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Posted: Sun., Feb. 12, 2006, 12:10pm PT

Buyers line-up for 'Wal-Mart' sales
Docu pacts with U.K., Oz, Spain, France



BERLIN -- U.S. doc "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" has been snatched up for theatrical release in Britain, Germany and Oz/New Zealand.

Lightning Entertainment's sales agent Richard Guardian said Sunday that deals in Spain, Benelux and France are also imminent.

The Panorama film confirms the worst fears that Europeans harbor about runaway U.S.-style capitalism. And it has hit a nerve in Berlin,  added Guardian, who expects to clinch a number of deals with European pubcasters as well.

"There's been a lot of interest here," Guardian said of the film that had a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles since November and sold 110,000 DVDs in the U.S. "But there are political issues out there as well," he said.

Guardian said some initially eager buyers in a few territories suddenly got frightened, telling him that acquiring the film could cause problems with their distribution of other DVDs at Wal-Mart subsidiaries.

"There are a number of distribs in a number of countries eager to acquire the film but people are concerned that Wal-Mart is going to be vindictive," he said, noting that looming deals for Brazil, Japan and Mexico had run into some trouble.


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