08/03/2011

Benjamin Herrmann, managing director and partner of Majestic Filmproduktion and Majestic Filmverleih GmbH, has bought up all of Odeon Film AG’s shares, thus becoming the sole owner. The agreement takes retroactive effect from January 1, 2011.

Herrmann commented: "Odeon’s contribution really helped to build up Majestic (...). Majestic is now financially strong enough to stand on its own two feet". Now the distribution company has become fully independent, Odeon will be able to focus more on its film and TV production activities.

Founded in 2006, Majestic has so far attracted over 3.5m German viewers into theatres with high-quality, internationally acclaimed titles that are regularly showered with awards at the German Film Lolas. These include Doris Dörrie’s Cherry Blossoms - Hanami [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Philipp Stölzl’s North Face [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Wolfgang Murnberger’s The Bone Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Florian Gallenberger’s John Rabe [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Sherry Horman’s Desert Flower [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Feo Aladag’s When We Leave [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Feo Aladag
interview: Feo Aladag
film profile] (LUX Prize 2010).

Herrmann has announced a promising slate for 2011 and 2012. This year, Majestic will launch the following on German screens: Sebastian Dehnhardt’s documentary Klitschko, about the boxing brothers (release date: June 16); Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s new film, the comedy Orange, in which some Germans (including Georg Friedrich) start following a guru (August 18); Christian Zübert’s Dreiviertelmond, starring Elmar Wepper (October 13); Hermine Huntgeburth’s Tom Sawyer, featuring Heike Makatsch as Aunt Polly and Benno Fürmann as Indian Joe (November 17); and Bruno Chiche’s French/German production Small World, starring Gérard Depardieu, Alexandra Maria Lara, Niels Arestrup and Nathalie Baye (December 16).

(Translated from French)