The United Talent Agency and Electronic Arts have announced an agreement to help bring internally developed EA franchises to other entertainment media, including movies, animation, comic books and television. UTA, EA's "partner in crime", will represent the developer-publisher as it moves its IP into the "realm of large-budget motion pictures and television series". Let's hope that doesn't mean Madden: The Movie.

The EA-UTA deal is said to "significantly ramp up EA's film and television slate" which currently consists of a "feature version" of The Sims, a MySims animated series and a Dead Space animated, direct-to-DVD feature. In other words, pretend to be surprised when the Army Of Two movie script leaks later this year.

Hit the jump for the full press release. We'll have additional details on all of EA's Comic-Con related announcements through the week.

Electronic Arts Signs With United Talent Agency

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced it has signed with leading Hollywood talent and literary agency UTA for representation in motion pictures and television.

UTA will help the company develop a comprehensive strategy for moving its intellectual property into the realm of large-budget motion pictures and television series. EA's broad portfolio of titles includes top-selling franchises such as Army of Two™ and Need for Speed™ as well as eagerly awaited new titles such as Dead Space™ and Mirror's Edge™.

"UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts," said Patrick O'Brien, Vice President of EA Entertainment. "Some of our teams have already made steps to expand our games into other forms of media like online, social networks and print publication. This partnership will help us take these efforts to the next level and match each of our titles with the right artists, producers and financiers."

"We view EA as an emerging entertainment force, not just because they are a great untapped IP rights holder, but because at their core they care most about how viewers respond to their stories and creative vision," said UTA partner Richard Klubeck in making the announcement. "We're excited to work alongside the EA team as they make this important expansion of their intellectual property strategy."

The relationship is expected to significantly ramp up EA's film and television slate, which currently includes a feature version of the popular The Sims™ game in script development at 20th Century Fox with producer John Davis and a MySims™ animated television series in development at Film Roman. EA is also in production with Starz/Film Roman on an animated DVD feature version of its new title Dead Space to launch with the game.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, Army of Two, Need for Speed, Dead Space, MySims and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Mirror's Edge is a trademark or registered trademark of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

United Talent Agency is one of the entertainment industry's premier talent and literary agencies, representing many of world's most widely-known figures in every current and emerging area of entertainment, including motion pictures, television, digital media, books, music, mobile and live entertainment. Collectively, UTA agents represent a significant cross-section of today's most acclaimed artists and entertainers, including nominees and winners of Academy, Emmy, Grammy, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Writers Guild, Producers Guild, Golden Globe, People's Choice and Webby awards. The agency is also globally recognised in the areas of film finance, corporate consulting, branding & licensing, endorsements and the representation of production talent. The agency also operates UTAOnline, the first dedicated broadband representation division of a major agency.

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