A Chinese-language spin-off of the hit magician thriller movie Now You See Me is set to go into production, as the financial power of the country’s rapidly burgeoning box office grows ever stronger.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate, the film’s original producer, is to join forces with Beijing-based Leomus to make an official US-China co-production, that will be “aligned” with what it describes as “the Now You See Me franchise”.

Both 2013’s Now You See Me and its 2016 follow-up Now You See Me 2 did exceptionally well in China. The sequel took $92m at the Chinese box office, considerably outperforming US receipts, currently $62m. The Hollywood Reporter suggests that achievement is at least partly due to Leomus’s advisory role in the production, in which Taiwanese actor Jay Chou had a significant role and which used Macau as the main shooting location.

A sequel to the Sylvester Stallone thriller Escape Plan, which also took considerably more in China than the US ($40m against $25m), is also understood to be in line for a US-Chinese co-production.