Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF - option chain) shares are rising this morning after activist investor Carl Icahn announced a hostile takeover bid for the company. LGF had rejected his offer to take a larger stake in the company earlier in the week. He had made a tender offer of $6 per share, which he declined to raise this morning. A bid like this will usually create a floor for a stock's price, which can make an options trade with a bullish stance safer. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on LGF.

LGF opened this morning at $6.24. So far today the stock has hit a low of $5.86 and a high of $6.32. As of 12:15, LGF is trading at $60.01 up 0.04 (0.7%). The chart for LGF looks bullish.

I love the media sector, so Tuesday, February 9, will be an exciting day for me. After the market finishes its trading activities, we'll get reports from two entertainment companies: one's a big player in Hollywood, while the other would like to be just as big someday.

Let's start with the big gun. The Walt Disney Corporation (DIS) has first-quarter numbers all set to go, and investors are hoping for an unambiguous beat on the bottom line. The call is for net income to fall somewhere around 39 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. Kind of lousy, considering the Mouse made 41 cents per share in last year's Q1.

We all knew News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar would cede the top spot to some film someday. To be honest, I didn't think Sony's (SNE) Dear John would be the one to do it.

According to Box Office Mojo, John grossed roughly $32 million at domestic theaters. That was more than enough to put the sci-fi flick in second place. However, no one should feel sad for News Corp.; Avatar's worldwide haul now stands at over $2.2 billion.

Time Warner's (TWX) The Book of Eli did a commendable job of attempting to dethrone News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar from the top spot. In the end, it failed. James Cameron has produced a hit that will simply not be stopped. At the time of this writing, early estimates from Box Office Mojo credited the picture with capturing another $41 million over the past weekend at domestic theaters. Avatar is closing in on $500 million, an accomplishment which makes you wonder if this is the wintertime or the summertime.

Eli came in second with $31 million. A reasonably good start for Time Warner considering the power of News Corp.'s new Titanic; word of mouth is now key to propelling the apocalyptic project into solid blockbuster status. The film reportedly has a budget of $80 million attached to it, so hopefully the worldwide gross will be stellar even if the domestic take falters.

News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar is exploding like a blinding supernova at the box office. Although I have no interest in seeing it, I undoubtedly must be one of the only people on the planet who lacks the need to become immersed in the 3-D adventure. According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, James Cameron's "titanic" cinematic beast scored another $68 million at domestic theaters over the New Year's weekend. Total so far: better than $350 million.

Time Warner's (TWX) take on a famous literary detective had to settle for second place yet again. Sherlock Holmes pulled in $38 million. Coming in third was the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, also released by News Corp. Indeed, there's no shortage of excitement at the multiplex.

We all have wishes and resolutions ready for New Year's Eve. I'm eager to get a lot done in 2010, and I'm hoping for certain investment events to transpire. One of them involves Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF). I want the company to get its house in order and give me an excuse to take on some shares.

Without question, Lions Gate has been a profitable trading vehicle for some; for the rest, it's been fun to watch. At some point, though, I'd like to move from being a passive observer of the studio to one with a vested interest. That's because I think it'll be an excellent takeover play sometime in the future.

Shareholders of Time Warner (TWX) should be pretty happy this week. The media company's new film, The Blind Side, beat the latest Twilight picture. No, it won't make the stock go up, but I'm sure studio execs were excited by the fact that Blind Side held up well during its second weekend out in the marketplace.

According to early estimates over at Box Office Mojo, Blind Side grossed $20 million at domestic theaters while The Twilight Saga: New Moon, distributed by Summit Entertainment, made roughly $15 million. Obviously Time Warner benefited from the satiation of demand on New Moon, which has so far taken in over $250 million.

Last week, I discussed my disappointment with Disney's (DIS) A Christmas Carol. As a shareholder of the Mouse, I remain dissatisfied with the performance. However, this past weekend's theatrical take of the film makes me a little happier.

According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, Carol scored about $22 million at domestic theaters, making it the second most popular film of the three-day period. Sure, it wasn't number one, but given the fact that Carol made $30 million last weekend, I'd say you have to give it some credit for avoiding a significant percentage drop. So far, it has generated more than $60 million in revenue.

When I discussed Lions Gate Entertainment's (LGF) first-quarter results, I noted the disappointing statement of cash flows. Unfortunately, the company didn't do much better in the second quarter. For the six-month period, Lions Gate used over $160 million for operations compared to the roughly $40 million used in the similar frame one year ago.

Of course, cash flow doesn't always get the most coverage. Investors tend to get more excited by a swing to profitability. On that count, Lions Gate scored admirably, earning 26 cents per diluted share versus losing 44 cents per diluted share twelve months prior. Earnings.com indicates that analysts were really underestimating the Q2 income potential here: the call was for 6 cents per share.

I don't believe it. I never thought it could happen. Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) released Saw VI this past weekend. Surely the latest cinematic celebration of cruelty would be the number-one picture at domestic theaters, right? Saw is a big brand when it comes to torture movies. Jigsaw is a Freddy Krueger (and beyond) for the new generation. The teens would be out in full force to support all the latest traps and sequences of dismemberment and bloodletting for sure.

Well, Saw VI didn't come out on top. Instead, Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paranormal Activity made the most money in the race for domination at the multiplex, scoring approximately $22 million according to early estimates from Box Office Mojo. The new Saw did come in second, though, so that was at least some consolation, correct?

Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Where the Wild Things Are was number one over the past weekend at domestic theaters as of early estimates from Box Office Mojo. The film grossed well over $30 million. Coming in second was Law Abiding Citizen. If Wild Things wasn't in the market this weekend, that one definitely would have been tops at the multiplex. The revenge fest, from Liberty Capital Group's (NASDAQ: LCAPA) Overture Films, brought in $21 million.

Right on the heels of that project is the very cheaply made Paranormal Activity, courtesy of Viacom (NYSE: VIA). It made about $20 million. So far, Activity has generated over $30 million in total. And they say the little horror extravaganza cost less than $20,000 to produce!

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) was tops at the multiplex yet again with a scary horror franchise that the teens seem to be enjoying. The Final Destination, according to Boxofficemojo, grossed $12 million at domestic theaters over the three-day weekend, as of early estimates available at the time of this writing. I'm sure Destination will retain its number-one status once Labor Day is figured into the equation.

All About Steve, from News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), was the second-place film. It actually came close to Destination's take, bringing in about $11 million. Inglourious Basterds, distributed by The Weinstein Company, was third, and Gamer, an interesting sci-fi flick courtesy of Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), was fourth. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) District 9, which came in fifth, has now gone beyond $100 million in total take.

Monday, August 31, 2009, will go down as one strange trading day. Disney (NYSE: DIS) buys Marvel (NYSE: MVL). BloggingStocks reported the details of the deal here.

As a long-time shareholder of Disney, I have to ask: Does CEO Bob Iger know what the heck he's doing anymore? I thought the news was quite surreal. I suppose we all knew that Marvel would be a takeover target someday but, honestly, I thought some other media conglomerate, like maybe News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), would do a deal before the Mouse would.

Boy, was I wrong. I wasn't bullish on Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) as an earnings trade. Well, the stock closed higher by 8% on Monday, and shares rocketed another 15% in the after-hours session. It was an amazing sight.

The market loved the first-quarter report, obviously. Revenues increased 30%, helped in part by the TV Guide acquisition. Earnings per diluted share were 30 cents. That was ten times higher than the income reported one year ago. According to Reuters, the adjusted profit was 21 cents per share. Doesn't matter, it was still blazingly better than the loss Wall Street was expecting.

Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) is a stock I've been looking at for a long time. It often looked like a great trade. It actually was recently. On Monday, the stock closed at $6.26. That represented a great short-term rise.

I wish I had gone with my instincts and bought shares when they were below the $5 mark. But something always kept me from doing it. I was worried about the fundamental risk involved.