Gone for good: UK distributor behind Take That film goes bust

The London-based distributor behind the Take That musical film has gone bust, City AM can reveal, in the latest sign of the intense cost pressures facing the industry.

Elysian Film Group Distribution is part of the wider Elysian umbrella, founded by former Studiocanal chief Danny Perkins in 2018. FRP Advisory has been appointed as liquidators of the distribution arm, according to official filings. 

The separate unit was formed with minority backing from the Creative Artists Agency – one of the world’s leading talent and sports agencies – in 2020. 

One source close to the matter told City AM the firm is being closed down and wound up for its creditors, with nothing left to rescue or sell after its key rights were cancelled.

These rights refer to the exclusive legal licenses the company owned to release and stream specific movies in the UK, which serve as the business’s central valuable assets and main source of income.

Participant Media – a speciality distributor and production company founded by billionaire Jeff Skoll – abruptly shut operations and laid off its workforce after 20 years in 2024, following rising pressures from streaming platforms and the post-pandemic box office slump.

Couldn’t hold back the flood

The firm won the bidding war to secure the theatrical rights to Oscar-winning The Boy and The Heron in 2023. It also managed the logistics, marketing and legal rollout of Greatest Days, the Take That musical film.

Greatest Days came out in 2023 and grossed nearly $2m worldwide, and coincided with the 30th anniversary of Take That’s first UK number-one single, Pray. It was booked into over 600 locations across the UK, managing to rival Warner Bros’ superhero blockbuster ‘The Flash’ that was in 670 that same weekend.

In the distribution company’s latest micro accounts for the financial year ending March 2025, the business held £1.3m in fixed assets but was heavily weighed down by debt, owing over £2m to short-term creditors within the year and nearly £1m in longer-term liabilities.

Perkins – who has also overseen the production and distribution of blockbuster hits including Paddington, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Shaun the Sheep – has previously been vocal about the pressures facing the film distribution industry, particularly the UK’s uniquely high ticket-price split in favour of cinemas.

In an interview with Variety at the end of 2024, he sounded off on revenues against content having come down, but the price of content not following “accordingly”.

Elysian Group did not respond to requests for comments. FRP declined to comment.