IFC Films extends movie output deal with Showtime

Showtime wants to journey through more years with IFC Films.

The premium channel Showtime will keep its pipeline of IFC Films, which was behind this year’s Oscar best picture nominee “Boyhood,” for five more years.

Showtime Networks, a division of CBS Corp., and IFC Films, owned by AMC Networks, have agreed to extend their movie output deal by five years.

The extension, announced Thursday, means that Showtime will receive first run of films theatrically distributed by IFC Films through 2021. Showtime subscribers can watch the the titles across all of Showtime’s platforms, including its sister outlets -- Movie Channel and Flix -- as well as on Showtime On Demand and its app, Showtime Anytime.

The deal includes recent Sundance Film Festival titles “D Train” and “Sleeping With Other People,” as well as the Richard Linklater, 12-year opus “Boyhood,” which will make its TV debut on the channel this weekend.

Financial terms for the Showtime-IFC Films pact were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to have our films play alongside Showtime’s award-winning original programs,”said Lisa Schwartz, executive vice president of distribution, operations and business development for IFC Films and Sundance Selects. “Their partnership approach over the last six years has been a major contributor to the size and acclaim of our slate.”

Showtime also has arrangements to run Weinstein Co. theatricals, which get released through this year, on its network into 2017; Dreamworks theatricals, which are released through 2018, have their first window on the network into 2020. Its arrangement with Open Road will begin in 2017 and continue through 2020. The premium cable network also an ongoing relationship with its sister division, CBS Films.

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