SPTI Inks Five Deal, Offers Up World Cup Feature

CANNES, October 10: At MIPCOM this week, Sony Pictures
Television International launched the official film of the FIFA World Cup,
entitled The Grand Finale, and announced
a multi-year feature-film deal with Five in the U.K.

The Grand Finale is
narrated by Pierce Brosnan and features previously unseen footage from the
event. It is directed by Michael Apted.

The multimillion-pound agreement with Five will see a full
slate of features from 2006, 2007 and 2008 launching on the network, including The
Da Vinci Code, the upcoming Spider-Man
3, and Will Ferrell’s Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The new
film package deal also includes a broad selection of library titles from Sony
Pictures for both Five and its digital channels Five Life and Five US, which
launch this month. The package also includes SPTI’s new comedy series, ‘Till
Death and the classic teen-skewing drama Dawson’s
Creek.