El Rey kicks on with martial arts

US Hispanic cable channel El Rey Network has expanded its partnership with Asian distributor Celestial Pictures by signing up to a long-term programming agreement.

The five-year deal begins in October and builds on a previous agreement signed in February that saw El Rey picking up a host of martial arts titles.

The new arrangement will provide the network with access to 255 martial arts titles from the Shaw Brothers’ library including The Five Deadly Venoms, Mad Monkey Kung Fu and The Brave Archer Trilogy.

All the shows are either dubbed or subtitled in English and the two firms are also looking to develop original programming concepts based on the Shaw Brothers’ films. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The El Rey Network was launched in 2013 by film director Robert Rodriguez, who is now the channel’s chairman.