BBC to screen hit movies in deal with Hollywood studios

by Claire Billings,, Brand Republic 08-Oct-03, 15:25

LONDON – The BBC has signed a deal with Buena Vista International Television for the UK rights to show more than 100 movies, including recent hits 'Calendar Girls', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'The Hours'.

The deal includes current, upcoming and archive films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.

However, it does not include films made by Warner Bros, Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox, which were consulting lawyers in August about the use of their films by the BBC.

The Hollywood studios were concerned that films broadcast by the BBC would be available in markets where it did not own the rights, after the corporation stopped using BSkyB's encryption technology.

This looked set to threaten the broadcaster's plans to screen 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. The broadcaster is still in negotiations with the companies and has yet to finalise a deal with Fox for the third series of hit drama '24', which is under negotiation, according to a spokeswoman.

In April, the BBC announced its intention to transmit its services using a new satellite, claiming to have a more accurate beam. This meant it would end its £85m deal with Sky as it would no longer need to use Sky's encryption technology, which stops progammes being transmitted in markets that do not have rights.

Future releases included in the deal include 'Cold Mountain', based on the Charles Frazier novel and featuring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger.

Other titles involved in the deal include the Oscar-winning 'Chicago', starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zellweger and Richard Gere; and the library of older titles including 'The English Patient' and Hitchcock classic 'Rebecca'.

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