Underscoring the globalization of Lionsgate’s (NYSE: LGF) business, Lionsgate UK will assume responsibility for the distribution of all Summit label films and will integrate them with the Lionsgate, third-party and locally produced films it already distributes.
It was announced by Lionsgate UK Chief Executive Officer Zygi Kamasa. The expanded distribution will begin with Summit label films produced after July 2015.
The move follows last month’s announcement that Lionsgate has moved its international sales headquarters to London to be closer to its key international markets.
Lionsgate UK’s distribution of Summit releases will include such films as Allegiant Part 2, the fourth film in the Divergent franchise, which is slated to begin production in 2016 for worldwide release on March 24, 2017.
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Distribution of Summit titles in the UK was previously handled by eOne Entertainment. eOne and Lionsgate announced last week that they are extending and expanding their partnership in three territories, with eOne continuing to distribute Lionsgate and Summit films in Canada and Spain and Summit titles in Australia through 2018.
Mr. Kamasa and his team have overseen the investment, production and distribution of more than 350 films and have launched over 150 Top Ten box office hits in the UK, including the first two installments of Lionsgate’s global blockbuster The Hunger Games franchise, the Saw horror franchise, Olympus Has Fallen, Cabin in the Woods and Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed hit Magic Mike.
The company has also developed a strong track record in investing in local UK projects including the worldwide hit Bend it Like Beckham, George Clooney’s multiple Oscar-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck, Lasse Hallstrom’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, the adaptation of Eric Lomax’s autobiography The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, and the upcoming A Little Chaos, directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci and Matthias Schoenaerts, which will close this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a 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.
Photo courtesy: Lionsgate
