China's Netflix equivalent just opened its first cinema
iQiyi wants to spread it's Yuke on-demand theaters across China.
China's Netflix-like service, iQiyi, wants to bring on-demand movies to real-life movie theaters. The company just opened its first brick and mortar cinema to show online movies in an offline environment, complete with complete with popcorn, fancy seats and Dolby and THX sound.
According to the South China Morning Post, iQiyi plans to open more of these theaters, branded "Yuke," in more Chinese cities. This initial theater opened in Zhongshan city in the southern Guangdong province, and will allow people there book private, on-demand showings of iQiyi's online content. Such a deal isn't too far-fetched, either. It mirrors a rumored Netflix purchase of theater companies like Landmark, showing that online companies continue to want to make inroads to our offline lives.
