‘Intouchables’ Helps Germany’s Senator to Record First Half

BERLIN – German producer/distributor Senator Entertainment more than doubled its turnover in the first half of 2012 thanks to the massive success of French comedy Intouchables, which has earned some $75 million at the German box office for Senator.

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The Gallic laffer pushed Senator firmly into the black, with an operating (EBIT) profit of $6.65 million (€5.3 million) and a net profit of $6 million (€4.8 million) for the first six months of this year.

Senator and CEO Helge Sasse expect Intouchables will keep on giving, filling the company’s coffers when the title bows on DVD and Blu-ray in Germany on Sept. 7.

“Following the good figures for the first half of the year we assume this trend will increase in the second half,” Sasse said. “In 2013 the challenge will most certainly be to stabilize this positive development.”

Senator is counting on its relationship with Relativity Media to help firm up its position in the top-tier of German independents. Senator has an output deal with Reality titles for Germany and is in talks with Ryan Kavanaugh’s production operation to handle world sales duties on its upcoming slate.