A certain sense of deja-vu here: Korda, British Lion, Goldcrest, Rank... and now Film Four. As with the others, one or two expensive turkeys (in this case Velvet Goldmine and Charlotte Grey) have bought down the whole company. I guess that the Hollywood studios can absorb these sorts of losses because at any one time they'll have 20 profit-making features on release for every one liability, but on the scale the British film industry operates, those economies of scale just do not apply.

I hope Film Four will continue to distribute European and American independent product to British cinemas: they've released some good stuff over the years.

As someone once said...When one door closes another one opens. Hopefully this will be the case.

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FilmFour most recently had a US output deal with Warner Bros. -- but that will last only for one title. Charlotte Gray tanked as "Oscar Bait" last Xmas.