United Artists Secures $500 Million in Production Financing

LOS
ANGELES, August 17: United Artists Entertainment (UA) has secured $500 million
in financing through Merrill Lynch for the production of 15 to 18 films over
the next five years.

The
specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The studio, a partnership
between Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), expects
to release four to six films annually. Greenlight authority will still be
vested in Cruise and Wagner, who also serves as the studio's CEO. UA's
production slate will include a combination of films that the studio develops
on its own, films that are co-produced or co-financed with other major studios
or independent partners, and films that may be acquired through negative
pickups or other distribution agreements.

The
financing is effective immediately and will cover two UA film projects already
in the works—Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Robert
Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise, Lions for Lambs will be released in the U.S. and
abroad on November 9. The World War II thriller Valkyrie, directed by Bryan Singer, is
currently filming in Germany and will be ready for release in the summer of
2008. In Valkyrie,
Tom Cruise leads an international cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill
Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice Van Houten, Eddie Izzard and Terrence Stamp.

"The
closing of this financing is an important milestone for the new United
Artists," said Wagner. "It leaves us perfectly poised to realize our
vision of making movies that are both important and commercial. We are
fortunate to have a team of talented executives who know how to nurture and
develop a slate with ingenuity as well as financial discipline, and we're
buoyed by the enthusiasm of our friends throughout the international film
community.”