he heels of the successful opening of SAW, and the recent announcement of a planned sequel, Twisted Pictures, the genre production label of Evolution Management, will finance and produce nine more films to be distributed by Lions Gate Films(NYSE: LGF; Toronto), it was jointly announced today by Lions Gate Films' President of Acquisitions, Television and Co-Productions, Peter Block and President of Production, Mike Paseornek and Twisted Pictures' Oren Koules, Mark Burg and Gregg Hoffman. All of the films will be in the horror/thriller genres.

"We are thrilled to be able to finance and produce cutting edge, story driven genre films and know we have the proven marketing and distribution expertise of Lions Gate behind us," said Burg, Koules, and Hoffman. "There isn't another distribution company in the business who better understands how to reach out to the vast audience of genre fans who want to see the uncompromising style of film we are committed to making."

"Twisted Pictures' firm commitment to producing fresh, exciting films in the lucrative horror/thriller genre is as strong as Lions Gate's is to marketing and distributing them," said Block. "Following the terrific experience we have had on Twisted Pictures' first film 'SAW,' we are looking forward to teaming up with them on their forthcoming projects, which are sure to be equally provocative and innovative."

For the upcoming projects under the agreement, Twisted Pictures is strictly looking for writers, directors or writer/directors with existing scripts, and is also open to working with outside producers with a willingness to work within the existing budget parameters.