NBA Inks Film Deal in China

Shanghai Film Group and the National Basketball Association recently announced a partnership to produce the 1st NBA-themed motion picture outside of North America.

The film, titled Amazing, features NBA stars, including Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard along with Asian actors Huang Xiaoming and Kim A Joong. Filming on the Hu Xuehua-directed project began on August 17, and will continue in Beijing, Shanghai and New York through November. The movie is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2011.

A basketball-themed movie about young people achieving their dreams through hard work, Amazing follows a long list of NBA-inspired movies made in the US, including He Got Game with Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington and Space Jam with 6-time NBA champion Michael Jordan.

Shanghai is the 1st official movie partner of the NBA in China and this marks the 1st time a Chinese company has partnered with a US sports league. It currently owns 640 feature films and is the largest cinema chain in China.

The NBA will return to play its 5th set of preseason games in China when the Houston Rockets and the New Jersey Nets play in Beijing and Guangzhou this October as part of NBA China Games 2010.