CANNES: The Weinstein Company announced at the Cannes Film Festival that it signed an exclusive five year Pan Asia pay-TV output deal with Star.
Audiences in Asia will be able to view a wide range of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films including 1408, Sicko and Rob Zombie’s Halloween, among others on Star’s premier Hollywood movies channel, Star Movies. Highly anticipated releases also included in the deal are The Reader, Crossing Over, and Superhero Movie.
The announcement continues to expand the international imprint of The Weinstein Company, which has already made a variety of strategic partnerships to distribute its diverse slate of films on international pay and free TV, including BSkyB in the UK, Canal+ in France, ARD in Germany and Rai in Italy.
The Weinstein Company president of international distribution Glen Basner stated, "Star is the premier Asian television network and is the perfect pay-TV home for our films in Asia. We have always prided ourselves on creating films that appeal to audiences across the world and look forward to working with Star to share our dynamic and daring slate with Asian film lovers."
"We are pleased to have secured the exclusive output deal with The Weinstein Company – one of the most popular and sought after producers in the industry," said Star Entertainment president Todd Lituchy. "The Weinstein Company’s quality and broadly entertaining movies have a strong appeal to film lovers in Asia. They are a perfect fit for Star Movies and will further solidify the channel’s’ leadership position in delivering premium content to viewers across Asia."
This announcement furthers The Weinstein Company’s commitment to the Asian market. In addition to the films produced and distribution throughout the world, TWC formed a pioneering $285 million Asian Film Fund and the fund’s inaugural major release, Forbidden Kingdom, opened recently to #1 at the North American Box Office.
The deal was negotiated by TWC VP international sales & distribution Jonathan Kier and VP business affairs Jesse Rosenblatt; and Star Movies VP, programming Brian Lau and Star lawyer Nicola Thompson.
