Lionsgate, Studiocanal To Distribute Miramax Library Titles (1 Viewer)

This was announced today.



SANTA MONICA, Calif., VANCOUVER, British Columbia and PARIS, Feb. 11, 2011 -- LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading diversified filmed entertainment studio, Studiocanal and Miramax announced today that they have entered into a worldwide home entertainment distribution deal. Under the long-term deal, Lionsgate and Studiocanal will distribute more than 550 titles from the renowned Miramax film library via DVD, Blu-ray, EST and Internet Video On Demand (VOD), in addition to cable VOD internationally.

Lionsgate will partner with leading international distributor Studiocanal to distribute Miramax titles in the UK and Europe. The announcement was made by Steve Beeks, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate, Olivier Courson, Chief Executive Officer of Studiocanal and Mike Lang, Chief Executive Officer of Miramax


"The Miramax library will be one of the most treasured jewels in our home entertainment crown," said Beeks. "With our longstanding commitment and expertise in aggressively managing library titles, we are thrilled to bring together under one roof such Miramax film icons as Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting with our existing classics such as Dirty Dancing and Monster's Ball to create what is unquestionably one of the most powerful and prestigious filmed entertainment libraries in the world. We are looking forward to working with Mike and his incredible team on this exciting venture."


"With their expertise and success in the home entertainment marketplace, we consider both Lionsgate and Studiocanal to be the perfect partners to distribute these films," says Lang. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with them as we work to expand the availability of our library across all platforms to reach new audiences around the world."


The deal with Miramax continues to build on Lionsgate's tremendous success distributing third party product from some of the most prominent libraries in the world, including Studiocanal. Consisting of approximately 13,000 motion picture titles and television episodes, Lionsgate has one of the largest and most prestigious libraries in the entertainment industry with titles including Dirty Dancing, Memento, Monster's Ball, Crash and Rambo. Lionsgate has noted that the Company has achieved record library revenue for five consecutive years through a combination of organic replenishment and strategic acquisitions and distribution deals, despite a challenging marketplace.

Shit, I just made a post about this. Didn't know anyone else had. Didn't think to look in the Blu-Ray category either. D'oh!

Originally Posted by SWFF

Shit, I just made a post about this. Didn't know anyone else had. Didn't think to look in the Blu-Ray category either. D'oh!

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I was leaving the Standard category for you.

This makes sense, as Maple Pictures (which distributes Miramax in Canada) also distributes Lionsgate, as it was spun off from Lionsgate and is run by a couple of former execs.

Lion's Gate better hurry to get the first three Scream movies out in 2 months.

Ask and ye shall recieve...


From Blu-ray.com "While commenting on the distribution agreement just announced between Miramax, Lionsgate and Studiocanal, Miramax CEO Mike Lang revealed that upcoming titles include all three films in the Scream franchise, tying in with the theatrical release of Scream 4 (due out April 15)."


http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5874


That article also says that Pulp Fiction is coming in June.

I'm not sure whether this is good news or bad news. I certainly haven't heard much in he way of praise for Lionsgate in the way they are handling their Canadian releases, and while I would like to see more catalog from Miramax, I don't want it to be crap transfers that mean a decent version won't be available for ages if ever like some of the Miramax DVD releases.

I'm all for this, if that means Del Toro's director's cut of MIMIC makes the cut.

It is such an obscure company. Though I recognize the Lionsgate logo -- the churchy clouds with god-light pouring through -- I can't think of any films they've distributed off the top of my head.


I hope Lionsgate won't be like Alliance in Canada, with 25GB discs with crappy transfers.

Originally Posted by Will_B

It is such an obscure company. Though I recognize the Lionsgate logo -- the churchy clouds with god-light pouring through -- I can't think of any films they've distributed off the top of my head.

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If you're referring to Blu-ray, the list includes:


Terminator 2

Stargate

Apocalypse Now

The Expendables (also theatrical)

Crash (also theatrical)

Winter's Bone

Precious (also theatrical)


LG also co-produces and releases the AMC series Mad Men on video.

I hope Lionsgate won't be like Alliance in Canada, with 25GB discs with crappy transfers.

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Some LG releases have been BD-25s, but most have been BD-50s. If you want to read about the quality of their transfers, look at my list of reviews. I, too, will be interested to see how they handle the Miramax library.

Thanks for the link. I was getting ready to watch the trilogy in order to get ready for the new one but I guess I'll hold off so I can see an anamorphic and (hopefully) uncut part 1.

Originally Posted by TravisR


That article also says that Pulp Fiction is coming in June.

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Originally Posted by TravisR that upcoming titles include all three films in the Scream franchise, tying in with the theatrical release of Scream 4 (due out April 15)."

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Here's hoping the first Scream will be the unrated cut that has never been seen outside of the original laserdisc.

Lionsgate seems intent on becoming as large a film studio as possible, especially in home video. They now have video distribution rights to their own catalog, the Artisan catalog, Republic catalog (via Paramount), Miramax catalog, American Zoetrope, and StudioCanal, among others.


The question now becomes two-fold: will they release more than the obvious A-tier titles, and will they do so with consistent quality?


Also, as an aside, Disney clearly let Miramax go in order to not have as many catalog feature films to be concerned with. Now they only have their own, and Disney's pre-80s/Touchstone catalog is rather small by comparison to other studios when one considers their output of live action features up through the 70s was rather minimal.

Does anyone know whether Highlander 3 and Highlander Endgame ended up in the LionsGate deal or the Echo Bridge one?

The unrated SCREAM and director's cut of MIMIC will be cool on Blu-ray. Would also like to see HALLOWEEN: H20 get hi-def treatment.

The Mimic trilogy and Miramax's Halloween films are going to be released by Echo Bridge (as is the From Dusk till Dawn trilogy) so don't expect the director's cut of MIMIC anytime soon.

Well, I see, concerning MIMIC, we get screwed again. Thanks, Weinsteins.

Originally Posted by SWFF

Well, I see, concerning MIMIC, we get screwed again. Thanks, Weinsteins.

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How is this the Weinsteins' fault? They have no involvement in the current incarnation of Miramax. They were outbid for Miramax and its library by Colony Capital, an investment fund that then brought in a former News Corp. exec, Mike Lang, to run it.

I stand corrected . . . thanks Colony Capital and Mike Lang.

BTW, regarding the quality of Lionsgate releases, since making the list in post #10 above, I've posted reviews of the LG release of Memento, which is a BD-50 and is excellent, and of Bad Boys (1983), which is a BD-25 and is OK, with some issues. There's also the recent Blu-ray of Chaplin, which is a BD-50 and which both Robert Harris and I think is well done.


I'd say that's an accurate picture for LG these days: more hits than misses. But you still have to look at each title as it comes out, and it's always best with filmmaker involvement, as is the case, for example, with Francis Ford Coppola, whose next release through LG will be The Conversation.