Jack Ma's Alibaba Pictures has acquired the rights for Korean romantic thriller Life Risking Romance in China, giving it full distribution rights for the film in theaters and online platforms in the country.

Life Risking Romance was directed by Song Min-kyu, who previously produced Kang Je-kyu's 2011 epic drama My Way. The film stars Korean actors Ha Ji-won and Chun Jung-myung alongside Taiwan's Chen Bolin.

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Although the release date of Life Risking Romance is yet to be set, the film will be aired in theaters in Korea in the fourth quarter this year.

According to Variety, co-producing Life Risking Romance are Korea's Novus Mediacorp, which is a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Spackman Entertainment Group, and B.A. Entertainment Group.

"The partnership with Alibaba Pictures to distribute our film allows us to make headway in China and reach a wider audience," Charles Spackman, SEG executive chairman, said. "Previously, our films were mostly limited to theatrical releases, but leveraging an integrated platform combining both traditional theaters and the Internet will provide more exposure for the group's film."

The latest rights acquisition was announced after Alibaba Pictures on Friday warned that it could incur losses bigger than originally anticipated for the first half of this year because of an unprecedented marketing move of its online ticketing platform. Alibaba Pictures is anticipating around 450 million yuan (around $60 million) of net losses for the first half of this year.

On Monday, Alibaba Pictures announced that it is teaming up with Wuhu Gopher Asset Management to launch a $300 million investment fund to be dedicated to the entertainment industry. The joint venture will be called the Hainan Alibaba Pictures Entertainment Industry Investment Fund.

TagsAlibaba pictures, Life Risking Romance, Korean movie