HBO Films, New Line to Buy Newmarket Distribution

The film distributor who helped turn Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” from a risky bet into a box-office smash was hired Wednesday by two Time Warner Inc. units looking to form a specialty films group.

HBO Films and New Line Cinema will buy for an undisclosed price Newmarket Films, the distribution arm of producer Newmarket Entertainment Group, and hire its well-regarded president, Bob Berney.

The deal continues the trend in which major companies are developing specialty film groups, enticed by the potential profits and prestige that successful independent movie units bring.

Every major studio now has a specialty film label aiming to produce or acquire modestly budgeted movies that, with a creative marketing campaign, can become mainstream hits.

Berney is known for having the touch with sleeper hits. In a previous job at IFC Films he oversaw the blockbuster “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Other successful Newmarket films Berney worked on included “Whale Rider” and “Monster,” which earned Charlize Theron an Oscar for best actress. But some other films, such as “The Woodsman,” fared poorly.

The new unnamed division will distribute modestly budgeted films that are acquired by HBO and New Line as well as movies produced by them.

New Line and HBO films formed a distribution partnership in August 2003, beginning with the release of “American Splendor” through the specialty label Fine Line Features.

Fine Line is expected to be replaced by the Berney-led company. Berney will be joined by most of his 25 employees.

“With the spirit built into these three organizations, it just seemed like a perfect fit,” Berney said.

He will report to Colin Callender, president of HBO Films, and Michael Lynne, co-chairman and co-chief executive of New Line Cinema.

“With Bob at the helm of this entity, it is going to be a magnet for the kind of creative projects that both HBO and New Line have felt is their bread and butter,” Lynne said.

HBO has dabbled in the feature film business for years, and the new deal gives the cable channel a major boost. Although HBO had success with such films as last year’s “Maria Full of Grace,” it is not yet considered a major feature-film player.

“We are very interested in expanding our investment in that direction,” said Chris Albrecht, chairman and CEO of HBO.

Berney formed Newmarket’s distribution arm in 2002 with company partners Chris Ball and William Tyrer.

Investment bankers Ball and Tyrer founded Newmarket Entertainment Group in 1994 to finance films, producing such movies as “Cruel Intentions” and “The Mexican.”

In 2000, Ball and Tyrer dabbled in distribution when they hired Berney to independently release the offbeat drama “Memento.”

Under the new deal, Ball and Tyrer will keep the Newmarket name and the company’s 250-film library.

Newmarket’s biggest success as a distributor came with “The Passion,” director Gibson’s telling of the last hours of Christ’s life.

Mainstream studios shunned the film, believing it had limited box-office prospects and the potential for unwanted controversy amid fears that Jewish leaders would find it anti-Semitic.

But a grass-roots campaign, which targeted a core audience of religious groups, helped turn the film into a blockbuster, grossing $370 million in the U.S.