Lionsgate acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights from Curzon for Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness prior to the film’s release in the territory last weekend.
The deal took place in mid-October. Although Curzon retains a stake in the film and still stands to benefit financially from its box-office performance, Lionsgate now owns the rights.
Both Lionsgate and Curzon have confirmed the deal to Screen. Curzon had no further comment to make on the reasons for the transaction, or how the company continued to benefit from the film’s performance.
Triangle Of Sadness had its UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival in October. It was listed on the festival’s website as a Curzon distribution title; but Lionsgate branding at a party for the film during the festival suggests the deal was already in place by that point.
The film started well at the UK-Ireland box office this past weekend, grossing £216,325 from 128 locations from Friday to Sunday for an average of £1,745, and taking £306,154 including previews.
Curzon acquired rights to Triangle Of Sadness from Co-Production Office prior to its debut in Competition at Cannes in May, having also released Ostlund’s last two films – The Square in March 2018 and Force Majeure in April 2015.
Social marketing
The company has been promoting the film heavily on its social channels in recent weeks, including from the Twitter accounts both for its cinemas and its distribution operation.
In contrast, the first post from the Lionsgate UK Twitter account mentioning the film did not come until October 31.
The sale comes two-and-a-half years after Curzon struck a partnership with Studiocanal on another Palme d’Or winner – Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which opened in 138 cinemas to £1.4m with a huge £10,126 average, and ended on an impressive £12.1m gross.
Following that partnership, Curzon CEO Philip Knatchbull told Screen the deal “made economic sense to us, in terms of the pay-TV deal we could make if Parasite was a success. [Studiocanal] would do all the theatrical sales and we’d do all the publicity, marketing and everything else.”
In recent years Curzon has released many of its distribution titles day-and-date, including on its own Curzon Home Cinema platform at the same time as in cinemas. This has caused consternation among those exhibitors which adhere strictly to a theatrical windows policy, such as Picturehouse Cinemas, which as a result does not play Curzon titles.
However, Curzon has relaxed the policy for select titles, and was already preparing to do so for Triangle Of Sadness prior to the Lionsgate deal; Curzon confirmed at Distributor Slate Days in September that Triangle Of Sadness would be in cinemas only from its October 28 release until at least December. Now the film is with Lionsgate, it has been programmed by Picturehouse Cinemas.
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