'Twilight' US television rights snatched by basic cable

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The FX Network, a basic cable channel, bought the US premiere rights to The Twilight Saga film series. The cost of all four movies is estimated to be 12 percent of the US box office gross, the standard price.

The series will be telecast after the pay TV window ends, as follows: Twilight will air in late 2011, the sequel New Moon will show in late 2012, Eclipse will be scheduled for early 2013, with the option to purchase the fourth in the series, Breaking Dawn, which does not have a release date yet.

The cable network purchased The Hurt Locker (Woody Harrelson), Knowing (Nicolas Cage), and Push (Dakota Fanning) for telecast in 2012, also from the same studio, Summit Entertainment.

FX recently acquired rights to a slew of blockbusters, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Shia LaBeouf), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Ben Stiller, Amy Adams).

The cable network is known for cutting-edge dramas and comedies, such as Emmy-winning Damages (Glenn Close), Danny DeVito's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Nip/Tuck, and Rescue Me.

Its schedule also includes syndicated TV shows.

Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation Fox Entertainment Group, FX's "Movies" have not previously included top-flight films, indicating a shift in programming designed to attract viewers from a variety of demographics.

RC