Italian distributor Lucky Red has announced the acquisition of two high-profile genre titles from The Weinstein Company.
Those titles are 1408 by Mikael Hafstrom starring John Cusack and
Samuel L. Jackson as well as Halloween by Rob Zombie.
The deals constitute the first between Lucky Red and The Weinsteins,
Stefano Massenzi, chief of Acquisitions at Lucky Red confirmed to
Screendaily.com.
'Closing this deal on two films of a very good quality is extremely important to us,' he said of the new business relationship.
The acquisitions also mark the traditionally independent distributorship's first step in a new direction announced by Lucky Red president Andrea Occhipinti at Cannes last May.
At that time Occhipinti underlined the company's intention of adding commercial and genre titles to their slate.
1408 grossed over $70m off its stateside release this summer. Halloween is scheduled to hit the theatres in North American on August 31st on 3,000 prints.
Another fresh acquisition on the Lucky Red line-up includes Venice competition title La Graine Et Le Mulet by Abdellatif Kechiche from Pathe. This deal was closed a few days ago, Massenzi confirmed.
Additionally, Lucky Red announces that Ernesto Grassi will join their
team as head of acquisitions.
Grassi is former head of distribution with Polygram, Universal and Eagle and has released titles including Notting Hill, Chocolat, Tomb Raider, The Passion Of The Christ with robust box office results in Italy.
Meanwhile, Lucky Red has not abandoned its arthouse outlook, Massenzi
assures.
Other titles on their slate include Cannes winner 4 months, 3 Weeks 2 Days, which will be released in Italy this Friday on 125 prints.
That's one of the biggest openings for a Palme D'Or winner in Italy, Massenzi says. Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant and Michael Haneke's Funny Games are other titles to get their Italian rollout this autumn.
On the production side, Paolo Sorrentino's controversial new film Il
Divo is currently shooting.
Lucky Red co-produces with Indigo Film, Parco Film and Babe (France). Sorrentino previously directed The Family Friend and Consequences of Love.
Other two titles in production include Michael Haneke's new film The
White Ribbon, currently in pre production with X Film, Wega (Austria),
Films du Losange (France) and Lucky Red as co production partners.
Finally, Soneatula directed by Salvatore Mereu and co-produced Haut et
Court (France) and Artemis (Belgium) is in post.
Lucky Red celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year.
Those titles are 1408 by Mikael Hafstrom starring John Cusack and
Samuel L. Jackson as well as Halloween by Rob Zombie.
The deals constitute the first between Lucky Red and The Weinsteins,
Stefano Massenzi, chief of Acquisitions at Lucky Red confirmed to
Screendaily.com.
'Closing this deal on two films of a very good quality is extremely important to us,' he said of the new business relationship.
The acquisitions also mark the traditionally independent distributorship's first step in a new direction announced by Lucky Red president Andrea Occhipinti at Cannes last May.
At that time Occhipinti underlined the company's intention of adding commercial and genre titles to their slate.
1408 grossed over $70m off its stateside release this summer. Halloween is scheduled to hit the theatres in North American on August 31st on 3,000 prints.
Another fresh acquisition on the Lucky Red line-up includes Venice competition title La Graine Et Le Mulet by Abdellatif Kechiche from Pathe. This deal was closed a few days ago, Massenzi confirmed.
Additionally, Lucky Red announces that Ernesto Grassi will join their
team as head of acquisitions.
Grassi is former head of distribution with Polygram, Universal and Eagle and has released titles including Notting Hill, Chocolat, Tomb Raider, The Passion Of The Christ with robust box office results in Italy.
Meanwhile, Lucky Red has not abandoned its arthouse outlook, Massenzi
assures.
Other titles on their slate include Cannes winner 4 months, 3 Weeks 2 Days, which will be released in Italy this Friday on 125 prints.
That's one of the biggest openings for a Palme D'Or winner in Italy, Massenzi says. Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant and Michael Haneke's Funny Games are other titles to get their Italian rollout this autumn.
On the production side, Paolo Sorrentino's controversial new film Il
Divo is currently shooting.
Lucky Red co-produces with Indigo Film, Parco Film and Babe (France). Sorrentino previously directed The Family Friend and Consequences of Love.
Other two titles in production include Michael Haneke's new film The
White Ribbon, currently in pre production with X Film, Wega (Austria),
Films du Losange (France) and Lucky Red as co production partners.
Finally, Soneatula directed by Salvatore Mereu and co-produced Haut et
Court (France) and Artemis (Belgium) is in post.
Lucky Red celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year.
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