NBC Universal has signed with Hallmark Cards, which incorporates film properties from Universal Partnerships & Licensing (UP&L) and television properties from the NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music and Consumer Products Group. The deal expands upon a previously existing partnership and gives Hallmark Cards use of NBC Universal’s current and future slate of film and television product as well as its extensive library of film and television properties for a wide range of social expression products. The deal also allows Hallmark exclusive access to the extensive NBC News archives for e-greetings.
Included in the deal is Universal Pictures’ inaugural 3-D CGI feature Despicable Me. Planned for a 2010 theatrical release, Despicable Me is the first film produced for the studio through Chris Meledandri’s (Ice Age,
Robots, Horton Hears a Who!) Universal Pictures-based family-entertainment shingle, Illumination Entertainment, and stars Steve Carell (Horton Hears a Who!, Get Smart, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, “The Office”). Also included is “Curious George,” on PBS KIDS.
