Universal Networks Int’l acquires Echo Bridge movies

Universal Networks International, the global pay TV division of NBC Universal, has inked a deal with distributor Echo Bridge Entertainment to acquire five sci-fi disaster movies.

The movies – Swampshark, Firefight, Stormbringer, Sun Strike and World on Fire – have been produced by Active Entertainment for US cable network SyFy.

The deal covers Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

Last month, Echo Bridge inked a deal with Active Entertainment to distribute ten of its movies internationally. The TV movies will be delivered at a rate of two per year. The first feature to launch will be Firefight starring Dazed and Confused’s Jason London, while the second film will be Swampshark, which is currently in production and centres around a great white shark that mutates and adapts to freshwater when a US government bio-terrorism research facility spills radioactive chemicals into the ocean.

Echo Bridge launches its international TV distribution arm in April 2008 when it acquired the library of Alliance Atlantis, which included over 11,000 titles, from Goldman Sachs.