ProCon Pictures LLC, the joint venture launched by Germany's Constantin Film and US production studio Propaganda Films to share the development, financing, production and exploitation of international cinema and TV projects has folded.

The joint venture, which was established at the beginning of May 2000 had aimed to produce three to four films a year and benefit, in particular, from Propaganda Films'connections with such talent as directors Spike Jonze, Simon West and Dominic Sena as well as actors Nicole Kidman, Tom Sizemore and Matthew McConaughey.

At the venture's launch, Constantin Film's Bernd Eichinger declared that "extraordinary talent, many years of production experience, creative sensitivity and a successful management whom we have trusted for many years " had provided the basis for "this splendid partnership with Propaganda Films".

Moreover, a DG Bank report at the beginning of the year noted that the venture with Propaganda would enable Constantin "to develop and produce good, low-cost projects in future". "The reason for this is that Propaganda also produces advertising films alongside cinema films giving it access to young talents", the report noted. "This means that talented up-and-coming directors can also be given the opportunity to prove their ability in the feature film segment alongside advertising film production".

Exact details behind the collapse of the joint venture remain unclear, and while Propaganda was prepared only to confirm that the venture had folded, Constantin was unavailable for comment due to a public holiday in Germany.

Propaganda had two of Constantin's German films in development with the idea of remaking them in English: the hit comedies Der Bewegte Mann and Harte Jungs (Just The Two Of Us).