The Royal Bank of Scotland has signed a US$350 million deal to co-finance twenty films for New Line Cinema over the next two years, this includes some films already on New Line's slate such as Hairspray, Rush Hour 3, Inkheart and His Dark Materials The Golden Compass.

There's not much news in this as yet, but it's exciting to see that there's such a big investment being made from Britain and that this might just help some British films move forward and perhaps pull some productions into the country.

"The ability to work with New Line Cinema on this exciting transaction is a fantastic opportunity for the Royal Bank of Scotland and underlines our commitment to New Line as filmmakers of the highest caliber," commented Alex Brown, managing director and head of structured asset finance, media & entertainment at RBS.

The story comes from Variety who say that the Royal Bank of Scotland is a London based bank...Mmmm...Do Variety have someone on their staff who knows geography?