Sorrent Inc. on Monday said it has signed an exclusive two-year deal to develop games from Twentieth Century Fox movies and distribute them to wireless carriers.

Financial details were not disclosed, but the deal was for a "substantial amount of money for the industry, and well justified by the depth and range of products we're developing with (Twentieth Century)," said Gregg Ballard, chief executive with privately held Sorrent, based in San Mateo, Calif.

Among the first movies to be offered in mobile game format will be "Robots," an animation film set for release in March, Ballard said. The console version of the game will be published by Vivendi Universal Games.

Other films scheduled for game release under the Sorrent-Twentieth Century partnership include the live-action movies "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," and the animation film "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown." All three are set for release this year.

Ballard declined to give revenue figures for Sorrent, but said the company has been publishing games since 2001 and has built a distribution network of more than 90 wireless carriers worldwide. The company gets most of its revenue from the U.S. and Europe, and is focusing heavily on expanding in Japan and China, Ballard said.

The quality of the best games running today on cellular phones are equal to console games in the early 90s, Ballard said.

"The one thing we can't change is the screen size, but for most players, it's fine, because they don't have the same expectations as they would for playing on a console," Ballard said.

Japan and South Korea are among the heaviest users of mobile games. In the U.S., use of video messaging and streaming content, such as news, sports and entertainment, are expected to exceed games, according to market researcher In-Stat.

A survey of U.S. wireless subscribers found 13.2 percent "extremely or very interested" in purchasing video services for their phones, In-Stat said. That compares to 11.4 percent who were willing to pay for music and other audio services and 6.5 percent for games.

Among the wireless carriers moving aggressively into video services for cellular phones is Verizon Wireless, which said Monday it had entered into an agreement with Twentieth Television to bring two direct-to-mobile series to customers.

Under the deal, Twentieth Television will produce 26 one-minute "mobisodes" of each of the serial dramas "Love and Hate" and "The Sunset Hotel." The soap operas are designed for Verizon's VCAST 3G network and Vodafone's 3G Live network. Verizon Wireless is owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone.

Verizon launched the multimedia VCAST service earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, saying it will be available starting Feb. 1. The regular VCAST service is expected to cost $15. A premium service that includes 3D games, music videos and exclusive programming, such as the mobile soap operas, would be available at an additional cost.