LONDON
German media company Koch Media is continuing its international expansion by launching its own U.K. theatrical distribution arm, it announced Monday.
Koch will bow Nicholas Jarecki’s “Arbitrage,” starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Tim Roth, in Blighty on March 1 and aims to distrib some 25 titles per year.
The company recently acquired Christopher Neil’s comedy “Goats,” starring David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga and “Good Wife” regular Graham Phillips, plus Stuart Blumberg’s “Thanks for Sharing,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins. Both will be released this year.
Also on the slate for 2013 is Eduardo Rodriguez’s “El Gringo,” starring Scott Adkins and Christian Slater, which Koch gained as part of the acquisition of U.K. independent G2 Pictures last year.
Koch, founded by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz in 1994, now has bases in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands and California, with activities in the publishing, games and film sectors.
Its first venture in film in the U.K. came in January 2011 with a sales and distrib deal with G2, which it acquired 18 months later. G2 handled titles including Tony Kaye’s “Detachment,” Dan Rush’s “Everything Must Go” and James Gunn’s “Super” in Blighty. The company’s biggest U.K. theatrical hit came with Australian film “Red Dog,” which claimed £82,537 ($130,359).
“Koch Media has a Pan-European ambition to establish a film publishing business that will allow sales agents and producers a one-stop shop for the region,” said Craig McNicol, Koch’s managing director Northern Europe, at the time.
