Seagram Co. is expected to announce today that Universal Pictures is launching its own international theatrical distribution arm based on Polygram Filmed Entertainment’s web of foreign outlets.
The new division, under the leadership of PFE president Stewart Till, will likely be named Universal Pictures Intl., and run parallel to United Intl. Pictures, U’s partnership with Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, at least until the current UIP agreement expires in October 2001. There appear to be no plans for U to exit UIP before its agreement expires.
At the very least, the move implies that Seagram’s attempts to sell PFE to Saudi prince Muhammad Bin Bandur Abdul Aziz have run into a serious, and possibly permanent, roadblock. The prince and his advisers were meeting Tuesday to decide their next move, and sources said that negotiations between them and Seagram could restart.
But Seagram’s initiative suggests that the conglom no longer expects a sale to take place, at least for the time being.
The new U foreign arm will release PFE’s slate of upcoming pics, which include the Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts starrer “Notting Hill,” Frank Darabont’s “The Green Mile,” starring Tom Hanks and “Being John Malkovich,” with John Cusack and Cameron Diaz.
It was unclear Tuesday whether UPI would handle some pics that would otherwise be destined for UIP or indie distribs.
As one of the age-old criticisms of UIP has been its poor handling of specialized or “difficult” releases, it’s likely that U will now be inclined to put that sort of fare through UPI. And given that the supply of old PFE pictures will dry up quite quickly, UPI will also need to be active in acquisitions.
Till will report to U Pics president Chris McGurk, and work with U prexy of marketing Nadia Bronson. Neither U nor Seagram had any comment Tuesday.
Speculation as to the future of UIP has been rife since European Union competition commissioner Karel Van Miert declared over a year ago that he considered the consortium in breach of antitrust regulations.
At the same time, both Par and U have started to split rights on many of their pics with independent companies or foreign distributors, thereby lessening the flow of product to UIP.
U, for example, co-financed “Primary Colors” and “The Jackal” with Mutual Film Co., while slasher pic “Bride of Chucky” went out through Good Machine for international. U’s specialized distrib October Films has alternated between pre-selling its pics to foreign distribs and putting them through UIP.
PFE distributes directly in nine territories and sells the rest of the world via its London-based sales outfit Polygram Film Intl. (In contrast, UIP distributes directly in 45 countries around the world.)
For the time being, PFI will continue to sell off rights in those territories where PFE/UPI doesn’t have distribution.
However, some observers expect Till to begin expanding UPI’s direct distrib network into new territories. Then, by the time that its UIP agreement is up, U could exit and use UPI for all its pics, if it so chose.
One senior U exec said that it would be premature to write off UIP, even after 2001, as “bigger film-makers, such as Steven Spielberg, Larry Gordon and Imagine Entertainment, might not want their films to go through it. They might prefer UIP.”
But another exec thought that U switching some of its pics from UIP to UPI would “not be an issue with filmmakers; most of them still don’t look at foreign grosses. They’re much more concerned with domestic because that affects what their friends and neighbors think.”
DreamWorks Pictures, which technically has a deal with U rather than directly with UIP, said that it would remain loyal to the studio.
“We still have a deal with U and we have no plans to change that in the immediate future,” said Jim Tharp, DreamWorks distribution topper.
Another consideration for U is PFE-owned Working Title Films, producers of “Elizabeth.” Company co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have yet to finalize a production deal with U and are still juggling other offers. But U’s decision to put its weight behind PFE Intl. improves the odds of the studio closing something with Bevan and Fellner.
There was no word Tuesday as to the fate of other PFE units, such as Polygram Films and Gramercy, nor how the launch of UPI would affect them.
Meanwhile, staff at London-based CIC Video, a joint venture between Par and U, were told Tuesday morning by CIC chief executive Paul Miller that U had given Par a 90-day notice that it was quitting the partnership (Daily Variety, Feb. 9).
(Andrew Hindes and Martin Peers contributed to this report.)