMG recently teamed with Valiant Entertainment, leaving open the question of the long-term Chinese marketing and distribution plans in China. No more recent partnerships have been announced for Marvel, but given the relatively small number of Valiant movies in development, the Marvel behemoth may not consider DMG's Valiant relationship to be a conflict anyway.

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