CANNES, France and SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ANGER MANAGEMENT
continued its march around the globe as
the Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) sitcom about an irascible anger
management therapist, played by former TWO AND A HALF
MEN star Charlie Sheen, has been acquired by the
international entertainment broadcasting group Modern Times Group
(MTG) for airing on its Viasat Broadcasting free-TV
channels in Scandinavia, the two companies announced today to
kick off the first day of MIPTV 2012 in Cannes, France.
Lionsgate International has already sold ANGER
MANAGEMENT in Canada,
Latin America and Germany.
The new series marks Charlie
Sheen's first return to serialized television since his
departure from the CBS hit series TWO AND A HALF MEN a little
over a year ago. The show is loosely based on Revolution Studios'
2003 feature film ANGER MANAGEMENT, which starred Adam Sandler, Jack
Nicholson, and Marisa Tomei
and grossed $178 million in global
box office – an unusual feat for a US comedy.
Viasat's free-TV channels already air TWO AND A HALF
MEN.
'We're delighted to be partnered with Lionsgate International on
this exciting series," said Viasat Senior Vice President of
Acquisitions & Programming Jakob Mejlhede. "With a global
star of Sheen's magnitude to drive the show, we're
confident that ANGER MANAGEMENT will deliver to both
viewers and advertisers alike."
"We believe that Viasat is the perfect home for ANGER
MANAGEMENT in Scandinavia, and we're delighted to continue
building the show's momentum through groundbreaking sales in
territories around the world," said Lionsgate President of
Worldwide Television & Digital Distribution Jim Packer.
"We expect this show to quickly become a signature of Viasat's
programming lineup and resonate with their audiences for years to
come."
In this new series, Sheen stars as ex-baseball pro Charlie, who
has to cope with some anger management issues of his own. His
female co-stars are Shawnee Smith
(SAW franchise, BECKER) as his ex-wife and Selma Blair (CRUEL INTENTIONS, LEGALLY BLONDE)
as his therapist. Bruce
Helford (GEORGE LOPEZ, THE
DREW CAREY SHOW) heads up the writing team and will serve as show
runner. Joe Roth, Vince Totino and Mark
Burg are executive producing, along with Sheen and
Helford.
ANGER MANAGEMENT began shooting in March and will
premiere on FX (SONS OF ANARCHY, NIP/TUCK, THE
SHIELD) on June 28. FX has committed to an unprecedented
initial order of 100 episodes - subject only to the first ten
episodes exceeding a certain ratings level -- which was
pre-negotiated between FX and Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury.
Debmar-Mercury distributes the show in the U.S.
ANGER MANAGEMENT is produced by Lionsgate Television in
conjunction with Roth and Totino's Revolution Studios, Burg's
Evolution Entertainment, Helford's Mohawk Productions, Inc. and
Estevez Sheen Productions. Lionsgate Television produces the
multiple Emmy Award-winning series MAD MEN, which recently
kicked off its fifth season on AMC, WEEDS, now in its eighth
season on Showtime, the provocative NURSE JACKIE (Showtime) and the
drama BOSS (Starz), for which Kelsey
Grammer earned a Golden Globe in its debut season.
The Scandinavian distribution deal was negotiated by
Lionsgate international TV executive Peter Iacono and
Viasat's Mejlhede and Camilla
Hardyment, Head of Viasat Free & Pay TV Scandinavian
Acquisitions.
About MTG
Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment
broadcasting group with operations that span four continents and
include free-TV, pay-TV, radio and content production businesses.
MTG's Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels,
which are available on Viasat's own satellite platforms and third
party networks, and also distributes TV content over the internet.
MTG is also the largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is
Russia's leading independent
television broadcaster.
Modern Times Group is a growth company and generated record net
sales of SEK 13.5 billion in 2011.
MTG's Class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm's
Large Cap index under the symbols 'MTGA' and 'MTGB'.
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 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning
its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses,
including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy
Award-winning "Mad Men," "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie," along with the
powerful drama "Boss" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", its spinoff "Meet
the Browns," "The Wendy Williams Show" and "Are We There Yet?
Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent
successes as the blockbuster first installment of "The Hunger
Games" franchise, which achieved the third highest-grossing opening
weekend of all time at the North American box office, "The
Expendables," "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Tyler
Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" and "Margin Call." With
the January 2012 acquisition of
Summit Entertainment, the Company now has the two leading young
adult franchises – the blockbuster "Twilight Saga," which has
grossed more than $2.5 billion at the
worldwide box office, and "The Hunger Games." Recent Summit hits
include "Red," "Letters to Juliet," "Knowing," the "Step Up"
franchise 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 13,000 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.
For Lionsgate corporate inquiries, please contact:
Peter D. Wilkes
310-255-3726
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
For MTG corporate inquiries, please contact:
Nils Gjerstad
+44 (0) 7834 215 306
press@mtg.se
SOURCE Lionsgate
