Benzinga | Jul 21, 2021 09:32AM EDT

Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment's Screen Media Strikes Multi-Year Distribution Deal With Millennium Media

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSSE), one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, today announced Screen Media's deal with Millennium Media to release at least five films a year for the next three years from the production powerhouse. The first film will be The Enforcer starring Antonio Banderas, Kate Bosworth and 2 Chainz. Directed by Richard Hughes, the film is shooting this summer in Greece. Screen Media will handle the North American release in 2022.



Millennium Media is best known for the box office hits The Expendables franchise, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, The Hitman's Bodyguard, and Mechanic Resurrection. Recent films include Angel Has Fallen and the successful reboot of the Rambo franchise, Rambo Last Blood. It has also produced the acclaimed independent films Tesla, Blackbird, The Outpost, and Till Death.

In an ongoing relationship with Millennium Media, Screen Media recently released the Megan Fox starrer Till Death, which was the top Independent film on iTunes in sales. In 2020, Screen released two Millennium Media films, Roger Michell's Blackbird starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, and Mia Wasikowska, and one of last summer's top performing films, Rod Lurie'sThe Outpost, starring Caleb Landry Jones, Scott Eastwood, and Orlando Bloom. The Outpost was featured in many end-of-year top ten lists, and was the top film on many VOD outlets, including iTunes where it held the top spot for more than three weeks.

Over the past few years, Screen Media has become a leader in independent film distribution with exclusively theatrical and day and date releases. In August, Screen Media will release Chase Palmer's Naked Singularity, starring John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, Bill Skarsg?rd, Ed Skrein, Linda Lavin and Tim Blake Nelson. The film premiered in the opening night slot at the 2021 San Francisco Film Festival, winning the Audience Award. Recent releases include mafia thriller The Birthday Cake starring Shiloh Fernandez, Ewan McGregor, and Val Kilmer; the comedies Eat Wheaties! starring Tony Hale; and Senior Moment starring William Shatner, Jean Smart and Christopher Lloyd; the critically acclaimed documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street; and the Nicolas Cage hit Willy's Wonderland.

"We are ecstatic to expand our relationship with Millennium Media and expect to release these movies across all windows including TVOD, DVD, SVOD, and AVOD," said David Fannon, President of Screen Media. "The team at Millennium is great to work with, and our partnership has proven successful for both companies. Crackle Plus will prominently exhibit these films in AVOD, making them available to millions of viewers. The films should be major driver titles for the Crackle Plus networks."

"Millennium Media and Screen Media have developed a very fruitful relationship over the past few years. This deal is a testament to that and the success of our past films like The Outpost in the hands of Screen Media," said Jonathan Yunger, Co-President at Millennium Media. "We are elated to continue to produce quality commercial films and formalize this partnership," he added.

The deal was negotiated by Fannon with Millennium Media President Jeffrey Greenstein and Mr. Yunger.