Half of Republic still at Paramount

TV titles, Wonderful Life with studio; Lionsgate has High Noon, others

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/18/2006

AUG. 18 | Paramount Home Entertainment will retain distribution rights to roughly half of the TV shows and films in the Republic Pictures library as part of a multi-year distribution deal with Lionsgate Entertainment.

A Lionsgate spokesman said the indie studio under the deal would distribute 1,600 of the 3,000 movies included in the library. Among those are classics High Noon, Rio Grande and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the spokesman said.

Paramount has retained rights to It’s a Wonderful Life and all of the TV titles, which include Twin Peaks, Beverly Hills 90210 and Love Boat.

Paramount hasn’t commented on the deal.

Lionsgate disclosed in its earnings release last week that it would continue distributing Republic movies but didn’t give details about the deal at the time.

Distribution rights to the Republic library, home to many B-movies, westerns and TV shows, reverted back to Paramount Pictures at the start of this year after being distributed for seven years by Lionsgate and Artisan Entertainment, which Lionsgate acquired in 2003. Paramount gained the rights to the library through parent-company Viacom’s acquisition of Spelling Entertainment, which previously owned Republic Pictures.

Paramount announced a slate of titles from Republic in the spring but then pulled the releases without explanation, leading some retailers to speculate the company was planning to sell the library.