US producer Joel Silver and the Studio Babelsberg Group have agreed a strategic partnership until 2013.

The deal will include the current slate of over 15 films in Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment being distributed by Warner Bros.

A central element will be Studio Babelsberg's role as a co-producer in future films produced by Dark Castle. The agreement anticipates that a number of the films from the slate will be produced on the sound stages at Studio Babelsberg.

It is speculated that the first film to appear at the Babelsberg Studios will be in early 2009 after the Universal/Weinstein Company production of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds vacates the lot in January 2009.

The agreement expands upon the partnership between Silver and Studio Babelsberg which has seen the Joel Silver bring V For Vendetta, Speed Racer and Ninja Assassin to the German studios over the past four years.

Commenting on the deal, Carl Woebcken, CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG, noted that the alliance would open 'entirely new possibilities for the development of our own business - we get a more predictable order income for our studio operations, allowing us to create a steady work flow for our stage rental, production services, set construction and art department divisions over the next five years. In addition, we broaden our business platform, this is our first opportunity to generate co-producer profits from worldwide distribution, participating in the commercial success of Dark Castle.'