SANTA MONICA, Calif. and
VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As
part of its strategy of establishing output agreements with leading
distributors around the world, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading
global entertainment company, has forged a longterm output deal
with Roadshow Films, Village Roadshow Limited's distribution arm,
in Australia, the two companies
announced today.
"We are delighted to expand Lionsgate's longstanding
relationship with Roadshow Films to encompass our full slate of
Lionsgate films," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairs
Patrick Wachsberger and Rob
Friedman. "We have successfully partnered with Roadshow in
Australia on numerous films in the
past, including the highly successful launch of the first film of
the blockbuster HUNGER GAMES franchise, and this agreement is a
natural evolution of our historic partnership that promises
significant benefits for both partners for many years to come."
"We're thrilled to extend and expand our relationship with
Patrick, Rob and the entire Lionsgate team," said Joel Pearlman, Managing Director of Roadshow
Films. "This output agreement provides us with a consistent
pipeline of some of the most commercially exciting films in the
world, including the next three films in the blockbuster HUNGER
GAMES franchise, from a studio that has emerged as a major force in
the global marketplace, and it marks an important addition to the
portfolio of product we bring to our audiences."
Roadshow Films spearheaded the launch of the first HUNGER GAMES
film in Australia, generating more
than $31 million at the Australian
box office, one of the best-performing territories in the
international marketplace. Lionsgate and Village Roadshow
also partnered to achieve strong performances with the recent
Australian releases of Lionsgate's WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE
EXPECTING and SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN.
The deal was orchestrated by Wachsberger, Lionsgate
International President Helen Lee
Kim and Michael Meyer,
Executive Vice President of International Business and Legal
Affairs.
The agreement complements Summit Entertainment's continuing
output deal with E1 Entertainment. Summit was acquired by Lionsgate
in January 2012 but the Lionsgate and
Summit labels remain separate.
ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a
strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and
distribution, television programming and syndication, home
entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new
channel platforms and international distribution and sales.
The Company has built a strong television presence in production of
primetime cable and broadcast network series, distribution and
syndication of programming and an array of channel assets.
Lionsgate currently has 23 shows on 16 networks spanning its
primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses,
including the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men, the critically
acclaimed series Weeds, Nurse Jackie and Boss, the new comedy Anger
Management, which has been picked up for an additional 90 episodes
by FX, the upcoming network series Nashville and Next Caller, the syndication
successes Tyler Perry's House of
Payne, its spinoff Meet the Browns, For Better Or Worse, The Wendy
Williams Show, Are We There Yet? and the upcoming Orange Is The New
Black, an original series for Netflix.
Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent
successes as the blockbuster first installment of The Hunger Games
franchise, which has already grossed nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office, The
Expendables 2, The Possession, The Cabin in the Woods, Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection, The
Lincoln Lawyer and Margin Call. With the January 2012 acquisition of Summit Entertainment,
the Company has now added the blockbuster Twilight Saga, which has
grossed more than $2.5 billion at the
worldwide box office, to its current slate, giving the Company the
two premier young adult franchises in the world. Recent
Summit hits include Red, Letters to Juliet, Knowing and the Academy
Award-winning Best Picture, The Hurt Locker.
Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in
box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion
rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of
approximately 15,000 motion picture and television titles that is
an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the
foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses.
The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original,
daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
ABOUT ROADSHOW FILMS
Roadshow Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of Village Roadshow
Limited (ASX:VRL). Roadshow Films is Australia's largest independent film
distributor and distributes theatrical movies to cinema, video,
DVD, Pay Television and free to air television in Australia and New
Zealand. Roadshow Films holds the exclusive distribution
rights for movies produced by Village Roadshow Pictures and
distributes movies from Warner Bros., The Weinstein Company and
other independent production houses.
Village Roadshow Limited (VRL) is an internationally recognised
entertainment company with core businesses in Theme Parks, Film and
DVD Distribution, Cinema, Film Production and Music. VRL owns
Australia's leading theme parks -
Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild located on Australia's Gold coast has two Wet'n'Wild
water parks in the United States
and is building Wet'n'Wild Sydney.
For Lionsgate corporate inquiries, please contact:
Peter D. Wilkes
310.255.3726
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
Kinley L. Cross
310.255.5114
kcross@lionsgate.com
For Roadshow Films inquiries, please contact:
Hayley Botes
61 3 9829 0685
Hayley_botes@roadshow.com.au
SOURCE Lionsgate