Chen Xi Named Chair Of Chinese Cinema Operator Wanda Film

China’s Wanda Film has appointed actress-turned-film executive Chen Xi as board director and chair. 

According to local reports, Chen (who also goes by Yedda Zhixi Chen) will additionally serve as the legal representative of Shenzhen-listed Wanda Film, which is the country’s largest cinema operator. Wanda Film finances Chinese films and has a stake in Dune producer Legendary Entertainment. 

Since 2015, Chen has served as executive director of Ruyi Holdings and president of Shanghai Ruyi Television Production.

This comes after the chairman of Chinese giant Dalian Wanda and two Wanda operating units agreed to sell a combined 51% stake in the controlling shareholder of Wanda Film to a company linked to Chen’s employer, China Ruyi Holdings.

Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management, which is buying the stake, is controlled by Ke Liming, chairman of movie producer and online streaming service Ruyi.

While at Ruyi, Chen was an investor and producer of highly successful films, including Moon Man and Hi Mom. Collecting $460M at the box office, Moon Man was the 11th highest-grossing film of 2022, just above Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Hi Mom (2021) was the world’s highest-grossing film made by a solo female director, until Barbie in 2023. In October 2023, Sony acquired the English-language remake rights to the film. 

In her acting career, Chen appeared in Lost in Thailand (2012), Detective Chinatown (2015), Animal World (2018) and Detective Chinatown 3 (2021). She graduated from Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama with a bachelor’s degree in performance and also holds a master’s degree in finance from Tsinghua University.