Cinepix
Cinepix was founded by
John Dunning
and Andre Link in 1962.
[3]
Cinepix, based in Montreal, was a Canadian independent motion picture company that released English- and French-language films in Canada and the United States.
[4]
Initially a distribution company, Cinepix's first production was the 1969 erotic drama
Valerie
, which earned $1?million at the box office.
[5]
Cinepix produced early work by
David Cronenberg
(
Shivers
) and
Ivan Reitman
(
Meatballs
).
[6]
The company also distributed art-house films including the grunge rock documentary
Hype
,
Vincent Gallo
's
Buffalo '66
, and
SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist
.
[7]
Cronenberg stated that "Cinepix was the Canadian version of
Roger Corman
" and "in a way they were modelling themselves after him and also some European producers as well".
From 1989 to 1994, Cinepix was partnered with
Famous Players
in C/FP Distribution, which was renamed Cinepix Film Properties (C/FP). In 1994, Cinepix bought Famous Players' stake in the organization.
[9]
By 1997, Cinepix had a New York?based US distribution arm and owned 56 percent of
Cine-Groupe
, an
animated film
production company.
[7]
Lionsgate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (LGEC) was formed in 1997 by Frank Giustra, a banker.
[10]
LGEC purchased Cinepix and kept its leadership.
[7]
Cinepix was renamed Lions Gate Films on January 13, 1998.
[11]
LGEC also purchased the Vancouver-based
North Shore Studios
, which became
Lions Gate Studios.
[7]
In June 1998, LGE purchased International Movie Group, whose film library included
Jean-Claude Van Damme
's
Kickboxer
.
[7]
Its first major box office success was
American Psycho
in 2000, which began a trend of producing and distributing films too controversial for the major film studios.
[12]
Other notable films included
Affliction
(1998),
[13]
Gods and Monsters
(1998),
[14]
Dogma
(1999),
[15]
O
(2001),
[16]
Cube 2: Hypercube
(2002),
Open Water
(2003),
Saw
(2004),
[17]
The Punisher
(2004) and the
Michael Moore
documentary
Fahrenheit 9/11
(2004), which had been the studio's highest-grossing film until the release of
The Hunger Games
in 2012.
[18]
Giustra left the firm in 2000.
[10]
That same year,
Jon Feltheimer
became CEO and Michael Burns became vice chairman.
[19]
They decided to focus on the profits of videos and DVDs and began buying struggling firms that controlled large libraries. The two most notable acquisitions were
Trimark Holdings
(650 titles) in 2000
[7]
and
Artisan Entertainment
in 2003.
[20]
The Trimark purchase also included
CinemaNow
, a broadband streaming website, where Lionsgate could feature its own movies.
[7]
These two purchases along with others gave Lions Gate a large DVD (and later Blu-Ray) library, which includes
Total Recall
,
Reservoir Dogs
,
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
,
Young Guns
,
Dirty Dancing
and
Apocalypse Now
, in some cases via output deals with
StudioCanal
,
American Zoetrope
, and
Miramax
(most of them the result of prior licensing deals with Lions Gate's home video predecessor Artisan).
[
citation needed
]
Lions Gate occasionally co-produces films with major studios. For example, Lions Gate teamed with Miramax Films for the 2004 sequel
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
and with
Paramount Pictures
for 2002's
Narc
and 2004's
The Prince & Me
which was given a studio credit. Lions Gate was also a silent partner in
20th Century Fox
's 2004 sci-fi film
The Day After Tomorrow
. Also in 2004, Lions Gate joined forces with
United Artists
in producing
Hotel Rwanda
.
[21]
On August 1, 2005, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp acquired the entire library of Modern Entertainment.
[22]
[23]
On October 17, 2005, Lionsgate acquired
Redbus Film Distribution
for $35?million
[24]
[25]
and became
Lionsgate UK
on February 23, 2006.
[26]
[27]
Following this,
Zygi Kamasa
, who co-founded Redbus with Simon Franks, became CEO of Lionsgate UK and Europe.
In 2007, Joe Drake became Lionsgate's co-COO and motion picture group president.
[28]
Lionsgate cut back its annual production by four in February 2009.
[29]
The Lionsgate film
The Hunger Games
grossed $68.3?million when it premiered at the US box office on March 23, 2012. At the time, it was the best opening day ever for a non-sequel and the fifth highest of all time. Of that total, $19.7?million was earned via Thursday midnight screenings.
[30]
In its first weekend,
The Hunger Games
grossed $152.5?million, making it Lionsgate's highest-grossing film after just three days.
[31]
On January 13, 2012, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp acquired
Summit Entertainment
, the studio behind the
Twilight
and
Step Up
series for $412.5?million.
[32]
On May 3, 2012, Lionsgate Films made an agreement with
CodeBlack Enterprises
' CEO Jeff Clanagan to create
CodeBlack Films
, based at Lionsgate.
[33]
Drake left in 2012 to found
Good Universe
.
[28]
On January 16, 2013, Lionsgate announced a low-budget film division to be led by John Sacchi. The division would release films under $2.5?million. Sacchi recently looked to acquire such films as Rock Bottom Creek (2012) and other independently made films as well.
[34]
On November 22, 2013, Lions Gate released
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
. In its opening weekend, the movie grossed $158?million at the US box office, surpassing its predecessor, which generated $150?million in its opening weekend.
[35]
The film had a budget of $130?million, breaking even soon after its opening, and making it profitable. Critics highly praised the film; it received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 89%.
[36]
The third
Hunger Games
film,
Mockingjay- Part 1
, was released in 2014. The final film,
Mockingjay - Part 2
, was released in 2015.
On April 1, 2015, according to
Deadline
, Lions Gate announced it has created its new label,
Lionsgate Premiere
. This new label will handle up to 15 releases a year, targeting young audiences at theaters and digital outlets. The new label, part of the company's diversification effort, will incorporate Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment titles and then specialize in "innovative multiplatform and other release strategies" to reach "affinity audiences with branded content and targeted marketing." Marketing and Research SVP Jean McDowell will handle marketing, with distribution to be run by Adam Sorensen, who currently manages Western Sales.
[37]
On May 2, 2016, according to
Deadline Hollywood
, Lions Gate announced it has teaming with eight international companies to launch the
GlobalGate Entertainment
consortium. GlobalGate will produce and distribute local-language films in markets around the world. Lionsgate said Monday it has partnered with international entertainment executives Paul Presburger, William Pfeiffer and Clifford Werber to launch GlobalGate.
[38]
Drake returned in October 2017 as Lionsgate's film group chairman. The company laid off staff for theatrical marketing and publicity in its New York office, and moved to end its participation as a partner in CodeBlack Films in January 2019. The cut backs were due to the failures of
Robin Hood
, and the comedy
The Spy Who Dumped Me
.
[28]
In June 2019,
Hulu
and
FX
picked up show rights to Lionsgate films released in 2020 and 2021.
[39]
In 2022, Adam Fogelson joined the Motion Picture Group as vice chair, after leaving
STX Entertainment
, reporting to Drake.
[40]