Celestial Pictures has signed a deal with Beijing Netmovie Co which will see 662 Shaw Brothers films distributed through chains of internet cafes in mainland China.

Netmovie has licensed internet, IPTV and mobile platform rights to the titles which include classics such as The Kingdom And The Beauty, The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin and Love In A Fallen City. The deal also includes 170 hours of original TV dramas from Celestial Pictures.

For the online portion of its distribution plans, Netmovie will distribute the titles via its proprietary platform, VV8.com, through cyber cafe circuits including China Internet Cafes Cinema Line, China Cyber Cinema Line, China Campus Cinema Line and China Domestic Cinema Line.

'Netmovie insists on the strategy of authorised copies of movies, and is now becoming the digital entertainment service provider that owns the most movie resources and channel resources in China,' said Netmovie co-CEO Shao Yuanyuan.

Established in 2004, Netmovie has created a serious of virtual cinema circuits in cyber cafes across China. Its VV8.com platform reaches 30,000 internet cafes and potentially 90 million households across the country.

The company also distributes content from Hong Kong's Media Asia Group and Sil-Metropole Organization, China's Enlight Pictures and Hong Kong broadcasters TVB and Asia TV.

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