Bona Pictures Chairman Yu Dong Pursued by Macau Casino for Debt, His Shares Frozen

Text | Chen Zhaoyu

Editor | Liu Peng

Recently, film giant Bona Film Group has been embroiled in public controversy. News that Chairman Yu Dong was “pursued for a debt of 4.73 million HKD by Wynn Macau” caused a market stir.

Yu Dong’s personal lawyer quickly responded, stating that all amounts involved in the lawsuit have been fully repaid and the legal proceedings have been terminated. The lawyer explained that the debt was due to Yu Dong “providing credit guarantees for a third party,” not the rumored “personal gambling debts.” Bona Film Group also stated that this matter is a private affair of the chairman and has nothing to do with the company’s operations. Yu Dong is currently still performing his duties normally.

Since this news broke on March 10, Bona Film Group’s stock price has fluctuated downward. As of the close on March 11, the stock was at 7.61 yuan per share, with a low of 7.51 yuan during trading. In fact, before the lawsuit news emerged, the company’s stock had already experienced a significant decline.

Although the “debt collection” incident involving Chairman Yu Dong ended with full repayment and the termination of the lawsuit, the background and timing of this event still unsettle investors: firstly, the company’s actual controller, Yu Dong, has had his shares repeatedly frozen due to personal financial issues; secondly, Bona Film Group has been losing money for three consecutive years, with ongoing poor performance.

Chairman’s Debt Crisis and Share Freezing Dilemma

According to Wynn Macau disclosures, the origin of the debt is as follows: around May 1, 2024, Wynn Macau extended a credit line of 10 million HKD to Yu Dong, with both parties signing two withdrawal confirmation letters totaling 10 million HKD. Yu Dong repaid part of the amount afterward but did not settle the full debt. Although Yu Dong later repaid 1 million HKD, as of the lawsuit, he still owed about 4.73 million HKD in principal.

Behind the 4.73 million HKD “gambling debt” at Wynn Macau, there is also a personal financial issue leading to share freezing “dilemmas.”

Previously, on March 31, 2025, Yu Dong’s 137 million shares of Bona Film Group (accounting for 48.7% of his personal holdings and 10% of the company’s total shares) were frozen by the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court; on October 16 of the same year, his 282 million shares (almost all his holdings) and 1.09 million yuan of equity in Beijing Bona Film Base were frozen by the Urumqi Tucheng District People’s Court in Xinjiang, with each freeze lasting three years. Besides the listed company’s equity, Yu Dong’s holdings in non-listed related companies such as Zhejiang Shengtian Cultural Media and Beijing Baichuan Film Distribution have also been frozen by courts in multiple regions due to personal debt disputes.

In May 2025, Bona Film Group disclosed that Chairman Yu Dong and Vice President Qi Zhi had twice improperly used non-operating funds of the company. The announcement showed that Bona Film Group, through third-party trust financial products, provided funds to Vice President Qi Zhi and Chairman/General Manager Yu Dong and their related parties in 2022 and 2023, with amounts exceeding 200 million yuan and 260 million yuan respectively, constituting non-operating fund occupation by the controlling shareholder.

Although these funds have been repaid, Bona Film Group failed to disclose the related non-operating fund transactions with the controlling shareholder as required, violating relevant regulations on information disclosure and fund management. Yu Dong received a warning letter from the Xinjiang Securities Regulatory Bureau, was subject to supervisory measures, ordered to correct, and his record was entered into the integrity archive of the capital market.

Tianyancha data shows that Yu Dong’s affiliated companies number nearly 50, including Bona Film Group Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Shengtian Cultural Media Co., Ltd., Beijing Baichuan Film Distribution Co., Ltd., Shanghai Tingdong Film & TV Co., Ltd., among others, covering fields such as film production, distribution, and investment management. Yu Dong serves as chairman, general manager, or executive director in these companies.

Former Film Giant Faces Three Years of Losses and Performance Slump

Public information indicates that Yu Dong was born in 1971. From 1990 to 1994, he studied at the Management Department of Beijing Film Academy. After graduation, he joined Beijing Film Studio, working in distribution, and was quickly promoted by then-studio head Han Sanping from an ordinary clerk to the youngest section-level cadre at the time.

In 1999, Yu Dong resigned and started his own business, founding Beijing Bona Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Bona Film Group). It was China’s first private film company to obtain a “film distribution license.” In 2003, Bona Film Group was officially established.

In December 2010, Bona Film Group successfully listed on NASDAQ in the United States, becoming China’s first film company to go public in the U.S. However, after listing, the stock price remained sluggish, and in 2016, the company privatized and delisted. It later prepared for a return to A-shares. In 2022, Bona Film Group successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s main board.

According to Bona Film Group’s official website, the company’s main businesses include film investment, distribution, theater chain and cinema management, covering copyright operations, IP derivatives, advertising, talent agency, and more. The company has produced and distributed over 300 films, with box office exceeding 60 billion yuan. It has built and operated over a hundred multiplex cinemas nationwide.

Bona Film Group has produced several blockbuster patriotic films, including “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” “Operation Mekong,” “Operation Red Sea,” “Chinese Captain,” and “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” Between 2020 and 2023, it was also named among the “Top 30 Cultural Enterprises Nationwide.”

However, the once-giant film company is now facing a dual crisis of capital and box office, with performance continuing to decline.

Since going public three years ago, the company’s performance has been on a downward spiral, with consecutive losses and increasing deficits. According to annual financial reports, from 2022 to 2024, Bona Film Group’s net profit attributable to shareholders was -7.21 million yuan, -553 million yuan, and -866 million yuan respectively.

Furthermore, losses in 2025 are expected to worsen. The company’s forecast for 2025 projects a net loss of 1.261 to 1.477 billion yuan, with non-recurring profit and loss also negative, between -1.282 and -1.5 billion yuan.

If the loss for 2025 is estimated at 1.261 billion yuan, the total accumulated loss from 2022 to 2025 will exceed 2.75 billion yuan.

Regarding the reasons for the performance decline, the company explained in its announcement that “during the reporting period, the total box office of the films produced by the company decreased compared to the previous year, with some films suffering significant losses. In 2025, the number of films and TV dramas released by the company is insufficient, with many still in production stages and not yet generating direct economic benefits. The company will fully promote high-quality content production for films and TV dramas.” Another reason cited was “provision for impairment of assets that may incur impairment losses.”

From an external environment perspective, audiences have gradually grown tired of large-scale, industrial-style patriotic films in recent years. In a market where tastes evolve rapidly, even heavily invested patriotic blockbusters struggle to replicate past box office successes. The overall film market remains sluggish in 2024-2025, with increased concentration among top players, and a lack of blockbuster hits has marginalized Bona Film Group. Additionally, the rise of short dramas and streaming media has significantly squeezed Bona’s profit margins.

Internally, Bona Film Group’s recent works have also underperformed. For example, the 2023 Spring Festival film “Nameless” earned 931 million yuan, but with a production cost over 300 million and nearly 180 million in marketing, it failed to turn a profit. In 2024, the company invested about 1 billion yuan in the Spring Festival film “Jiaolong Action,” which only grossed 393 million yuan, with less than 140 million yuan in revenue sharing, resulting in a loss of over 800 million yuan for that film alone. Non-patriotic films like “Legend” and “Dream of the Red Chamber: The Golden Jade Love” combined cost 530 million yuan but grossed less than 100 million yuan.

This year’s Spring Festival, Bona’s involvement in “Flying Past Life 3” achieved excellent results, with total box office surpassing 4 billion yuan. According to reports, “Flying Past Life 3” had an investment of about 650 million yuan, with Han Han’s Tingdong Films (holding 57.26%) as the lead investor, and Bona Film Group as the second-largest shareholder, participating in the project. It is expected to generate over 100 million yuan in revenue.

However, even with successful projects, the capital market’s response has been inconsistent. During the Spring Festival, “Flying Past Life 3” led to three consecutive limit-ups for Bona Film Group, with the stock price reaching a high of 13.72 yuan per share. But as funds withdrew and the sector cooled, the stock price has fallen continuously, now below 8 yuan per share, down about 40% from its peak.