The Weinstein Company has sealed a home entertainment distribution deal with Vivendi Entertainment.
The move follows TWC’s recent exit from its 70% stake in Genius Productions, which has left the home video distribution business altogether.
On Monday, Genius agreed to sell all distribution rights for companies like Shout Factory, "Sesame Street" and World Wrestling Entertainment to Vivendi.
As part of the Genius deal, Vivendi also takes on the Classic Media line of "VeggieTales" titles as well as a host of Robert Halmi productions like "Lonesome Dove."
As for TWC, Vivendi, a division of Universal Music Group Distribution, gets rights to the company’s library, and the deal also includes 20 direct-to-DVD films.
Besides the recent theatrical films from TWC like "The Reader" and "Vicki Cristina Barcelona," the deal will include the "Dragon Dynasty" series, featuring Jet Li and Jackie Chan, and Dimension Extreme titles like George Romero’s "Diary of the Dead" and Daria Argento’s "Mother of Tears."
"Vivendi Entertainment is a great place to build our home entertainment library and, in keeping with our plan for the company, develop and increase our catalog business," Bob Weinstein said in a statement.
Theatrically, Vivendi will release "New York, I Love You" on October 16. The company has stated that it intends to distribute as many as 14 films per year.
Upcoming TWC theatrical releases include "Nine," directed by Rob Marshall, and an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s "The Road," starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.
Genius will still exist, continuing to handle distribution of non-DVD titles, mostly videogames.
