Let the Dreams Begin: Studio City Welcomes the World With a Spectacular, Star-Studded Show

MACAU, Oct. 28, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The world’s legends of stage and screen celebrated in dazzling fashion the opening of Studio City, and shone a spotlight on the new Entertainment Capital of Asia. The highly anticipated US$3.2 billion Hollywood-inspired integrated resort officially raised its curtains to the world on October 27, 2015 with performances and appearances of global household names.

At the Official Opening Ceremony of Studio City, “Asia’s King of Dance” Aaron Kwok took the stage to entertain VIPs, the media and special guests at Studio City Event Center as the warm up for his upcoming concert at Studio City. At the Official Opening Ceremony of Studio City, “Asia’s King of Dance” Aaron Kwok took the stage to entertain VIPs, the media and special guests at Studio City Event Center as the warm up for his upcoming concert at Studio City. Mr. Lawrence Ho, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Melco Crown Entertainment, Mrs. Sharen Ho and Mr. James Packer, Co-Chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment were joined by the honorable officiating guests from the Macao SAR Government: Mr. Fernando Chui, Chief Executive of Macao SAR, Mr. Edmund Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Mr. Yao Jian, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR, Mr. Pan Yundong, Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao SAR, Mr. Lionel Leong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao SAR, Dr. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR to insert the ceremonial rings to officially mark the launch of Studio City, the Hollywood-inspired, cinematically-themed integrated resort. Mr. Lawrence Ho, Co-Chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment and Mr. James Packer, Co-Chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment, together with academy award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Hollywood icons Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio and acclaimed producer Brett Ratner, introduce the global premiere of ‘The Audition’. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the short film represents a historic film first. The only time the actors have all appeared together under the Academy-award winning director. ‘The Audition’ was produced by internationally renowned RatPac Entertainment producer and director Brett Ratner. Over 3,500 VIPs, the media and special guests enjoying the World Premiere of THE AUDITION at the state-of-the-art new Studio City Event Center. Over 3,500 VIPs, the media and special guests enjoying the World Premiere of THE AUDITION at the state-of-the-art new Studio City Event Center. Global superstar and biggest selling female artist of all-time Mariah Carey wowed the crowds when she kicked off the Grand Opening Show at the incredible stunning new 5,000- seat Studio City Event Center with a collection of her greatest hits.

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Senior government officials participating in the formal opening ceremony included Mr. Fernando Chui, Chief Executive of Macao SAR; Mr. Edmund Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Mr. Yao Jian, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR; Mr. Hu ZhengYue, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao SAR; Mr. Lionel Leong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao SAR; Dr. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR; who were hosted by Mr.  Lawrence Ho, Co-Chairman & CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment, Mrs. Sharen Ho and Mr. James Packer, Co-Chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment.

Hollywood A-listers Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were there in person to present the world premiere of their short film “The Audition”, directed by Academy-award winning director Martin Scorsese. The film is set around a Studio City storyline and notable for being the first time the stars, along with Brad Pitt, have all worked together. The three megastars play themselves while vying for the same part in a fictitious movie. “The Audition” was produced by acclaimed Hollywood producer Brett Ratner, the director of movie blockbusters including “Red Dragon”, ‘‘X-Men: The Last Stand”, “Hercules” and the “Rush Hour” film franchise.

An exclusive audience of VIPs from around the globe, government dignitaries, business partners, local communities and associations, and members of local, regional and international media gave the film and its stars a standing ovation. “I am delighted to be part of ‘The Audition’ and to celebrate the inauguration of Studio City. It is a ‘must-visit’ destination for all visitors looking for a unique and immersive experience,” said Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, while Martin Scorsese, the most nominated living director in Academy Award history, said: “We all loved making The Audition. It was great to have the new Studio City in Macau as our setting, because it has the feeling of the most fantastic Hollywood set ever designed."

From today Studio City will be publicly sharing the special 16-minute film, which will give all visitors to the integrated resort a true taste of Hollywood.

The Hollywood icons had earlier joined with VIP guests on the red carpet to take part in a star-studded photo-call, where they were joined by the legendary diva Mariah Carey, Hong Kong’s King of Dance Aaron Kwok and K-pop singing stars SISTAR. Other famous names to grace the red carpet included Mr. Franz Harary, the internationally acclaimed illusionist, and Mr. Eddie Dean, President and CEO of Pacha New York and Managing Director of Pacha Macau.

Mariah Carey wowed the crowds when she kicked off the Grand Opening Show at the stunning new 5,000-seat Studio City Event Center with a collection of her hits, including “Emotions” and “We Belong Together”.

The high-energy entertainment continued as Korean girl-band sensations SISTAR took to the stage with the stunning foursome performing a medley of their hits.  Asia’s King of Dance Aaron Kwok got hearts racing and the crowd jumping when he took to the stage and showed off his electrifying combo of killer dance moves and excellent voice.

After the storming performances at the Grand Opening Show, Studio City’s VIP guests sat down to a black tie Gala Dinner where they dined on a menu of culinary delights designed by a special guest line-up of celebrity chefs including multi Michelin-starred Chef Alain Ducasse; world-leading Chef Pâtissier Pierre Hermé; renowned master of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, the critically acclaimed Chef Alan Wong; ‘Global Chef Award’ winner, Chef Hidemasa Yamamoto; World Champion of Chinese Cooking Gold Medalist Chef Tam Kwok Fung, and French Michelin-starred Chef Guillaume Galliot, executive chef of The Tasting Room at City of Dreams.

Earlier in the day hundreds of representatives from media organisations from around the world attended a special press conference hosted by Melco Crown Entertainment’s Co-Chairman and CEO Mr. Lawrence Ho and Co-Chairman Mr. James Packer.

“Today marks the start of a new era of leisure destination entertainment for Macau. Having these fabulous stars of stage and screen here with us is a dream come true and stands testimony to Studio City’s entertainment proposition as Asia’s Capital of Entertainment,” said Mr. Ho.

“We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Central and Macau governments in our ambition to help develop Macau into a world center of leisure tourism and to offer unprecedented non-gaming careers for local Macau employees.

“I also want to thank all of our Studio City colleagues who have worked so hard to make this incredible resort a stunning, successful reality. Together, we are now ready and eager to deliver a truly remarkable world-class leisure destination experience for our visitors to Macau.

“I am confident that Studio City’s offering of cinematically-themed entertainment, retail, food & beverage and accommodation options will play a key role in contributing meaningfully to the economic and employment diversification of Macau.”

Mr. Packer added: “We’d like to thank our many friends from the world of entertainment for being here with us to celebrate the opening of this magnificent destination resort. I would also like to thank the many people here who have worked for many years to, together, bring our dreams to life.”

Studio City, developed by Studio City International Holdings Limited, a company in which Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MPEL) owns a 60% interest, has been designed to be the most diversified entertainment resort offering in Macau – with more international-brand entertainment amenities under-one-roof than any integrated resort in the market.

Studio City – This is Entertainment.

For further information on Studio City, please visit: www.studiocity-macau.com, follow us on Sina Weibo at www.weibo.com/studiocity, and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/studiocitymacau.

For our latest press releases, visuals and multimedia, please visit: www.studiocitymacaumedia.com

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Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, (i) growth of the gaming market and visitation in Macau and the Philippines, (ii) capital and credit market volatility, (iii) local and global economic conditions, (iv) our anticipated growth strategies, (v) gaming authority and other governmental approvals and regulations and (vi) our future business development, results of operations and financial condition. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target”, “aim”, “estimate”, “intend”, “plan”, “design”, “on track”, “believe”, “potential”, “continue”, “is/are likely to” or other  similar  expressions.  Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this release is as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About Melco Crown Entertainment Limited
Melco Crown Entertainment, with its American depositary shares listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ:MPEL), is a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. Melco Crown Entertainment currently operates Altira Macau (www.altiramacau.com), a casino hotel located at Taipa, Macau and City of Dreams (www.cityofdreamsmacau.com), an integrated urban casino resort located in Cotai, Macau. Melco Crown Entertainment's business also includes the Mocha Clubs (www.mochaclubs.com), which comprise the largest non-casino based operations of electronic gaming machines in Macau. The Company is also developing the planned Studio City (www.studiocity-macau.com), a cinematically-themed integrated entertainment, retail and gaming resort in Cotai, Macau. In the Philippines, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corporation's subsidiary, MCE Leisure (Philippines) Corporation, currently operates and manages City of Dreams Manila (www.cityofdreams.com.ph), a casino, hotel, retail and entertainment integrated resort in the Entertainment City complex in Manila. For more information about Melco Crown Entertainment, please visit www.melco-crown.com.

Melco Crown Entertainment has strong support from both of its major shareholders, Melco International Development Limited (“Melco”) and Crown Resorts Limited (“Crown”). Melco is a listed company on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and is substantially owned and led by Mr. Lawrence Ho, who is Co-Chairman, an Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer of Melco Crown Entertainment. Crown is a top-50 company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and led by Mr. James Packer, who is also Co-Chairman and a Non-executive Director of Melco Crown Entertainment. 

About Studio City

Now open, Studio City is set to take Macau’s entertainment destination proposition to unprecedented new levels, by providing a ‘next generation’ of outstanding entertainment-driven leisure destination experiences that will help the territory’s evolution into a truly international tourism center.

The Hollywood-themed studio-concept resort is a thrilling new cinematic inspired entertainment and leisure destination and is designed to be the most diversified entertainment offering in Macau. Ideally located on Cotai, close to the Lotus Bridge immigration point connecting Hengqin Island and a future station-point for the Macau Light Rapid Transit, Studio City will deliver more world-class entertainment amenities than any integrated resort in the market.

Studio City’s stunning Art Deco facade includes the “Golden Reel”, the world’s highest figure-8 Ferris wheel which straddles the resort’s two-tower hotel at a height of some 130 meters. The integrated resort will provide the ultimate in sophisticated leisure entertainment, hotel, retail, dining and lifestyle experiences.

The resort’s innovative entertainment offerings include “Studio City Event Center”, a 5,000-seat multi-purpose entertainment center designed to host live concerts, theatrical and sporting events; and “Studio 8”, a 300-seat live-audience TV broadcast studio for reality and game-show productions distributed in the Asia region. The entertainment experiences also include a magic theater “The House of Magic” and a Warner Bros. Batman-themed 4D flight simulation “Batman Dark Flight”, a 4,000-square-meter family entertainment center “Warner Bros. Fun Zone” for kids filled with Warner Bros.’ and DC Comics’ franchise characters and play-rides, together with “Pacha Macau” which will bring Ibiza-style nightlife to Macau.   

Studio City is destined to deliver an unparalleled leisure entertainment and hospitality experience, strengthening the depth and diversity of Macau’s leisure, business and tourism proposition as a leading visitor destination in Asia.

For further information on Studio City visit: www.studiocity-macau.com and follow us on Sina Weibo at www.weibo.com/studiocity.

The photos are also available via AP PhotoExpress.