The soundtrack for the introductory showreel at Wednesday evening’s Shanghai press event announcing Wanda Pictures’ annual line-up was aspirational and strangely defiant.It began with Nina Simone crooning, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, and I’m feeling good,” and then continued with “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.
“You thought that I’d be weak without you, but I’m stronger… I’m a survivor, I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to stop, I’m going to work harder.”The corporate parent, Dalian Wanda, whose entertainment empire straddled theme parks and cinema, film production and distribution, fell out of government favor and was put on a watch list in 2017.
It also struggled with high levels of debt that forced a dramatic retrenchment.
The company’s balance sheet has shrunk by more than $25 billion
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