Spyglass joins 2 Columbia pictures
Spyglass, Col partner
July 27, 2004
Spyglass Entertainment, headed by co-chairmen Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber, has come on board to co-finance two of Columbia Pictures' biggest upcoming projects, "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "The Legend of Zorro."
According to the terms of the deal, Spyglass, which signed a first-look, nonexclusive co-financing pact with Columbia in September, will own all international rights to both films, with Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International serving as the Spyglass distributor in some overseas territories.
In the case of director Rob Marshall's "Geisha," Spyglass will join DreamWorks as a financial partner on the film adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel. Columbia will market the film, with DreamWorks and Columbia sharing domestic distribution in addition to handling some international territories.
"When Spyglass Entertainment came to the studio earlier this year, one component of our first-look agreement was the potential to join us as a co-financing partner on some of our high-profile projects," said Amy Pascal, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. " 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'The Legend of Zorro' are projects with tremendous foreign appeal, and we believe these properties will deliver extraordinary entertainment value to audiences worldwide."
"We are excited to kick off our partnership with Sony with these two spectacular titles," Spyglass' Barber and Birnbaum said in a joint statement. "Sony is proving to be a great partner in our new deal, and we look forward to working with Amy and her team on more great films like these."
"Geisha" tells the story of Sayuri, a beautiful girl from a tiny fishing village in Japan who must learn to be a geisha in order to survive. Red Wagon's Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing along with Steven Spielberg.
"Legend of Zorro" is the continuing adventure of the swashbuckling crusader from Columbia's "The Mask of Zorro," with Antonio Banderas reprising the title role. Martin Campbell ("Vertical Limit") is to direct.
Spyglass Entertainment Group was founded in 1998 by Birnbaum and Barber. The company's boxoffice hits range from "The Sixth Sense," which earned $661 million in worldwide boxoffice, to "Bruce Almighty," which earned $485 million worldwide. Other recent productions include "Seabiscuit," which was nominated for seven Oscars, "Shanghai Noon," "The Count of Monte Cristo," "The Recruit" and "Shanghai Knights."
According to the terms of the deal, Spyglass, which signed a first-look, nonexclusive co-financing pact with Columbia in September, will own all international rights to both films, with Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International serving as the Spyglass distributor in some overseas territories.
In the case of director Rob Marshall's "Geisha," Spyglass will join DreamWorks as a financial partner on the film adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel. Columbia will market the film, with DreamWorks and Columbia sharing domestic distribution in addition to handling some international territories.
"When Spyglass Entertainment came to the studio earlier this year, one component of our first-look agreement was the potential to join us as a co-financing partner on some of our high-profile projects," said Amy Pascal, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. " 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'The Legend of Zorro' are projects with tremendous foreign appeal, and we believe these properties will deliver extraordinary entertainment value to audiences worldwide."
"We are excited to kick off our partnership with Sony with these two spectacular titles," Spyglass' Barber and Birnbaum said in a joint statement. "Sony is proving to be a great partner in our new deal, and we look forward to working with Amy and her team on more great films like these."
"Geisha" tells the story of Sayuri, a beautiful girl from a tiny fishing village in Japan who must learn to be a geisha in order to survive. Red Wagon's Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing along with Steven Spielberg.
"Legend of Zorro" is the continuing adventure of the swashbuckling crusader from Columbia's "The Mask of Zorro," with Antonio Banderas reprising the title role. Martin Campbell ("Vertical Limit") is to direct.
Spyglass Entertainment Group was founded in 1998 by Birnbaum and Barber. The company's boxoffice hits range from "The Sixth Sense," which earned $661 million in worldwide boxoffice, to "Bruce Almighty," which earned $485 million worldwide. Other recent productions include "Seabiscuit," which was nominated for seven Oscars, "Shanghai Noon," "The Count of Monte Cristo," "The Recruit" and "Shanghai Knights."
Share on LinkedIn
