The Nu Image/Millennium film became an instant classic, grossing $103.1 million in the U.S., where Lionsgate distributed. Overseas, the action pic grossed $171.4 million for a worldwide total of $274.5 million.
BERLIN — Independent producer and distributor Nu Image/Millennium Films has named John Fremes head of international, the company said Friday.
The international sales veteran will report directly to principals Avi Lerner and Trevor Short. He will work side-by-side with Mark Gill, who joined the company as president of production arm Millennium Films in June.
Fremes most recently worked as president of worldwide distribution at Essential Entertainment, where he worked on such titles as Barney’s Version starring Paul Giamatti, The Expatriate with Aaron Eckhart and Defiance starring Daniel Craig.
Before that, Fremes was president of Element Films International, where he handled worldwide sales on Lionsgate’s Five Fingers and Waiting as well as Sony Pictures’ The Last Time and Mr. Brooks.
Fremes and his new colleagues are attending the Berlin International Film Festival with such company films as Lovelace, starring Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard; The Iceman with Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta and Chris Evans, Killing Season starring Robert De Niro and John Travolta and The Expendables 2.
“John’s reputation and relationships in the international arena are a tremendous asset,” Lerner and Short said in a statement. “He brings a wealth of experience and will continue to deliver the quality films buyers have trusted and counted on for the last 25 years from Nu Image and Millennium.”
Fremes said he is looking forward to working with the company’s team. “They continue to deliver an incredibly strong slate of commercially driven action fare that buyers worldwide have come to rely on,” he said.
Fremes founded Fusion International Sales in 1999 and was founding president of Le Monde Entertainment Sales, a unit of Alliance Atlantis Communications.
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
