Lionsgate and Studiocanal have signed a long term output agreement under which Studiocanal will distribute films from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label in Australia and New Zealand.
The alliance, announced Thursday, is an expansion of the relationship between the two studios. Studiocanal currently distributes Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment film titles in Germany and Lionsgate handles Studiocanal’s film library in North America.
The announcement was made by Elizabeth Trotman, Studiocanal CEO for Australia and New Zealand, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chairman Patrick Wachsberger and International chief operating officer Andrew Kramer.
The new output agreement will encompass “John Wick: Chapter Two,” starring Keanu Reeves; faith-based drama “The Shack,” starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer; and the upcoming “Robin Hood,” directed by Otto Bathurst and starring Jamie Foxx and Taron Egerton.
Other titles include the firefighting action thriller “Granite Mountain,” starring Josh Brolin, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges and Taylor Kitsch; and the sci-fi crime thriller “Kin,” starring Jack Reynor, James Franco and Zoë Kravitz.
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“We are delighted to extend our relationship with our partners at Studiocanal into another major territory,” said Wachsberger and Kramer. “They are a savvy world-class distributor who has done a wonderful job with our films in Germany, and we are proud to bring to their highly regarded Australia/New Zealand team one of our most diverse and commercially exciting slates.”
Lionsgate makes extensive use of output deals as a risk-mitigation strategy in order to limit its exposure on films that underperform.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Patrick, Andrew, Crystal and the rest of the Lionsgate team,” said Trotman. “The Summit slate of films is a major force at the international box office, and we look forward to their deep and diverse pipeline of critically-acclaimed blockbusters for years to come.”
The agreement was negotiated by Trotman on behalf of Studiocanal and Liosngate’s Crystal Bourbeau.
