Lightning Media nabs U.S. rights for Christmas Story


The Snapper Films production Christmas Story has become the first Finnish box office hit to also make an impact in foreign sales. The top-grossing Finnish film of 2007, Christmas Story has been sold to nearly 100 countries, with theatrical releases in many of the territories. No other Finnish live-action feature has matched the breadth of distribution enjoyed by Christmas Story. This Xmas the family film will be released in theatres in, among others, Spain, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Serbia and Greece.

The heart-warming family film, directed by Juha Wuolijoki, is also breaking records in Finland, as local distributor Sandrew Metronome, in a historic move, will bring Christmas Story back to theatres across the country for a second round, starting on November 14.

Meanwhile, Lightning Media, the North American distribution unit of Lightning Entertainment Group, has acquired the U.S. rights to Christmas Story and plans to release the film for Christmas 2009. The deal was brokered by Xiaojuan Zhou of the world sales agent Delphis Films and Paul Gardner, Co-President of Lightning Media.

“Christmas Story has tremendous appeal for audiences of all ages and has the potential to become an annual staple in the Christmas film category.” says Paul Gardner.

Lightning Media, the domestic distribution arm of Lightning Entertainment Group has secured multi-platform distribution deals with Anchor Bay Entertainment and Lions Gate in the United States, Entertainment One in Canada and Contender Group in the United Kingdom.

Christmas Story is the feature debut by Juha Wuolijoki and recounts the unique and amazing journey of Santa Claus on his way to becoming the Santa that the world knows and loves. The film is produced by Snapper Films and world distributed by Delphis Films.

Please read the article from Variety.