Lionsgate Inks Miramax Home Entertainment Deal

11 Feb, 2011 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Lionsgate Feb. 11 said it signed a major global home entertainment distribution agreement with Miramax Films, the famed independent studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

Under terms of the agreement, Lionsgate will have access to more than 550 Miramax titles, including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, Good Will Hunting, Life Is Beautiful, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, and No Country for Old Men, which it will distribute on disc, electronic sellthrough and Internet video-on-demand, in addition to cable VOD internationally.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based minimajor will share home entertainment distribution with Paris-based Studiocanal in the United Kingdom and Europe.

The first home entertainment release under the deal will be The Switch in the United States, a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, which will be released March 15 on disc, VOD and digital download.

It wasn't immediately clear how (or if) the agreement impacts the Dec. 16 deal between Miramax and The Weinstein Co., or TWC, for home entertainment distribution of planned sequels, including Clerks, From Dusk Till Dawn, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Copland, Shall We Dance, Swingers and The Amityville Horror, among others. That agreement expanded on a previous deal that includes sequels Scream 4, Spy Kids 4 and Scary Movie 5.

The Walt Disney Co., which originally bought Miramax from Bob and Harvey Weinstein, sold the studio last summer to an investor group for $660 million. Bob and Harvey, of course, now own and operate TWC.

Lionsgate has one of the largest (and most lucrative) libraries in home entertainment, with titles such as Dirty Dancing, Memento, Monster's Ball, Crash and Rambo. Indeed, the studio Feb. 9 attributed its library for generating record home entertainment revenue for five consecutive years through a combination of organic replenishment and strategic acquisitions and distribution deals, despite the challenging marketplace.

“The Miramax library will be one of the most treasured jewels in our home entertainment crown,” Lionsgate president Steve Beeks said in a statement.

 

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