New Sales For Unstoppable Millennium

The first feature film in the Millennium trilogy, Men Who Hate Women, has sold to five new territories.
NFP (Distribution Warner Bros) in Germany, Paradiso in Japan, Polyfilm in Austria, Mirovision in South Korea and Lusomundo in Portugal, have all snapped up local distribution rights to the unstoppable hit of 2009.
Men Who Hate Women has now sold more than 30 countries in total and grossed more €50 million at the box office - making it the world's third biggest earning foreign language film of 2009.
Those named above follow in the footsteps of the UK's Momentum, Australia's Rialto, Rosebud in Greece, Gussi in Mexico and Clardin in Argentina whom acquired rights during the Cannes Film Festival. UGC in France, Frenetic in Switzerland, Lumiere across Benelux, Bim in Italy, Vertigo in Spain, Alliance in French-speaking Canada and Monolith in Poland acquired rights to the film earlier in the year.
With a cast including Swedish star Michaal Nyqvist and rising actress Noomi Rapace, the feature film directed by Niels Arden Oplev has created a huge buzz around the globe. It was seen by an audience of 2.8 million people in Scandinavia alone grossing more than €27, 000, 000. In France, the film reached Number Two at the box office and has attracted a total of 1.2 million viewers. In Spain, the film became the second most watched in the country on its opening weekend, its total admissions at week nine currently stand at 1.22 million. The film will be released in The Netherlands on August 7 and Germany on October 1.
Millennium is produced by Yellow Bird, the award-winning Swedish production company owned by the leading European group, Zodiak Entertainment. The film is distributed by Zodiak Entertainment Distribution.
Yellow Bird is also producing two further films adapted from the Stieg Larsson trilogy, entitled Millennium 2 (The Girl Who Played With Fire) and Millennium 3 (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest').
Rights to adapt the complete trilogy were bought by Yellow Bird before the books were published.
Pascal Breton, SVP Fiction, Zodiak Entertainment, said: "Millennium is arguable becoming the independent film of the year, now it has really proved itself to be a worldwide hit. These further sales demonstrate the continued interest as many countries' appetite for the trilogy is yet to be satisfied."
Mikael Wallén, Managing Director of Yellow Bird, added: "We are delighted with the continuous proliferation of Men Who Hate Women in new countries of an eagerly await the impending launches of the second film in the trilogy."
As of July 2009, Zodiak Entertainment's two successful sales teams in London and Paris are working together under the name of Zodiak Entertainment Distribution reporting to Managing Director Marco Cordeddu. Scripted sales are led by Emmanuelle Bouilhaguet in Paris and format sales by Matthieu Porte in London.
(KMcA/BMcc)