Skydance Media, Alibaba Pictures to Finance and Produce Flying Tigers Feature Film

SANTA MONICA, CA - Santa Monica-based Skydance Media and Chinese film company Alibaba Pictures are teaming to bring moviegoers a film about the Flying Tigers, a volunteer group of American pilots that fought alongside the Chinese during World War II.

The screenplay will be written by Oscar-nominated writer Randall Wallace ("Braveheart," "Pearl Harbor"), and the film will be produced and financed by Skydance and Alibaba Pictures, according to Wednesday's joint announcement.

The Flying Tigers, formally known as the 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, was a group of volunteer pilots from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps led by Capt. Claire Lee Chennault.

"We could not be more excited to work with the incomparable Randall Wallace to bring to life the extraordinary, untold story of the great commitment and sacrifices made by this courageous group of pilots," said Skydance CEO David Ellison.

"Flying Tigers carries with it a rich legacy and a movie about this subject matter has been highly anticipated for a very long time," said Zhang Wei, president of Alibaba Pictures."It is an ideal piece of content in which to invest and produce with Skydance, a studio with a proven track record of bringing films to the big screen that are both sweeping in scope and universal in appeal."

Since its inception in 2010, Skydance has produced 10 feature films. Its upcoming releases include "Star Trek Beyond" and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" with Paramount, "Geostorm" with Warner Bros. and "Life" with Sony.

Alibaba Pictures began investing in Hollywood films with its stake in the summer 2015 Skydance feature "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" in partnership with Paramount Pictures.

--City News Service.