Artists Equity – the independent artist-led studio founded by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Gerry Cardinale – has signed an overall theatrical feature film agreement with Sony Pictures, the studio announced on Thursday. Under the three-year agreement, Sony will distribute the theatrical films globally, which will be developed and produced by Artists Equity. Sony will finance the films and handle all ancillaries, with Artists Equity having the option to co-finance individual projects. “Artists Equity, in the short span of its existence, has proven remarkably adept at developing and producing high quality commercial films,” Tom Rothman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, said in a statement to TheWrap. “This is not a surprise to me as I have known the two creative ‘Pros from Dover’ for many years and always admired their smarts, talent and moxie. Now that Ben and Matt and their team have set their sights firmly on the high bar of the theatrical market, Sony is lucky as hell to be partnering with them. We look forward to making a bunch of hit films together.” Added Artists Equity CEO Ben Affleck added: “It’s an enormously meaningful landmark for Artists Equity to be making films for theatrical release with Sony Pictures and in particular with Tom Rothman, with whom Matt and I go back more than twenty years. Tom has both a deep and abiding love for movies and an understanding of and appreciation for how they are made. I can’t think of a better partner than Sony, which is fully in on the theatrical experience, as Artists Equity seeks to make films expressly meant to be seen in the cinema, with an audience. It’s an honor to make films for the magical dark room where we come together with strangers to project our innermost secrets onto a screen, surrendering to a story together, agreeing to share the same flickering dream. I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring movies to a global audience, with the entire expert Sony team.” Upcoming Artists Equity releases include “RIP” the action film starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Teyana Taylor, and Scott Adkins, directed by Joe Carnahan; “Animals” a thriller directed by Ben Affleck starring Affleck, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, and Kerry Washington; and “Kiss of the Spider-Woman” adapted from the seven-Tony Award-winning Broadway musical written and directed by Bill Condon starring Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna. Past releases from the company include “Air” the company’s inaugural film directed by Ben Affleck starring Matt Damon, Affleck, Jason Bateman, and Viola Davis; “The Instigators” starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck directed by Doug Liman; “The Accountant 2” the sequel to the 2016 hit directed by Gavin O’Connor, written by Bill Dubuque, and starring Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson; “Unstoppable” directed by William Goldenberg starring Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Peña, and Don Cheadle; and “Small Things Like These” starring Cillian Murphy adapted from Claire Keegan’s acclaimed novel.