MUMBAI: Hollywood Studio Legendary Entertainment and a Chinese studio have raised $220.5 million for the joint venture they‘ve set up to aim on China‘s increasingly lucrative film market.

The Hong Kong-based joint venture plans to make one or two "major, event-style films" a year for worldwide audiences starting in 2013. The partnership allows Legendary Entertainment to bypass Chinese import restrictions that effectively limit the country to about 20 foreign blockbusters a year.

Legendary and Huayi Brothers Media Corp. said in a statement that they‘re selling a 50 per cent stake in the venture, Legendary East, to Hong Kong construction company Paul Y. Engineering.

Legendary Entertainment has produced hits including The Dark Knight, Inception and the two Hangover films while recent releases by the Beijing-based Huayi Brothers include the hit disaster epic Aftershock, the kung fu drama Shaolin and the Tsui Hark fantasy epic Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.