The comic book guru is getting into film financing as it emerged that Panda Media Partners, a joint venture between Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Fidelis Entertainment, has teamed up with Hong Kong-based Ricco Capital Holdings.

Magic Storm Entertainment will develop and produce a new universe of superheroes for the global marketplace, with an eye on China. Details of the first feature project will be released later this summer.

Magic Storm will be based in Los Angeles and Fidelis Entertainment’s Eric Mika has been appointed CEO, overseeing all business development opportunities for Ricco Capital. Magic Storm is represented by James Thoma, Reed Smith LLP.

“I have been eagerly awaiting this great opportunity, a chance to combine the best of American superhero epics with the best of Chinese and Asian classical filmmaking for a motion picture that would be excitedly received worldwide,” Lee said.

“Stan Lee is a global icon whose characters and brands have generated more than $6 billion US at the global box office and sparked vast international toy, video game and merchandise sales,” Wu Siu Chung, chairman of merger and acquisitions boutique Ricco Capital Holdings, said. “Magic Storm Entertainment will leverage that appeal with Ricco Capital’s development fund.”

“We are delighted that Ricco Capital emerged as partners who fully understand the business value of Stan Lee’s comic book characters and his larger brand, specific to China,” Mika added. “Stan Lee’s work has always been ground-breaking, and his new characters and stories will be even more relevant to film audiences in China and beyond. Magic Storm Entertainment will not only enable these stories to reach Stan’s global fan base, but also provide a market entry platform for global brands into China and Chinese brands to the West.”

Topics