CBS Films hooks up with Sony

New slate to launch with Ford-starrer 'Measures'

The company was launched by CBS Corp. in 2007 with former Col Pics senior exec Amy Baer at the helm and a plan to generate four to six films per year. The label kicks off with the Jan. 22 release of the Tom Vaughan-directed "Extraordinary Measures," an inspirational fact-based story that stars Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell.

Next up is "The Back-Up Plan," the Alan Poul-directed romantic comedy that stars Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin and will be released next spring, followed by the Vanessa Hudgens-Alex Pettyfer starrer "Beastly," which bows July 30. The label is teamed with Sony on "Faster," the George Tillman Jr.-directed action thriller that will star Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton. Production begins in January, and the film will be released in fall 2010. CBS Films will handle domestic distribution internally.

The distribution deal -- brokered by Peter Schlessel, president of worldwide affairs for Sony and worldwide marketing and distribution chief Jeff Blake -- keeps the Sony overseas pipeline primed with even more fresh product.

Deal comes after Sony announced that the opening of the Roland Emmerich-directed "2010" put it over the top for its best-ever international box office year, with offshore ticket sales now north of $1.63 billion, breaking its 2006 record.

The expectation might have been for CBS Films to pact with Paramount, but those companies were split by Sumner Redstone into Viacom and CBS Corp. five years ago, and sources said that Sony offered a better deal to CBS Films.

Pact becomes another coup for Sony's Worldwide Acquisitions Group, which has scored several of them recently. That includes the output deal with Graham King's GK Films, which begins with the Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp starrer "The Tourist." Sony's Worldwide Acquisitions Group -- overseen by prexy Steven Bersch and Schlessel -- also was integral in bringing in the Neill Blomkamp-directed sleeper hit "District 9" and the Michael Jackson docu-concert film "This Is It," which just passed the $200 million mark in global gross. Before that, the division sealed rights to certain offshore territories on "Terminator Salvation." The film has grossed $247 million overseas, $220 million of which came from Sony-distributed territories.