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Snatch - Another Hit For SKA Films
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Whilst working
on Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Guy Ritchie
(writer/director) and Matthew Vaughn (producer) of Ska Films
developed the film that became Snatch.
Brad Pitt was a Lock Stock fan and told Guy that
he wanted to work on a film with him. Several Hollywood Studios
approached Matthew and Guy saying that they would be interested
in their next film. A deal was fairly swiftly concluded with
Columbia Pictures on the basis of a so-called pick-up deal.
Coutts Bank financed the production against the security of
the Columbia contract. Coutts had the protection of a completion
bond from Film Finances, Inc.
The deal with Columbia provided Ska with a meaningful share of Columbia's net receipts.
Lock Stock gave rise to a host of British gangster/caper
films but Guy's brilliant direction of Snatch supported
by some excellent performances, particularly from Brad Pitt,
put the film head and shoulders above others in the same genre.
The box office take broke records for a British film on the
opening weekend (increasingly a critical indication of a film's
success or otherwise) and took over US$80m worldwide with
a significant increase in that figure expected through the
sale of videos and DVD's.
As for Lock Stock, Leon Morgan and his team handled
all the legal work for Snatch. Apart from the production
work, as is increasingly common in the film business now,
DL also had to respond to a number of problems after the opening,
including spurious copyright infringement claims, defamation
allegations and so on. The old music business cliche "where
there's a hit, there's a writ" applies more and more
to the movies.
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