Lionsgate and Relativity Media have finalised their multi-year distribution deal that has been the subject of rumours for several weeks.

Under the terms of the deal Lionsgate will acquire up to five titles per year from Relativity’s single picture business, building on a relationship that has already seen the release of 3:10 To Yuma, Forbidden Kingdom and The Bank Job.

The alliance kicks off later this year with the release of Brothers, Jim Sheridan’s drama remake starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman based on Susanne Bier’s 2004 Danish hit Brodre.

Brothers will be followed by Dominic Sena’s Black Plague supernatural thriller Season Of The Witch starring Nicolas Cage and Brian Levant’s action-comedy The Spy Next Door. Both films are in post-production. Season Of The Witch marks Relativity’s first film in their output deal with Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment.

The deal is the latest piece to slot into Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh’s growing empire and provides him with an even stronger foothold in the North American marketplace following the company’s acquisition of Rogue Pictures earlier this year.

As far as Lionsgate is concerned the product flow complements its decision to scale back in-house productions as part of a drive to cut operational costs.

Lionsgate and Relativity have operated as partners on the international arena for some time now ever since an agreement whereby Mandate International handles overseas sales in those territories where Kavanaugh does not have output deals in place.

Lionsgate president of the motion picture group and co-COO Joe Drake said Kavanaugh and his colleagues had built “one of the industry’s most prolific suppliers of broad-appeal, talent-driven motion pictures.”

Kavanaugh added that the announcement was “a big step in the evolution of a partnership between two forward-thinking companies.”

The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by president of acquisitions and co-productions Jason Constantine, executive vice president of business and legal affairs, acquisitions and co-productions Wendy Jaffe and executive vice president of strategic planning and operations for the motion picture group Sean Kisker.

Kavanaugh brokered the deal for Relativity alongside production president Tucker Tooley, COO Andrew Marcus and executive vice president of business and legal affairs Linda Benjamin.

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