Opus inks deals for Alyssa Milano film

Firm closes sales on 'My Girlfriend's Boyfriend,' 3 other titles

By Alex Ben Block

Sept 6, 2010, 11:00 PM ET

The romantic comedy "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend," starring Alyssa Milano and Christopher Gorham, will get its U.S. premiere on WB Digital's pay-per-view and VOD platforms and has been sold around the world by Opus Distribution.

Those deals and global sales on three other movies were announced by Ken DuBow, who founded Opus a year ago with private investment after working at MGM/UA, Modern Entertainment and elsewhere during the past 30 years.

Two other films will premiere on Lifetime channels: the horror thriller "Next Stop Murder," starring Brigid Brannagh and Rosa Blasi, on the Lifetime Movie Network, and the thriller "Locked Away," starring Jean Louisa Kelly and Kirsten Prout on Lifetime Network,

"Murder" and "Locked" were produced by Seven Palms, a company formed by former NRG and OTX researcher Kevin Goetz, who also runs research firm Screen Engine, with partners Johnson Chan of Hong Kong and Vincent Reppert. They research movie concepts and scripts before they go into production to make them of interest to target audiences.

Opus also has made international deals for "The Objective," directed by Dan Myrick and starring Jonas Ball, a paranormal thriller about U.S. Special Op forces in Afghanistan,

"Girlfriend's Boyfriend," shot in Utah under the state's rebate program, was produced by Milano and Rick McFarland and exec produced by Nate Jones, Sonja Carey and Joe Pia. Opus has been sold the film to Kino Star for Germany and Benelux, SelectaVision in Spain and Portugal, Minerva in Italy, Anchor Bay for Australia and New Zealand, Falcon in the Mideast, BSkyB in the U.K., Leda for Latin America, Grandview for Central and Eastern Europe, Platinum Pictures in Indonesia, and NBC Universal in other areas.

Opus has closed deals for "Murder," directed by John Murlowski, with M6 in France, Dall'Angelo in Italy, and Drim Tim in Spain. Dall'Angelo and Drim Tim also have "Locked Away," directed by Doug Campbell, in those countries. TF1 has it in France.

"The Objective," written by Mark Patton and Zev Guber with a story by Wesley Clark Jr., has been sold to EuroVideo in Germany, Brave Films in Italy, Trade Media in France and MovieBank for Benelux.