Millennium Entertainment inks deal with Prima Cinema

Film distribution company Millennium Entertainment has signed a deal with Prima Cinema Inc., which sells a high-end service that allows customers to watch first-run movies from home.

Millennium’s “Stuck in Love” already is available on the Prima system. Forthcoming pictures from the company, including the animated movie “Khumba,” will also be carried by Prima.

Carlsbad, Calif.-based Prima Cinema sells a $35,000 device that offers 24-hour rentals of movies that begin showing the same day they premiere at the local multiplex.

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It costs $500 per rental, and $600 for a 3-D film. Movies from Universal Pictures, Magnolia Pictures and Cinedigm are available on the service.

“Millennium is a top independent studio that continues to expand their production depth and breadth of films that our clients desire,” Jason Pang, chief executive of Prima, said in an email interview.

Producer Avi Lerner’s film company Nu Image has a controlling interest in Millennium Entertainment, which distributes Lerner’s movies and others.

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“We just see it as a unique opportunity to reach an audience that is otherwise kind of difficult to reach through traditional channels,” said Steve Nickerson, president of Millennium Entertainment. “They are celebrities and high-net-worth individuals that ... are very busy doing what they do to achieve their success. This is a way to reach them.”

Nickerson declined to disclose the financial details of Millennium’s arrangement with Prima.

Prima was founded in 2010 and launched its service last year. It counts Universal as an investor.

Pang declined to disclose how many customers his company has.

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