Posted: Tue., Sep. 12, 2006, 9:00pm PT

Samaha pact ends

One-year, first-look production deal won't be reupped

By Nicole LaPorte

Samaha

Producer Elie Samaha and Bauer Martinez Entertainment are splitting ways.

One-year, first-look production deal that Samaha's Gibraltar Entertainment had with Bauer Martinez expired June 1 and is not being reupped.

BME chairman-CEO Philippe Martinez said he wanted his company to focus on producing "highly commercial, marketable comedies like Amy Heckerling's 'I Could Never Be Your Woman,' " an upcoming Bauer Martinez release that will be distributed through MGM.

Samaha's deal with Bauer Martinez yielded "The Flock," a thriller starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes. Bauer Martinez also acquired Samaha's "National Lampoon's Van Wilder II: The Rise of Taj." Both pics will be distribbed through MGM.