MONTREAL & SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alliance Films and Miramax today announced that they have renewed their long-standing film distribution partnership. Under the agreement, Alliance has extended its distribution rights in all media in Canada. Included are such iconic films as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, No Country for Old Men, Chicago and Good Will Hunting. Since 1987, Alliance has distributed almost 400 titles from the Miramax library.
Alliance Films and Miramax have also entered into an output agreement under which Alliance will distribute all of Miramax’s new films in Canada, starting with John Madden’s The Debt, starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain, and the Guillermo Del Toro-produced Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce, which will be released August 31st and August 12th, respectively.
Mike Lang, CEO of Miramax, said: “We are very pleased to continue Miramax’s long-standing partnership with Alliance on our library titles and to expand the relationship to encompass new theatrical releases. Alliance is one of the top distribution companies in the world and their team brings a combination of experience and innovative thinking that fits perfectly with Miramax’s mission. We are confident that together we will maximize the value of our library and new releases, especially as new digital platforms gain traction.”
“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with the new Miramax team,” said Charles Layton, President of Alliance Films. “We know this outstanding library well. Not only does it hold great value as-is, we know that Mike Lang and his team will continue to build on the Miramax standard.”
The Debt, directed by Academy Award nominee John Madden, stars Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, Jesper Christensen, Ciarán Hinds, and two-time Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson. The screenplay, by Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan, is adapted from the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov. The producers of The Debt are Mr. Vaughn and Kris Thykier through Marv Films, Eitan Evan, and Eduardo Rossof; Tarquin Pack is the film’s executive producer.
Don’t be Afraid of the Dark is produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Johnson and stars Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison and Jack Thompson and marks the directorial debut of Troy Nixey. The film, which was co-written by Del Toro and Matthew Robbins, is a remake of the 1973 TV horror movie bearing the same name about a young girl who is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend in the mansion they are renovating and unwittingly unleashes something so terrible that their lives are placed in grave danger.
ABOUT ALLIANCE FILMS
Alliance Films, Inc. is one of the top five international independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance Vivafilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures (UK) and Aurum Producciones (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media. Key production alliances include: a co-production and acquisitions deal with Italy’s Medusa Film; a first-look deal with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films, which yielded the The King's Speech; production joint venture with IM Global’s Automatik label; and a five-picture deal with Paranormal Activity producers Oren Peli, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider with upcoming titles that include Barry Levinson’s The Bay and James Wan’s Insidious. Current and upcoming films where Alliance Films has an equity position or otherwise enabled projects to be financed include: The King’s Speech, The Woman in Black, Safe, Hobo with a Shotgun, Area 51, Weekender, Goon, and The Moth Diaries.
ABOUT MIRAMAX
The Miramax library is a collection of 700 motion pictures which were produced, financed or distributed by Miramax Films since 1979. The Miramax library holds some of the world’s most sophisticated, thought-provoking and critically-acclaimed independent films including sex, lies, and videotape, The English Patient, Shakespeare In Love, Reservoir Dogs, Chicago, Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, My Left Foot, Cinema Paradiso, Life is Beautiful, Amélie, Kill Bill Volume I and II, No Country for Old Men, as well as scores of commercially successful films such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, the Scream, Hellraiser and Scary Movie franchises and Spy Kids. Collectively the Miramax archives have received 284 Academy Award nominations and 68 Oscars, including 4 Best Picture Awards. For more information, please visit www.miramax.com.
Teaser trailers for The Debt and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark available at www.miramax.com