First Half Sales, Profit Down At Highlight

COLOGNE, Germany -- First half sales at Swiss rights group Highlight Communications slipped 11.5 percent to $201 million (159.7 million Swiss Francs) and profits were flat at $27.4 million as the group awaits the release of its two biggest films of the year: Paul W.S. Anderson's swashbuckler The Three Musketeers and German kids adventure tale Vicky and the Treasure of the Gods. Highlight controls Germany's Constantin Film, producer of both Musketeers and Vicky.

our editor recommends

'Perfume,' TV side drive Constantin profits

Constantin almost doubles distrib'n revenue

Constantin will bow Musketeers, which stars Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, Matthew Macfadyen and Christoph Waltz, Sept. 1 in Germany. Kids title Vicky and the Treasure of the Gods is the sequel to Constantin's 2009 hit Vicky the Viking, which earned more than $40 million in its German release. It bows Sept. 29.