HONG KONG (March 22, 2016) Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), operator of the largest bouquet of pan-Asian channels dedicated to Asian entertainment, announced today that it has secured the first and exclusive pay TV rights to Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid as part of a licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television for CTE’s channels in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore.  The Mermaid is now the highest-grossing film of all-time at the Chinese box office.

 “We are very excited to secure rights for Stephen Chow’s record-breaking blockbuster The Mermaid through our deal with Sony Pictures Television,” said Ofanny Choi, Executive Vice President, TV Networks, Celestial Tiger Entertainment. “Stephen is a master filmmaker both in front and behind the screen, and we are glad to secure his latest hit for our channels. This film, together with the films from our five output deals, cements our commitment to bring our viewers the biggest Chinese blockbusters with the biggest stars.”

The Mermaid is the tenth directorial effort by visionary filmmaker and comedy superstar Stephen Chow. The fantasy comedy stars newcomer Jelly Lin Yun as a mermaid who is tasked to seduce a ruthless real estate developer (played by Deng Chao) in order to save her kind’s natural habitat. The US$60 million production shattered box office records in China during the Lunar New Year holiday, including the biggest opening day ever for a local film. The Mermaid is also the highest-grossing film of all-time in China with a box office gross of US$520 million and counting.

In addition to The Mermaid, CTE has also secured two other Chinese blockbuster hits of 2016 for its channels: The Monkey King 2, starring Aaron Kwok as the legendary Monkey King and Gong Li as Lady White Bone, and From Vegas To Macau 3, the all-star action comedy sequel starring Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. The Monkey King 2 and From Vegas to Macau 3 were the second and third biggest hits in China during the lunar New Year holiday respectively. The two films and The Mermaid helped propel the Chinese box office to over US$1 billion in February, surpassing the U.S. box office for the first time.

CTE has the most exclusive output deals among Chinese movie channels in the region, including deals with renowned Hong Kong movie studios Distribution Workshop, Emperor Motion Pictures, Media Asia, Mega-Vision Project Workshop and Universe Entertainment.

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