Lions Gate targeting kids with latest movies and that's scary for investors

Posted Jan 10th 2007 1:37PM by Eric Buscemi

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE: LGF), which has been a bright light in the otherwise dim movie industry recently, has found success making low budget movies aimed at the 20-30 year-old audience. Here is a list of some of their more notable recent releases, sorted by their estimated budgets. None of the movies has a rating milder than PG-13.

Hostel ($4.5M est. budget / $47.3M gross)
Diary of a Mad Black Woman ($5.5M est. budget / $50.3M gross)
Crash ($6.5M est. budget / $54.5M gross, won Best Picture Oscar)
Crank ($12M est. budget / $27.8M gross)
Employee of the Month ($12M est. budget / $28.4M gross)
Saw III ($12M est. budget / $80.1M gross)
Hotel Rwanda ($17.5M est. budget / $23.4M gross, nominated for 3 Oscars)
Lord of War ($42M est. budget / $24.1M gross)

(All above figures taken from IMDB.com)

From the above list, you can see Lions Gate's winning formula. All their successes have budgets under $20 million dollars, and most fit into three categories: Movies that push the limits of violence and gore (Hostel, Crank, Saw); low-brow adult-themed comedies (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Employee of the Month); and edgy dramatic works that gain critical appreciation (Crash, Hotel Rwanda).

Now, here is the problem -- neither the movie the just released, Happily N'Ever After, nor the movie that is making noise today with its addition of Paula Abdul to its cast, Bratz, fits this formula.

Happily N'Ever After, a computer-animated film that cost Lions Gate an estimated $47 million to make, only grossed $6.6 million in its opening weekend. Why did it cost Lions Gate so much to make a movie so similar to Hoodwinked, which only cost $15 million to make? And why is Lions Gate trying to make CGI children's movies in the first place? CGI whiz Pixar isn't making Hostel knock-offs, after all.

The other movie, Bratz, is in pre-production. It is described by IMDB as a "live-action adventure based on the popular line of dolls." There is no budget information available, so I won't comment on that. But even if this is a low budget movie, why is Lions Gate continuing to pursue the pre-pubescent market with a movie about a line of children's dolls?

These recent decisions on Lions Gate's part would leave me on the sidelines for the near future, as far as Lions Gate's stock is concerned, but all hope is not lost -- Lions Gate has Hostel: Part II in post-production and The Punisher 2 in pre-production.

Tags: bratz, cinema, dvd, film, happily n'ever after, HappilyN'everAfter, hostel, lgf, lions gate, LionsGate, movie, paula abdul, PaulaAbdul, saw

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-10-2007 @ 6:14PM

andyrew said...

Please check your facts before you post such a piece. First, LGF didn't really produce Hotel Rwanda. It merely had international distributional rights, not north american rights. Secondly, AND MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, Lionsgate did not put up the money to make Happily Never After. I believe Mirimax did, and decided it was a bust, so they brought Lionsgate in to pay minimal costs to finish production, and pay part of of P + A. LGF has said that it would only need a box office total of 15 to 20 million to be "extremely profitable." If I were to write such a comment online, I would check my facts first. Good try. Not good work though. Just so everyone knows, LGF has a Tyler Perry (Diary of A Mad Black Lady creator, director, actor) movie coming out in February, Hostel 2 in June, Saw III next Halloween, and critically acclaimed movies such as Trade coming out in April.