Lions Gate Reacquires Old Titles In Bid to Build Library Revenues

By CONOR DOUGHERTY

Staff Reporter

Looking to bolster its film library, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. has signed two home video and DVD distribution deals, re-acquiring the rights to previous theatrical releases in addition to buying new rights as a third-party distributor.

Lions Gate bought back home video distribution rights to some of its most popular titles from Universal Pictures for an undisclosed sum. The deal encompasses 22 films, including “American Psycho,” “Gods and Monsters” and “Shadow of the Vampire.”

The deal stems from an agreement made four years ago in which Lions Gate gave Universal home video distribution rights to its larger theatrical releases in exchange for royalty payments. Lions Gate opted not to renew the agreement when it ended last August, but Universal kept the rights to the 22 movies released over the four-year period. (Lions Gate did, however, take over home video and DVD distribution for a few films before the deal ended, including “Monster’s Ball,” “Frailty” and “The Wash” in exchange for a fee.)

“The core of this was to get back titles which were among the most important in out library,” said Jon Feltheimer, Lions Gate’s chief executive.

“Given the boom right now in DVD, our ability to re-price and repackage these pictures as part of our library was very important.”

Separately, Lions Gate signed a home video distribution agreement with Palm Pictures, a New York production company. In that deal, Lions Gate purchased domestic home video distribution rights to 10 of Palm’s films, including “Sex and Lucia” and “The Believer,” in addition to upcoming releases.