Tencent’s drive to become a media force in China is about to get a boost thanks to a new agreement that gives the company the online rights to Star Wars.
In a press release, Tencent said today it had inked a deal with Walt Disney that gives it exclusive rights to the first six Star Wars movies. That includes “Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” for which, on behalf of the rest of the world, I would like to apologize to the good people of China.
The Mouse bought Lucasfilm a couple of years ago and is now in the process of producing about 8,000 new Star Wars movies that we are all hoping won’t completely suck. “The Force Awakens,” the first of this new bunch, comes out in December. This new deal comes just in time to get China’s massive market of moviegoers in a frenzy for the new film.
As for Tencent, while the company mainly makes money from online games and its social networking apps, it’s been investing a lot in Tencent Video and a streaming music service in the hopes it can leverage its massive user base into new products.
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Last year, Tencent won the exclusive rights to show HBO stuff in China.
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