Pathé and Warner Bros. Entertainment have struck a deal that will see WB release all Pathe titles in the UK and Ireland.
The agreement begins with The Duke, Roger Michell’s pic starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. Under the terms of the deal, Pathe will continue to devise and fund the marketing and publicity campaigns for its films, with WB taking on the exploitation across all forms of distribution.
Pathe had recently been directly distributing its titles in the UK. The deal will not affect the activities of Pathe France, and it also does not impact Pathe UK’s role as an international sales agent on its own productions and third-party titles.
Pathe’s titles have won 17 BAFTAs and 14 Oscars, with recent successes including 2020 Best Actress Oscar winner Renee Zellweger in Judy.
Cameron McCracken stated: “We are delighted to renew our alliance with Warner Bros, 10 years since we last partnered with them on our UK releases. As with our past distribution partnerships, we will continue to manage the whole filmmaking and distribution process for our titles, providing a bespoke service to our filmmakers whilst also allowing them to benefit from Studio backing.”
Polly Cochrane added “Warner Bros. first formed a partnership with Pathé in 2009. We are delighted to be renewing our strategic alliance to bring Pathé’s outstanding theatrical slate of high quality, critically acclaimed British films to our UK and Irish audiences both in cinemas and across other platforms and channels.”
