MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has entered into a three-year marketing and distribution deal with CBS Films under which the former will handle international theatrical distribution of the inaugural CBS Films releases and service DVD releases.

The deal builds on CBS Films and Sony‘s partnership on the upcoming action-thriller Faster, which will star Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton and is set to begin production in early 2010.

he alliance will start with CBS Films‘ first release, the inspirational drama Extraordinary Measures that will open on 22 January next year and stars Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell. CBS Films will handle domestic theatrical distribution of all its titles and retains rights in limited territories.

Next in line will be romantic comedy The Back-up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O‘Loughlin, followed by the July 30 release of the teen romance Beastly based on the story of Beauty And The Beast and starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer.

In addition to Faster, CBS Films is currently in development on action thriller Consent To Kill; thriller The Station; adventure story Gunsmoke; a remake of My Fair Lady to be co-developed with Columbia Pictures; romance I‘ll Be There, a remake of the South Korean film A Moment To Remember; and the comedy Permission.