Telefónica Móviles and RIOT-E sign exclusive “The Lord of the Rings” deal in Spain
~ Telefónica MoviStar customers given access to entertainment and service content and downloadable logos and images, based on the film ~
Telefónica Móviles España (TME), Grupo Telefónica Móviles’ operator in the Spanish market, and Riot Entertainment (RIOT-E), have signed an agreement giving the cellphone operator exclusive rights to RIOT-E’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ services, in the Spanish market. The services are based on New Line Cinema’s ‘The Lord of The Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring’ movie to be released world-wide on December 19th, 2001.
Initially, RIOT-E, the global leader in mobile entertainment, will be including ‘The Lord of the Rings’ content on e-moción, the access platform to all Telefónica MoviStar content. Information and general updates on the movie will be the first services to be rolled out in the build-up to the launch.
Coinciding with its release date, Telefónica Móviles España will use RIOT-E’s technology to include a wide range of mobile content on e-moción such as games (through SMS and WAP/GPRS) and downloadable ringtones and images. The contract follows last year’s successful launch of the X-Men mobile phone game in Spain, which was also supplied by Telefónica Móviles and RIOT-E.
“The X-men game has already given us a large customer base in Spain and we expect the launch of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ services to expand this considerably,” said Jan Wellmann, CEO at RIOT-E. “The Lord of the Rings promises to be the biggest film of the decade and has a fan base that spans the globe.”
“The Lord of the Rings content includes something for everyone, from logos and picture messages to single and multi-player games. The deal with Telefónica Móviles España will allow RIOT-E to reach over 15 million mobile users with this unique content,” he added.
Pilar Latorre, Business Development Manager at Telefónica Móviles España, said, “Entertainment content is going to allow us to start talking about a new dimension as far as usage is concerned in the world of data and Mobile Internet. Although TME already has a wide range of leisure options on e-moción, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ will mean an important link in the chain that TME is building to link it to the world of content.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Riot Entertainment Ltd (www.riot-e.com)
Founded in February 2000, Riot Entertainment immediately established itself as the most innovative publisher, creator and distributor of entertainment in the wireless sector. RIOT-E provides wireless entertainment, communication and commerce to mobile users worldwide. Games created by RIOT-E are promoted and co-branded in parallel with highly visible international media releases such as movies, TV shows and sports events. RIOT-E has successfully launched its Bridget Jones’s Diary and X-Men mobile services with operators in Europe and Asia and has secured exclusive rights to mobile content based on Guinness World Records and New Line Cinema’s The Lord of The Rings film trilogy. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, RIOT-E employs 70 people worldwide.
About Telefónica Móviles España (www.empresa.movistar.com)
Telefónica Móviles España, with 15.6 million active customers in the first nine months of 2001, is a subsidiary of Grupo Telefónica Móviles, one of the world’s top ten operators in the mobile phone sector. With operations in Europe, Latin-America and the Mediterranean Basin the company has a potential market of 434 million inhabitants. The operator, which now has almost 200 content providers on e-moción, has this year created Movilforum, a forum aimed at helping businesses that aim to develop applications and services for the mobile environment.
About New Line Cinema (www.newline.com)
Founded in 1967, New Line Cinema is the entertainment industry’s leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. New Line licenses its films to ancillary markets including cable and broadcast television as well as to international venues. The company, which is a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc., operates several divisions including in-house theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, television, acquisitions, production, licensing and merchandising units.
