Ben Ammar won't buy in Italy but thinking about European network
"I have no desire to buy an Italian production company at the moment. Nevertheless, I am interested in the country’s cinema landscape", French-Turkish producer and financier Tarak Ben Ammar told Cineuropa, denying speculations published by financial daily paper MF on January 25 about his intentions to buy an Italian production company through his company, Quinta Communication.
After yesterday’s press screening in Rome of Hannibal Rising, which Ben Ammar produced with Dino De Laurentiis, the financier told this reporter that his idea is to "create a European distribution network involving France, Italy, England, Germany and others, later turning to US directors, to oppose the dominance of North American distribution in Europe".
Ben Ammar – who in 2005 founded the Weinstein Company studio with brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Goldman Sachs, TF1 and others – has partnered up with De Laurentiis to produce three films: Decameron, The Last Legion and Hannibal Rising, the latter which is being released worldwide in February (on 3,000 screens in the US alone) and cost $75m.
"[Hannibal Rising] is an example of cinema produced with entirely European capital, through my company and Dino’s, as well as through pre-sales. This way, we have the possibility of controlling revenue, distribution and marketing even in the US”.
(Translated from Italian)
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