April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the producers of ``The English Patient'' and ``Pulp Fiction,'' are setting up a $285 million fund for movies that focus on Asia, the film industry's fastest-growing market.

The brothers hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to raise $245 million in debt and $25 million in equity, according to an offering document for the Asian Film Fund obtained by Bloomberg News. New York-based Weinstein Co., set up by the brothers in October 2005, will invest $15 million.

Weinstein Co.'s box-office revenue has fallen 84 percent this year compared with the same period in 2006, according to Burbank, California-based Box Office Mojo LLC. Weinstein Co. was formed two years ago when the brothers left Miramax Film Corp., a company they founded in 1979 and sold to Burbank, California- based Walt Disney Co. for $80 million in 1993.

``There is a lot of money potentially looking at investing in film-related projects,'' said Marcel Fenez, Asia Pacific Leader for Entertainment & Media at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong. ``Investors are still very cautious because these are very high-risk projects.''

The brothers plan to use the money to produce and market 31 films over the next six years, according to the offering document. The movies will be filmed in Asia, or spotlight Asian themes or talent. Weinstein Co. has identified movies starring martial arts action star Jackie Chan and directed by Chinese film maker Wong Kar Wai as possible projects.

The fund will likely distribute Wong's first English- language film, ``My Blueberry Nights,'' a romance starring Grammy Award-winner Norah Jones and Jude Law and ``Come Drink With Me,'' the remake of a 1966 Hong Kong martial arts film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino, the prospectus said.

Growing Industry

Spending on Asia's film industry, including productions in India's Bollywood, may increase at least 6 percent a year to $23 billion in 2011, according to estimates by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers. The film industry worldwide is set to grow by an average of 5.3 percent a year to $104 billion in 2010, the PricewaterhouseCoopers report said.

``We've been working on this since we started the Weinstein Co. and are going to Asia to identify specific projects, find specific partners, make deals, as well as meet with talent, both behind and in front of the camera,'' Harvey Weinstein, 55, the company's New York-based co-chairman, said in an e-mail.

The company said it has distributed more then two dozen movies and videos with Asian themes, including ``Kill Bill,'' a story about a female assassin starring Uma Thurman and ``Hero,'' a film about China's first emperor. The projects have grossed more than $1.18 billion, the offering document showed.

`No Comparables'

The fund will likely pay an interest rate of between 1.50 and 1.75 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark for corporate borrowing, to raise $200 million of senior debt, according to the offering circular. The fund will pay about 6 percentage points more than Libor to borrow $45 million of less-secure debt. The six-month Libor rate was quoted recently at 5.35 percent.

``This is a difficult one given that we have very limited knowledge in this space and no comparables,'' said Felix Zhang, who manages $1 billion of debt for hedge fund operator Artesian Capital Management in Singapore. He declined to say whether he would buy the bonds. ``This is an exotic debt.''

Harvey and Bob, 52, raised $490 million in a private debt sale when they founded Weinstein Co. from investors including an affiliate of New York-based Goldman Sachs and Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. The company borrowed another $500 million in January 2006.

The Asian Film Fund is ``a positive for the company,'' said Cuban, who also founded HDNet, a high-definition television network. ``Growth takes cash.''

The Weinsteins have a similar venture in Latin America with Argentine entrepreneur Eduardo Costantini Jr.

Decline in Revenue

The five films distributed by Weinstein Co. this year, including ``Grindhouse,'' a thriller about a stalker from directors Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, have taken in $21 million, compared with $133.4 million from nine releases during the same period in 2006, according to Box Office Mojo.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Fenez said he is optimistic about growth in Asia. China's 2006 box-office receipts rose 31 percent to a record of 2.62 billion yuan ($339 million) as the government cracked down on piracy while filmmakers improved distribution. Even after opening 82 new theaters last year, China has just one theater for every 495,447 people.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denise Kee in Singapore at Dkee2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 25, 2007 17:40 EDT