Tele Munchen Group acquires German speaking rights to Charlie Sheen Sitcom ANGER MANAGEMENT from Lionsgate International

MUNICH and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 23, 2012 /CNW/ - In one of the largest recent sitcom deals in the territory, Tele Munchen Group (TMG) has acquired rights to the upcoming sitcom ANGER MANAGEMENT for Germany, Austria and German speaking Switzerland from Lionsgate's (NYSE: LGF) international television division, the two companies announced today.

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ANGER MANAGEMENT marks Charlie Sheen's first return to serialized television since his departure from the CBS' hit series "Two and a Half Men" a little over a year ago. The show is loosely based on Revolution Studio's 2003 feature ANGER MANAGEMENT, which starred Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, and Marisa Tomei and grossed $178 million in global box office – an unusual feat for a US comedy.

"We're delighted to extend our longstanding relationship with TMG, and we believe their media leadership and reach make them a perfect partner in the German speaking territories of Europe," said Jim Packer, President of Lionsgate Worldwide Television and Digital Distribution. "We expect ANGER MANAGEMENT to entertain audiences for many years to come, and we're pleased to continue the strong momentum we've already developed in selling this series in territories around the world."

The sale to TMG marks the show's third major international territory sale following on the heels of sales in Canada and Latin America.

"We are looking forward to bringing another highly entertaining sitcom with Charlie Sheen to screens all around the German speaking world, and we are proud of our partnership with Lionsgate, whose track record is proof of outstanding quality," said Herbert Kloiber, Chairman of TMG.

In this new series, Sheen stars as ex-baseball pro Charlie, who has to cope with some anger management issues. His female co-stars are Shawnee Smith ("Saw" Franchise, "Becker") as his ex-wife and Selma Blair ("Cruel Intentions", "Legally Blonde") as his therapist. Bruce Helford ("George Lopez", "The Drew Carey Show") heads up the writing team and will serve as show runner. Joe Roth is executive producing, along with Sheen and Helford. The series is produced by Lionsgate Television.

ANGER MANAGEMENT will start shooting on March 19, 2012 and will premiere three months later on FX ("Sons Of Anarchy", "Nip/Tuck", "The Shield") in June. FX has committed to an unprecedented initial order of 100 episodes - subject only to the first ten episodes exceeding a certain ratings level which was pre-negotiated between FX and Lionsgate.

ANGER MANAGEMENT is produced by Lionsgate Television, which produces the multiple Emmy Award-winning series MAD MEN, entering its fifth season on AMC, WEEDS, now in its eighth season on Showtime, the provocative NURSE JACKIE (Showtime), the comedy BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE (Spike), and the drama BOSS (Starz), for which Kelsey Grammer earned a Golden Globe in its debut season.

The distribution deal was negotiated by Jim Packer and Peter Iacono of Lionsgate and Dirk Schweitzer, managing director of TMG.

About Tele Munchen Group:

TMG is a fully integrated media company, which has been successfully operating in the market more than 40 years. TMG is able to exploit all audio-visual rights through its own distribution channels. Its activities include the production and acquisition of feature films, TV productions and classical music programs, as well as their distribution in the theatrical, video, broadcasting and merchandising sectors. Besides, TMG is a shareholder in the nationwide free TV-stations Tele 5 and RTL II in Germany as well as ATV and ATV 2 in Austria and continues to strengthen its strategic market position through partnerships with other companies, such as the CinemaxX AG exhibition chain, the post-production service provider CineMedia Film AG, Odeon Film AG and On Demand Deutschland.

For more information visit www.tmg.de

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution. new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning "Mad Men", "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with the comedy "Blue Mountain State," the Golden Globe-winning drama "Boss" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House Of Payne", its spinoff "Meet The Browns", "The Wendy Williams Show" and "Are We There Yet?".

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as THE LINCOLN LAWYER, TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, THE EXPENDABLES, MARGIN CALL, THE LAST EXORCISM and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS. With the January 2012 acquisition of Summit Entertainment, the Company now has the two leading young adult franchises – the blockbuster TWILIGHT SAGA, which has grossed more than $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and the HUNGER GAMES franchise, whose first film will be released on March 23. Recent Summit hits include RED, LETTERS TO JULIET, KNOWING, the STEP UP franchise and the Academy Award winning Best Picture THE HURT LOCKER.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

SOURCE Lionsgate

http://www.lionsgate.com

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