Valiant Entertainment and DMG Entertainment today announced a new partnership to span motion pictures, television, publishing, and licensing that will culminate in the big screen debut of Valiant’s universe of characters in theaters around the world.

In conjunction with this new partnership, DMG has made an eight-figure (USD) series C round of equity investment into Valiant, which the company will use to further its efforts in international publishing, film, television, licensing and beyond. DMG has dedicated an additional nine-figures (USD) of film financing capital toward the production of theatrical films and television programs based on Valiant’s library of iconic superhero characters.

In total, the new agreement is the first deal of its kind brokered between an internationally based entertainment company and a leading independent publisher of comic books and graphic novels. Utilizing DMG’s expertise in international film development, production, and distribution, Valiant will begin to establish its cinematic universe in the United States, China and beyond. Current Valiant feature films in development include the previously announced Bloodshot from Sony Pictures in partnership with Original Film; Shadowman in partnership with the Sean Daniel Company from a script by J. Michael Straczynski; and Archer & Armstrong, also with the Sean Daniel Company from a script by BenDavid Grabinski; among others. Valiant has also already begun development on several television projects.

The unprecedented partnership between Valiant and DMG offers both companies the ability to develop and co-produce tent-pole theatrical films for distribution and release simultaneously in the United States, China – the world’s fastest growing film market with more than $4.8 billion in box office receipts in 2014 – and the rest of the world.

Beyond film alone, DMG and Valiant will work in concert to form China-focused licensing partnerships for Valiant’s stable of characters in areas such as Chinese language publishing, animation, online gaming, toys, apparel, live events, theme parks, and more, with a focus on bringing Valiant’s iconic heroes to new audiences in China and Asia-Pacific.

In 2013, the Beijing-based studio and production company co-produced and co-financed Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 – the highest grossing foreign film of 2013 and sixth highest of all time in China­. DMG is currently co-producing high-octane thriller Autobahn, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult; and the extreme actioner Point Break, directed by Ericson Core; both films will hit screens worldwide in 2015.