Major Australian exhibitor Hoyts has acknowledged that it will be re-entering the distribution business and announced that the head of the new division will be Robert Slaviero, who recently stepped down from his role of managing director at 20th Century Fox Film Distributors in Australia. It will acquire both international and local film product.

What part Hoyts would play in the release of the film product of the Nine Network has been much discussed since Australia's highest-rating broadcaster announced it was moving into film production last November. Both companies are part of the Kerry Packer stable and both have invested in writer/director David Caesar's Dirty Deeds, which went into production on August 3.

Hoyts was responsible for several huge hits during the 1980s, including the first two Crocodile Dundee films, Dances With Wolves and The Man From Snowy River.