Lionsgate to Transport Statham
Monday June 2, 5:16 pm ET
Studio Acquires U.S. And Canadian Rights To Third Installment Of TRANSPORTER Franchise
Release Scheduled For Thanksgiving 2008
SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF - News), a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio, today announced that it has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to TRANSPORTER 3. Jason Statham returns as iconic action hero Frank Martin in the third installment of the EuropaCorp-produced series. The announcement was made today by Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine, head of Acquisitions and Co-Productions, and Tom Ortenberg, President, Theatrical Films. Olivier Megaton directs from a script written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. The movie is produced by EuropaCorp, TF1 Films Productions, Grive Productions and Apipoulai Production, in association with Current Entertainment. Besson produces for EuropaCorp. Lionsgate will release the film at Thanksgiving, on November 26, 2008. The film will be distributed in Canada by Maple Pictures.
Constantine expressed the studio’s excitement about the project, stating, “We are thrilled to be in business with EuropaCorp and to also partner again with Jason Statham, who from WAR to CRANK and its upcoming sequel, is a well known and well-loved leading man in so many of Lionsgate’s high octane action films. We are delighted to add another film in the exciting TRANSPORTER action franchise to stand alongside such other iconic Lionsgate franchises as SAW, Tyler Perry and THE PUNISHER.”
Besson said, “We are thrilled to be sharing this experience with Lionsgate, and happy to get along with a great marketing and distribution team.” EuropaCorp COO Pierre-Ange Le Pogam concurred, “Lionsgate is a dynamic group, who we know will more than do justice to our dearest TRANSPORTER opus 3. Everyone here is working hard to get ready to provoke and inflame the market for Thanksgiving.”
Constantine negotiated the deal on behalf of Lionsgate, with Eda Kowan, Vice President Acquisitions and Wendy Jaffe, Executive Vice President Legal & Business Affairs, Acquisitions and Co-Productions, and Le Pogam negotiating on behalf of the producers.
The film, starring Robert Knepper (“Prison Break”) alongside Statham and returning cast member Francois Berleand (PLACE VENDOME), wrapped principal photography in early May and is currently in post-production.
SYNOPSIS
Jason Statham returns as Frank Martin, the ex-Special Forces operative who specializes in high-risk deliveries.
SABOUT EUROPACORP
The EuropaCorp group produces and distributes films for the French and international markets. Structured around the “vertically integrated studio” concept, its strategy aims to control each stage of the production-distribution cycle of its ambitious and varied films. Since the start of its activity in 2000, EuropaCorp has produced or co-produced 60 feature-length films, including French speaking and English speaking hits as: TAXI 2, 3 and 4; TRANSPORTER 1 and 2; ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS; TELL NO ONE; DANNY THE DOG a.k.a UNLEASHED; KISS OF THE DRAGON; and THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA. With annual revenue of 158.7 million euros and net income of 8.2 million euros for the financial year to 31st March 2007, EuropaCorp is one of Europe’s leading independent film studios. For further information: http://www.europacorp-investors.com
ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate is a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio with a major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company is leveraging its content leadership and marketing expertise through a series of partnerships that include the operation of the highly successful FEARNet branded VOD and Internet horror channel with Sony and Comcast, the recent announcement of the fall 2009 launch of a new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom, Paramount Pictures and MGM, investment in the leading young men's digital distribution platform Break.com, ownership of the premier independent television syndication company Debmar-Mercury LLC and an alliance with independent filmed entertainment production and distribution company Roadside Attractions. Lionsgate also has forged partnerships with leading content creators, owners and distributors in key territories around the world, including Televisa in the U.S. and Latin America, StudioCanal in the UK, Hoyts and Sony in Australia and Eros International in India.
The Company has generated more than $450 million at the North American theatrical box office in the past year and has released a string of hits, including THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, TYLER PERRY’S MEET THE BROWNS, THE BANK JOB, RAMBO, THE EYE, SAW IV, TYLER PERRY'S WHY DID I GET MARRIED?, GOOD LUCK CHUCK, 3:10 TO YUMA and WAR, most of which have opened at #1 or #2 at the box office. The Company has also forged leadership positions in television and home entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television series as “Weeds” and “Mad Men,” the distribution of “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” “Family Feud,” “South Park,” “Trivial Pursuit” and “The Dead Zone,” among others, and approximately 9% market share and the industry’s leading box office-to-DVD conversion rate in home entertainment. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with entrepreneurial innovation and original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.