Huayi Brothers’ “Chinese Disney” Dream Collapses as Film Town Faces Liquidation

Huayi Brothers, once determined to build a “Chinese Disney,” is now watching its theme park ambitions fade. On September 21, Haihe’an Cultural Tourism announced its full acquisition of the former “Suzhou Huayi Brothers Movie World,” rebranding it as “Haihe’an Suzhou Yangcheng Peninsula Park.” With this move, the flagship project has officially exited the Huayi Brothers’ portfolio.

Opened in 2018, Suzhou Movie World was meant to anchor Huayi’s shift toward experiential entertainment. Yet with an investment of 3.5 billion RMB—exceeding the company’s total assets at the time—the project quickly fell into financial trouble. Coupled with the pandemic, the park never achieved profitability. By 2024, it was put up for auction, leading to its eventual liquidation.

Huayi had rolled out over ten film towns nationwide, partnering with real estate giants such as Evergrande, Hopson, and Jianye, with total investments surpassing 100 billion RMB. However, lacking sustainable IP and relying on repetitive models, most projects bled money from the start. Suzhou Movie World alone lost nearly 400 million RMB within three years.

Meanwhile, Huayi’s core film and TV business has also plummeted, with revenue shrinking from 3.66 billion RMB in 2018 to just 443 million RMB in 2024. Once a dominant force, the company is now a marginal player.

What was once touted as “China’s Disney” has ended in liquidation, leaving Huayi Brothers’ ambitious gamble as a cautionary tale of overreach.