Relativity Acquires Rogue Pictures

After two months in negotiations, Relativity Media has slapped down an estimated $150 million to acquire Rogue Pictures from Universal Studios, reported Relativity Media CEOÂ  Ryan Kavanaugh. With this deal, Relativity has acquired Rogue’s entire library, its more than 30 projects in development and ownership of its producing deals, including the legendary horror mastermind, Wes Craven and Intrepid.

The first film to be released under this venture will be this Friday’s ‘The Unborn’, produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. Â  Relativity expects to release three additional pictures in 2009, including Craven’s thriller ’25/8′, and release a minimum of two films per year each year thereafter. As part of the deal, Universal will continue to handle distribution of Rogue Pictures for most of the world. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Relativity’s landmark equity partnership with Universal (announced earlier this fall) where Relativity will fund a substantial part of Universal’s upcoming slate until 2015.

“Rogue is a recognized brand worldwide,” said Kavanaugh. “They’ve had success in the horror space in particular, which is something we can expand upon. This purchase allows us to pair our production and finance abilities alongside Universal’s extraordinary marketing and distribution team, under the umbrella of a strong and highly-focused brand.”

Said Michael Joe, Executive Vice President of Universal Pictures, “Relativity is acquiring a strong, profitable business, and we are pleased to be working with them to continue marketing and distributing Rogue films. We know Ryan and his team will continue to ensure Rogue has an opportunity to flourish.”

Other Rogue pics in development include ‘The Strangers 2’, which has a finished script, ‘Castlevania’, and ‘Hack/Slash’.

What do you think? Â  Will this deal have an affect on any of these in-development titles? Is all this just too much business for you to worry about? Let us know by commenting below!

Source: Variety