French film group Pathé has acquired a 50% stake in Benelux distributor The Searchers, extending its footprint from cinema ownership into film distribution across Belgium and the Netherlands, Deadline reported on 29 July 2026.

The deal gives Pathé a distribution partner in a territory where, until now, its presence has been limited to exhibition — the running of cinemas — through Pathé Belgium and Pathé Netherlands, which operate roughly 40 cinemas with close to 300 screens between them. Pathé already runs film distribution in France and Switzerland.

The Searchers, based in Antwerp and Amsterdam, celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2025. Co-founder and Managing Director Olivier van den Broeck has built acquisition relationships with sales agents and producers including Rocket Science, Black Bear, The Veterans and Neon. The company's recent English-language releases in Benelux include Roofman, Conclave, Ballerina, Hot Milk, Splitsville and The Salt Path.

Under the new partnership, The Searchers will handle Pathé's own titles in the Benelux market, starting with a two-part Charles de Gaulle project: De Gaulle: Tilting Iron and De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge. Pathé, chaired by Jérôme Seydoux, stated that its exhibition subsidiaries in Belgium and the Netherlands will remain free to work with distributors other than The Searchers — a signal that the cinema chains are not being locked into an exclusive pipeline.

The Benelux move is the latest in a string of expansion steps for Pathé. In January 2026, the company reopened its UK film arm. In May 2026, it launched Emotion Pictures, a joint venture with Vendôme Pictures aimed at producing English-language feature films with broad appeal. And in 2025, Rodolphe Saadé's family holding company Merit France took a 20% stake in Pathé, bringing fresh capital behind the 130-year-old studio.

What stands out is the pattern. A reopened UK arm, a new English-language production venture, a Benelux distribution acquisition — each move adds a piece to the same puzzle. Pathé is building a vertically integrated European operation: production, distribution and exhibition under one roof, across more markets than it has covered in years. The Searchers deal plugs the gap between selling tickets at Pathé's cinemas in Antwerp and Amsterdam and deciding which films fill those screens.