SALES SUCCES OF MILLENNIUM FILMS CONTINUES
London/Stockholm/Paris, 4 November 2008 - Zodiak International announced today it has closed a significant deal with UGC in France for the new productions of Stieg Larsson's three best-selling books in the Millennium series, created by production company Yellow Bird. UGC has acquired the cinematic, TV and DVD rights to distribute both the feature film and the TV series in France and some French speaking territories, with the cinematic release expected next year.
UGC is one of the most important cinema groups in Europe, involved in aspects of the cinema business including exhibition, distribution and production.
Yellow Bird is producing a feature film based on the first book "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", as well as six television films based on the entire Millennium trilogy. The TV films based on the third book are currently being shot in Sweden.
Mikael Wallén, CEO of Yellow Bird said, "The Millennium series of books is one of the most read in the world today and we are delighted to be creating cinema and television films which we know will have such strong appeal."
Jorg Roth, Managing Director of Zodiak International added, "As we establish ourselves as a leading distributor of high-end drama, we are pleased to announce this substantial deal with UGC. The strong potential of Millennium as well as the new Wallander series, also produced by Yellow Bird, gives us an exceptional start in this challenging market."
Brigitte Maccioni, Head of the Production and Distribution Department at UGC, commented on the announcement, "We are very pleased to have acquired the eagerly awaited Millennium feature film and TV series. The Millennium series of books is extremely popular in France - having sold more than 2 million copies - and French audiences are extremely impatient to discover them on screen."
Zodiak International, which recently announced that Italy's top film distributor BIM Distribuzione has acquired the Millennium films, is also in negotiations with several other countries. Meanwhile, Yellow Bird is shooting the TV films based on the third book in the Millennium trilogy. In Sweden and Denmark, the Millennium feature film premiers in cinemas during February 2009.
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Yellow Bird is one of the largest Scandinavian producers of TV and feature films. It has also recently entered the German market, by starting a subsidiary in Munich. The company aims at large co-productions between primarily the Nordic countries and Germany. Typically, the films are based on well known books within well known genres, such as crime.
Yellow Bird is currently producing 13 new Swedish movies about Henning Mankell's criminal inspector Wallander, three Wallander movies for BBC1 (with Kennet Branagh in the leading role), and Stieg Larsson's critically acclaimed Millennium trilogy.
Previous productions include the first Swedish series about Wallander as well as six TV movies about criminal inspector Irene Huss, based on the books by Helene Tursten.
Yellow Bird is part of Zodiak Television, one of the largest production groups in Europe.
Zodiak Television is one of the most innovative and creative producers of content in the world today comprised of a perfect blend of more than twenty successful international businesses. Zodiak International distributes content produced by Zodiak Television, as well as third party producers, to clients throughout the world.
Zodiak Television AB companies include Bullseye (UK), Diverse Productions (UK), Lucky Day (UK), Red House (UK), Zodiak International (UK), Kanakna (Belgium, Netherlands), Social Club Productions (Denmark), Mastiff (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine, Poland), Jarowskij (Sweden, Finland), 5th Element (Sweden), Yellow Bird (Sweden, Germany), T&T Broadcasters (Finland), TeleAlliance Media Group (Russia, Belarus), Dixi Media (Russia), YS Films (Ukraine) and SOL (India).
Zodiak Television is, since Summer 2008, wholly owned by the Italian group De Agostini and is no longer a public company.
Press Release (PDF)