NEWMARKET FILMS to be acquired by HBO and New Line (1 Viewer)

[Michael Reuben]

Variety is reporting that HBO Films and New Line Cinema have reached an agreement to acquire Newmarket Films, the specialty house that started with Memento and is probably best known for distributing such diverse films as The Passion of the Christ and Monster. Newmarket will be combined with Fine Line features, and Newmarket's Bob Berney will head the new division.

Thus continues the trend of major media companies gobbling up the few remaining independents.

M.

 

[Ryan L. Bisasky]

well, for the most part, new market movies were being released on dvd by columbia.

 

[Michael Reuben]

What's the relevance of who handled their DVD work in the past?

M.

 

[ZacharyTait]

At least, with the acquisition by New Line, we don't have to worry about 2 or more DVDs of the same movie being put out.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Newmarket couldn't release a film if their life depended on it. Other than The Passion of the Christ (which was never their film, per say) and Memento, they've pretty much dropped the ball on every film they've put out (Stark Raving Mad, Stander, and both cuts of Donnie Darko easily come to mind). I'm happy that HBO and New Line are taking them over. Hopefully, now, when Newmarket actually produces a film, people can actually see it.

 

[Michael Reuben]

The real question is whether they'll make (or acquire) the same films. As an independent, Newmarket may not have had the financial muscle to promote many of their releases, but as an arm of Time Warner, they may no longer be free to follow their tastes without regard to the marketplace. You want them to do a better job promoting films like Stander and Donnie Darko, but the real question is whether an entity like the one that's being created would even have those films on its roster.

M.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Also, has Newmarket actually produced anything? I was under the impression that they were just a distributor.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Newmarket Capital Partners is the production company, which funded Memento. When they couldn't get anyone to distribute it, they formed Newmarket Films as a distributor.

After the success of Memento, there was some hope that the combined Newmarket entities would become a new home for independent film (maybe a mini-Miramax, pre-Disney). Instead, Newmarket Capital's production efforts appear to have fallen off substantially in the last few years, and Newmarket Films focused on acquiring properties from elsewhere. The sale of the distribution division seems to be the logical outcome of this split. According to subsequent news reports, the deal is basically one to acquire Bob Berney and his staff, leaving the production elements and the existing film library with the original Newmarket group.

M.