Gauls ready for 'Sin'
Wild Bunch bulks up with edgy slate
On June 1 it will release Miramax's "Sin City," nabbed from under the nose of Miramax's powerful French partner TF1 for a sum that puts Wild Bunch up there with Gallic distribution's serious players from day one.
New theatrical topper Jean-Philippe Tirel, former head of video marketing at StudioCanal, saw a 25-minute teaser of the pic at the AFM, loved it and spread the word back in Paris, prompting the company to take its first big gamble.
Some x1.5 million ($1.9 million), generous by French indie standards, will go toward the pic's release under the label Pan Europeene, which Wild Bunch acquired last year. While Tirel is in charge of French distribution, Pan Europeene founder Philippe Godeau continues as prexy and head of production.
"French audiences liked 'Kill Bill' and 'Pulp Fiction' and we think they are bound to like this film," predicts Tirel. He is hoping for upward of 1.5 million admissions, although box office hinges on whether the pic nets a rating banned for under 12 years old or under 16.
"Sin City" is among a dozen pics in a meaty and varied lineup that Wild Bunch has been putting together since last fall, with titles by the likes of Abel Ferrara, George Romero, Claude Chabrol and Bertrand Blier. It has released three movies so far, notching up the most ticket sales -- 1.4 million -- with "Les Soeurs fachees," a comedy about sibling rivalry starring Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Frot.
A label of StudioCanal until going indie in 2002, Wild Bunch was able to move forward with its theatrical ambitions after inking with new equity partners last year -- the U.S. investment fund Ranger, funded by James Kimsey, and France's Iris Capital, which took 16.7% and 10.4% respectively.
The company's aim is to create a Europe-wide distribution network -- along the lines of the one that prexy Vincent Grimond tried to built when he was head of StudioCanal, only to see the project shelved after the 2000 merger with Universal.
If all goes according to plan, a Spanish operation will be up and running later this year.
But for now, the spotlight is on France.
Pan Europeene's lineup is drawn from four sources, Tirel explains: films that are cherry-picked from Wild Bunch's international sales lineup, three or four produced by Godeau, those acquired for France by Wild Side Films (bought from Bac Majestic last year along with Wild Side Video) and pickups from outside sources.
"To position ourselves as a major player in French distribution, we want other films like 'Sin City,'" says Tirel, "We really want to acquire popular films, more often than not American, to complement the arthouse fare Wild Bunch is better known for."
U.S. titles to be released this year include "Southland Tales," a genre-bending teen horror pic by "Donnie Darko" helmer Richard Kelly; George Romero's zombie pic "Land of the Dead"; "Nothing but the Truth," a teen comedy by Christian Charles that New Line will distribute Stateside; and Abel Ferrara's "Mary," starring Juliette Binoche and Forest Whitaker. Wild Bunch is also handling international sales on "Mary," "Southland" and "Nothing but the Truth."
The French titles are Blier's "How Much do You Love Me," starring Monica Bellucci; Chabrol's Huppert starrer "La Comedie du pouvoir," about a Gallic business scandal; "L'Homme de sa vie," a love story by thesp-turned-helmer Zabou Breitman; "Camping a la ferme," a comedy by Jean Pierre Sinapi; "Mauvaise foi," actor Roschdy Zem's helming debut; and "La Vie est un reve" by Bernard Campan.
From further afield come Tsai Ming Liang's "The Wayward Cloud," which nabbed several prizes at Berlin, and Hong Kong's Pang brothers' horror film "The Eye -- Infinity."
In sum, Wild Bunch's slate is practically full for 2005, and the company already has about 40% of the 15-20 films it wants to release in 2006.
"It has all come together much quicker than we were expecting," says Tirel. "We thought 2005 would be a transition year, but actually we're starting off straight away with a very solid lineup."
