STX Motion Pictures Group, a division of STX Entertainment, and EuropaCorp Films USA have entered into a three-year agreement for STX to provide theatrical marketing and distribution services for EuropaCorp’s upcoming motion picture releases (including the hotly-anticipated Valerian) in the United States, it was announced today by Adam Fogelson, Chairman, Motion Picture Group, STX Entertainment, and Marc Shmuger, EuropaCorp CEO.
The first four films, to be released in 2017, include Luc Besson’s highly-anticipated adaptation of the comic book series Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, an epic science fiction action film written and directed by Besson, starring Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, Kris Wu, John Goodman and Ethan Hawke; The Circle, starring Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, and John Boyega, and directed by James Ponsoldt; Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest, a romantic comedy-drama set in World War II Great Britain starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy; and Renegades, a visceral heist adventure written by Luc Besson and Richard Wenk and directed by Steven Quale, starring Sullivan Stapleton and J.K. Simmons.
In making the announcement, Fogelson said, “Luc Besson is a visionary entrepreneur, storyteller and filmmaker and we are enormously excited to be working with him and his entire team releasing Europacorp’s slate of motion pictures in the United States. Additionally, Marc Shmuger is not only a gifted executive but a friend to many in our company. Together we’ve enjoyed great successes in the past, and we all share a marketing shorthand that will make this an especially potent partnership.”
Shmuger added, “STX Entertainment’s Motion Pictures Group is the perfect home for EuropaCorp’s films. They bring the highest level of studio expertise to the marketing and distribution process, but they also bring an energy and nimbleness not found in a traditional major studio. This could not be a better fit for us.”
Added Besson: “We can’t wait to get started on this partnership with our friends at STX. I worked with Adam when he championed “Lucy” at Universal, and I have great faith in him and the marketing and distribution team.”
Alongside its new arrangement with STX, EuropaCorp will maintain its 50% ownership of RED, the marketing and distribution joint-venture it formed in 2014.
