ITV

Tag: Summit Entertainment

  • Lionsgate launches new specialty distribution label

    Lionsgate launches new specialty distribution label

    MUMBAI: As part of the continued diversification of its portfolio of films, Lionsgate has launched a new specialty film distribution label called Lionsgate Premiere.

     

    Marketing initiatives for the new label will be headed by Lionsgate senior vice president of marketing and research Jean McDowell under the supervision of Lionsgate chief marketing officer Tim Palen. Adam Sorensen, currently manager of western sales at Lionsgate, will oversee Lionsgate Premiere’s distribution operations.

     

    Lionsgate Premiere, which will release films from both the Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment labels, will extend the reach of the company’s motion picture group to new audiences and platforms. It will encompass a diverse slate of up to 15 films annually that will be released in theatres as well as across a broad spectrum of digital platforms.

     

    Lionsgate Premiere will focus on customizing innovative multiplatform and other release strategies for its slate of films in order to capitalize on the fast-changing motion picture environment, reach affinity audiences with branded content and targeted marketing and enhance the profitability of individual films.

     

    Lionsgate Premiere’s slate will kick off this fall with the Chinese hit Dragon Blade, whose all-star cast includes Jackie Chan, Adrien Brody and John Cusack. Next up will be the offbeat zom-com and Sundance Film Festival sensation Cooties, starring Rainn Wilson and Elijah Wood and written by Saw franchise co-creator Leigh Whannell. Other Premiere titles will include the comedy Don Verdean, starring Sam Rockwell, Danny McBride and Will Forte; horror/thriller Knock Knock, from Cabin Fever and Hostelwriter/director Eli Roth, starring John Wick’sKeanu Reeves, and the action thriller Extraction, featuring Bruce Willis, Kellen Lutz and MMA fighter-turned-actress Gina Carano.

     

    “Lionsgate Premiere embodies the unique attributes of our motion picture business – our diversity, our focus on audiences in our sweet spot and ability to create release strategies attuned to next generation moviegoers. We’re thrilled to launch our newest label with a wide-ranging slate that features films from horror maestros, star-driven action thrillers as well as a blockbuster that has already conquered the Chinese box office,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger.

     

    “Our new Lionsgate Premiere brand positions us to further expand our portfolio of releases and capitalize on opportunities to deliver an exciting slate of films to next generation audiences. We have put in place a dynamic marketing and distribution team that will ensure that the Lionsgate Premiere brand is distinguished by provocative and original storytelling, innovative marketing campaigns and forward-looking multiplatform and other release strategies that maintain our leadership at the cutting edge of industry innovation,” said Lionsgate co-chief operating officer and Motion Picture Group president Steve Beeks.

     

    Before his recent promotion, McDowell served as vice president of research for the studio.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the sixth book in the 10-part series that features books being adapted into Hollywood movies in 2014.

    ‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth

    What makes you different also makes you dangerous!

    The future belongs to those who know where they belong. What if you don’t belong? What do you do when you don’t belong? What do they do when they know you don’t belong?

    That is the life of Beatrice “Tris” Prior, who discovers that she is “divergent” – that she does not fit into any one “faction”. She soon uncovers a sinister plot brewing in her seemingly perfect society.

    In a futuristic dystopian post-apocalyptic Chicago, people are divided into five distinct factions based on their personalities – Candor are the honest, Abnegation are the selfless, Dauntless are the brave, while Amity are the peaceful, and Erudite are the intelligent. When Tris discovers a conspiracy to destroy the Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.

    Divergent has been extremely well received. It won Favourite Book of 2011 in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2011. The book currently stands at 4.37/5 of 590,875 ratings. Common Sense Media, a not for profit organization working towards improving lives, commented on Veronica Roth’s book by saying that it had deep messages about identity and controlling societies and that the plot was unstoppable and remarkably original. The book also won the Sakura Medal Contest.

    The rights to the live-action, motion picture adaptation was bought by Summit Entertainment, an American film studio behind teenage blockbusters like The Twilight Saga and Step Up Revolution. The film directed by Neil Burger (Limitless) boasts an interesting cast led by Golden Globe Award nominee Shailene Woodley (The Descendents, The Fault in Our Stars) as the Divergent Tris, along with Theo James (Downton Abbey, Golden Boy) as Four, Maggie Q (Nikita) as Tori with Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) and Ashley Judd (Missing) as Andrew and Natalie Prior, Tris’ parents and Kate Winslet (Titanic, The Reader) as Jeannie Matthews, the film’s lead antagonist.

  • Brenton Thwaites gets lead role in Gods of Egypt

    Brenton Thwaites gets lead role in Gods of Egypt

    MUMBAI: Brenton Thwaites, newbie in Hollywood has got another movie added to his portfolio. After bagging a role in The Giver, he will be next seen in Gods of Egypt. Gerard Butler who has a part in Game of Thrones will be seen in the movie as well.

     

    Alex Proyas is set to direct the movie along with Summit Entertainment period epic film. Scripted by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, the movie is about Egyptian gods in which Thwaites will be playing a human thief.

     

    Thwaites also has Prince Charming opposite Angelina Jolie in Maleficent. He has just done two movies – Ride and The Signal. Thwaites is repped by Dan Spilo at Industry Entertainment and WME.

     

    The 23 year old actor did some popular shows in Australia, his home country such as Home and Away.

  • Lionsgate consolidates media biz with Mindshare

    MUMBAI: Hollywood studio Lionsgate which acquired Summit Entertainment last year, has consolidated the media business for the combined entity with WPP’s Mindshare. The move has been made to generate significant cost savings.

    The spends by the combined entity are in the range of $275 to 300 million.

    The announcement came after Lionsgate held a multi-agency review for its media buy and planning business. Horizon, Mindshare and Initiative were the participating agencies.

    Initiative was the media agency on record for Lionsgate while Mindshare handled the media duties for Summit before it was taken over.

    Mindshare’s office in Santa Monica, California will handle media planning and buying activities for theatrical features as well as all home entertainment releases by Lionsgate, Summit, Roadside Attractions and Pantelion Films.

    Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger said, “By combining our media related services in one company, Lionsgate will immediately see significant savings which will impact the studio’s bottom line, achieve economies of scale that can be leveraged across our feature film entities and allow us additional resources to market and distribute our films in North America. In addition to significant cost savings, this move reflects a fresh strategic approach to media buying for our feature film and home entertainment slates. Mindshare has a great track record in its field and we look forward to ramping up our efforts with them in support of our 2013 slate and beyond. It was a tough decision as all of the candidates in the mix presented great opportunity for us, but in the end Mindshare met the needs of the studio in a manner that we believe will best serve our interests.”

    Mindshare North America CEO Anthony Young said, “We’re delighted to partner with Lionsgate and Summit on one of the most commercially exciting feature film slates in the world. Lionsgate has established a worldwide reputation as an innovator in the kinds of films it releases and the strategies it uses to market and distribute them, and we look forward to developing visionary and cost-effective media planning and buying strategies that reflect the Company’s entrepreneurial and game-changing spirit.”

  • Post acquisition, Lionsgate sheds 80 staff

    Post acquisition, Lionsgate sheds 80 staff

    MUMBAI: Following Lionsgate’s purchase of Summit Entertainment last January, the former has begun laying off about 80 of its employees.

    Most of the layoffs came in the motion picture and home entertainment divisions, where the two companies had the most overlap and staff reductions were expected, it is said.

    The lay-offs represent 12 per cent of the combined company. Of a total staff of 675, Lionsgate has about 500 employees, while Summit has around 175. The company is aiming at bringing the number down to around 575.

    Last Friday the company announced that its COO Steve Beeks had signed a new long-term agreement and is also taking on the additional title of president of the Lionsgate motion picture group.

    “With the growth of our combined operations through the recent Summit acquisition and a combined feature film slate that is now capable of generating a billion dollars a year at the North American theatrical box office alone, Steve‘s ongoing focus on financial discipline, cost control and overhead management is more critical than ever,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement.

    Besides Feltheimer, Beeks will also report to Lionsgate motion picture group co-chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger in his new president role for that division.

  • Stallone to pair with Schwarzenegger again

    Stallone to pair with Schwarzenegger again

    MUMBAI: Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been teamed by Summit Entertainment for a film titled The Tomb about a thrilling prison escape.

    The film, to be produced by Summit Entertainment, will be directed by Swdish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom. While Stallone will play a structural security expert, Schwarzenegger will be an inmate. 

    Incidentally, Schwarzenegger had earlier teamed up with Stallone for a cameo in The Expendables and The Expendables 2, due to hit the silver screen in August.

    Recently, both Schwarzenegger and Stallone ran into each other for shoulder surgery at the same hospital.

  • Twilight saga collects $ 283.5 mn globally

    Twilight saga collects $ 283.5 mn globally

    MUMBAI: Summit Entertainment‘s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn opened to a massive opening garnering $139.5 million in its first weekend domestically and $283.5 million globally.

    The domestic total now happens to the second-best debut weekend for the franchise after the $142.8 million opening that the 2009 film The Twilight Saga: New Moon collected. The new film did more than half of its business of $72 million when it opened on Friday.

    Opening in 54 overseas markets, Breaking Dawn roped in $144 million internationally, according to a studio estimate. The film opens in India on November 25.

    On the other hand, Warner Bros.‘ Happy Feet 2 could rope in just $22 million in its opening weekend; half of what the first film in the animated franchise earned in its 2006 debut. It stood at the second position.

    Last weekend‘s No. 1 film Immortals, Relativity Media‘s action tale, dropped to the third position collecting $12.3 million.

  • PVR mulls Hindi remake of Three Musketeers

    PVR mulls Hindi remake of Three Musketeers

    MUMBAI: PVR Pictures is said to be in talks with Summit Entertainment for the remaking rights of The Three Musketeers in Hindi.

    Three Musketeers is the story of Porthos, Athos and Aramis who served the king of France as musketeers. After discovering an evil conspiracy to overthrow the king, the musketeers come across a young, aspiring hero, D‘Artagnan, and take him under their wing. Together, the four embark on a mission to bust the plot that not only threatens the crown, but the future of Europe itself.

    PVR is considering the names of Aamir Khan and Priyanka Chopra to play prominent roles in the film. While Khan is being tipped to play the Duke of Buckingham, Chopra will play the role of Milady de Winter.