France: Prime Video agrees studio deals
October 19, 2022
Pascale Paoli-Lebailly @ MIPCOM
Prime Video has announced having sealed several movie agreements in France with major US studios.
Revealing its European strategy at the Seaview Producers Hub during MIPCOM in Cannes, Sahar Baghery, head of Acquisition in France, said the SVoD service had signed for a second window with Sony Pictures for Marvel titles such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, seventeen months after their theatrical releases. The agreement also includes a selection of family movies such as Ghostbuster: Afterlife and a number of French films.
Prime Video has also concluded an agreement with Warner Bros Discovery for an exclusive second windowing of four HBO Max series: Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Peacemaker and miniseries DMZ.
This complements non-exclusive acquisitions of library series such as Shameless, Fringe and The Originals, and reflects the fact that HBO’s contract with French telco Orange is set to end in December 2022. The launch of HBO Max in France has been rescheduled to 2024 at the earliest.
Prime Video has also brought to NBCUniversal platform Peacock the exclusive first window of Vampire Academy season one, as well as the second, currently in production.
Amazon reasserted its role as a disrupting player in the European media ecosystem, able to find a specific tone, offer events and new kinds of heroes.
“We want to change the rules on the country by country and European levels,” stated Ricardo Cabornero Llorente, head of acquisitions in Spain.
The platform claims it also intends to make more local co-productions across Europe, and forge ties with linear broadcasters.
A deal has been concluded with France Télévisions regarding the production of series Cœurs Noirs from Mandarin TV, which will be available on the platform nine months before its release on the public channel.