Billionaire Wang Jianlin, Asia's richest man, is poised to become the first Chinese person to control a Hollywood film company after his flagship group agreed to buy the producer of Jurassic World in a $US3.5 billion ($5 billion) deal.

Mr Wang's Dalian Wanda Group Co would buy California-based Legendary Entertainment for its intellectual property rights and to help China have a bigger say in the global film industry, the tycoon said in briefing on Tuesday in Beijing.

The producer of the Dark Knight Batman trilogy and Godzilla paves the way for China to broaden its influence over US mainstream films beyond cameos of Chinese actors. For Mr Wang, the deal is the latest example underscoring his ambitions to expand a burgeoning entertainment empire that owns the second-largest US movie-theater chain and is building the world's biggest studio-plus-theme park.

Mr Wang's backing gives Legendary, led by founder Thomas Tull, access to funds needed to churn out movies such as sequels to the Pacific Rim and Godzilla franchises. In 2014, Legendary raised $US250 million in equity from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and last year, people familiar with the matter said the company was in talks to borrow as much as $US700 million. Films associated with Legendary have grossed more than $US10 billion at the worldwide box office, according to the company.