New Delhi - Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Big Entertainment group has signed deals with eight Hollywood production houses while chalking out a 10-billion-dollar game plan to emerge as one of the largest media and entertainment companies globally, news reports said Tuesday. The company will produce films with the biggest names in Hollywood including George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures and Nicolas Cage's Saturn Productions, the Live Mint business daily reported.
RBE is exploring 30 projects in Hollywood, the report said, quoting company president Rajesh Sawhney who announced at the Cannes Film Festival recently that the company will invest 1 billion dollars in eight to 10 Hollywood films over the next two years.
Although the deal is by far the biggest by an Indian company in the international entertainment space, Hollywood appears to be just one element of RBE's game-plan.
The Mumbai-based company is aiming to be a 10-billion-dollar enterprise "soon" to extend its reach domestically and globally, Sawhney told the newspaper.
The firm's larger blueprint include plans for one of the largest broadcast networks in India, the biggest portfolio of businesses in mobile and internet gaming, social networking, classified portals, as well as movies and video rental services.
RBE, which is a relative newcomer to the entertainment industry, has linedup major projects and has acquired about 200 theatres in the US apart from expanding its presence in India, Malaysia and Mauritius.
"In the US, the media and entertainment sector accounts for 10 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product). The global average is around 6-7 per cent. In India, the sector accounts for a mere 3-4 per cent of the GDP. Clearly, it's an opportunity that has not been exploited yet," Sawhney told the Mint.
Other media outlets reported that the RBE will also produce a total of 69 films in English and Indian languages over the next two years. The company is also planning to launch six television channels in India before the year end.
