One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, has partnered with West Africa’s fastest growing theatrical film distribution company, FilmOne Distribution.
As part of the agreement, FilmOne will distribute all Fox titles directly to cinemas in Nigeria and Ghana, which is the first deal of its kind in West Africa for Twentieth Century Fox.
FilmOne Distribution will release in 2016 such titles as ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’, ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’, as well as ‘The Birth of a Nation’ from the Studio’s Fox Searchlight Pictures division and Dreamworks Animation’s ‘Trolls’.
Group Chief Executive Officer and President of Filmhouse Cinemas and FilmOne Distribution Kene Mkparu, said the move is a bold statement from Twentieth Century Fox as their interest in showcasing their movies in the growing African Film Market has made Nigeria a major player.
Kene said he had no doubt in mind that the partnership will not only surpass previous box office results but with Fox’s diverse film slate, will deepen and popularize the cinema-going culture in naturally receptive and entertainment-loving countries like Nigeria and Ghana.
Fox’s Executive Vice President International Distribution (EMEA), Paul Higginson, also spoke on integrity in the new partnership.
Higginson said:
“We are delighted to be working with Kene, Moses and the entire FilmOne team on expanding our reach in Africa particularly in the increasingly important market of Nigeria.
Twentieth Century Fox has always sought out new opportunities and the best distribution partners in each territory with in-depth local knowledge, and we feel that we’ve found the perfect partner in FilmOne.
We look forward to working with FilmOne closely to get the best results from all our titles.”
Chief Operations Officer and EVP of FilmOne Distribution, Moses Babatope expressed delight to be ‘partnering with such a dynamic and successful Hollywood Studio who have already started 2016 on a remarkable note with box office hits like the academy award-winning ‘The Revenant’, animation franchise ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ and recent comic book phenomenon ‘Deadpool’.’
Babatope said he and his team were looking ‘forward to releasing franchise titles like ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’, ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’’ as well as other potential franchise productions such as ‘‘Assassin’s Creed’ alongside films from Fox Searchlight and DreamWorks Animation’.
FilmOne will commence this deal with the release of ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ in West Africa on July 1st, 2016.
