Lionsgate has revealed what it says is more than $250 million in international distribution deals stemming from titles it shopped at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deals, in a host of territories, stemmed from nine titles, most importantly Mockingjay Part 1 and 2, the third and fourth installments of the blockbuster The Hunger Games franchise. The franchise’ second film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is to be released in November.
The total surpassed last year’s Cannes-related mark by more than 50% and doesn’t include the revenues from territories where Lionsgate distributes its films directly, such as the U.K., or through distribution partnerships such as its 50-50 joint venture with IDC in Latin America or its partnership with Universal Pictures in India, the company said Wednesday.
The bounty included distribution deals for titles from its Summit Films unit, such as for Ivan Reitman-directed Draft Day (Montecito Picture Co. and OddLot Entertainment) and franchise title Step Up 5.
The Last Witch Hunter (Mark Canton Production, One Race Entertainment and Emmett/Furla), which stars Vin Diesel, also sold widely; Entertainment One took the rights for Canada, the U.K. and Australia and, through its Aurum Producciones unit, Spain.
Also popular with buyers was the Roman Polanski-directed Venus in Fur (R.P. Productions and Monolith Films) and John Wick (Thunder Road), which stars Keanu Reeves.
Other strong sellers were Alan Rickman-directed A Little Chaos (Potboiler Productions and The Bureau) and Reawakening (Blumhouse Productions and Mosaic).
The territories comprised most of Europe (including the CIS countries) and the Middle East, North America, Latin America, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.