Universal Extends Home Entertainment Distribution Agreement With Warner Home Video In Russia

(December 2, 2008 – Moscow) – Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE) and Warner Home Video (WHV) have signed an agreement to extend an existing home entertainment distribution partnership, whereby Universal Pictures Russia will continue to distribute DVD and launch Blu-ray releases for Warner Bros. and New Line in the Russian home entertainment market for a further term. The deal was announced today by Eddie Cunningham, President, UPIE and Philippe Cardon, President, International, Warner Home Video. Under the renewed three year contract, Universal Pictures Russia (UPR) will distribute all Warner Bros. DVD product, beginning with titles such as “The Dark Knight,” “Yes Man,” “Rock’n’Rolla,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” amongst other titles, through to 2011. With immediate effect, Universal Pictures Russia will also distribute Warner films in the next generation hi-definition format, with 19 Blu-ray releases scheduled in next 2 months alone – namely: “300,” “Beowulf,” “Speed Racer,” “10,000 BC,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “I am Legend,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Get Smart” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “The Matrix,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolution,” “Constantine” and “V for Vendetta.” The first international company to produce and license DVD production in Russia, UPR first signed a distribution agreement with Warner Home Video in 2005 to market and distribute Warner home entertainment titles in that territory. As part of this successful partnership, on behalf of Warner Home Video, UPR distributed a wide variety of best-selling DVD hits such as “300,” “The Golden Compass,” “Blood Diamond,” “A History of Violence,” “I am Legend” and catalogue products such as “The Lord of the Rings – The Motion Picture Trilogy,” “Harry Potter 1-4,” “Ocean’s Trilogy,” “The Matrix Trilogy,” “Clint Eastwood Collection,” “Nicole Kidman Collection,” “Brad Pitt Collection” and other successful releases, many of which were leading sales titles in the Top 10 DVD chart. Eddie Cunningham said, “We are delighted to extend our incredibly successful partnership with Warner Bros. in Russia, which is such an exciting growth market.” “Our partnership with Universal in Russia reaffirms our commitment to this growing home entertainment market,” said Philippe Cardon. “We look forward to working together to bring more of our exciting movies and TV shows to Russian consumers.” Egor Borisov, Managing Director, UPR, commented, “We are very happy that a major film studio like Warner will continue to work so closely with Universal to further develop the growing Russian home entertainment market. It is a great honour for us to continue our successful collaboration. The agreement will benefit both companies in terms of strengthening distribution channels and working together to combat the challenge of piracy.” Marina Trushina, Regional Director for Russia and CIS, Warner Home Video, added, “We are very satisfied with the great results of our 3-year cooperation with Universal Pictures Russia, which has reaped many mutual benefits. Universal’s professionalism and strategic approach has allowed UPR to take a leading position in the Russian home video market, also enabling Warner to triple our sales volumes. We are looking into the future with optimism and are happy to continue our collaboration to satisfy the high consumer demand for quality home entertainment in Russia.” Universal Pictures Russia (UPR) is a division of Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE), specializing in production and distribution of home entertainment product. UPR is licensed to distribute DVD product for Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., New Line, Paramount and DreamWorks studios for the Russian home entertainment market. For the last two years, UPR has been awarded the prestigious accolade of “Distributor of the Year” by the Blockbuster Annual Industry Awards. Universal Pictures Entertainment is part of NBC Universal – one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi. With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video’s film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment. # # #