Entertainment One UK is Top British Indie Distributor for 2012

LONDON – Canadian-owned British distribution division Entertainment One U.K. is the U.K.'s top independent movie distributor on the back of a slew of big performers including The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2.

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EOne posted its strongest gross to date with $132.6 million (£81.66 million) and a 6.9 percent market share, coming in ahead of Paramount and marking the first time an independent has outgrossed a studio since 2007 in the U.K.

EOne's big successes in 2012 include Breaking Dawn -- Part 2, which became the most successful film of the franchise yet here and the company's biggest release to date, accumulating more than $56.8 million (£35 million) in the U.K. and Ireland.

Other successes with acquisitions came from Rian Johnson’s sci-fi thriller Looper and such homegrown hits as the sequel to the British Christmas franchise Nativity!, Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!, The Sweeney and The Angels’ Share -- the last becoming Ken Loach’s highest-grossing film in the U.K.

Entertainment One U.K. director of film Alex Hamilton said: "Being the No. 1 indie again is good, but to finish ahead of a studio for the year is a real feather in our cap. Given we didn’t exist the last time an indie outgrossed a studio, it’s rather satisfying."