Latest news with #LionsGate
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF.B) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges ...
Revenue: $326.2 million for the quarter, down 6.8% year over year. Adjusted OIBDA: $92 million for the quarter, up $42.6 million year over year. US OTT Subscribers: 12.3 million, with sequential growth of 530,000. Total US Subscribers: 18 million, a quarter-over-quarter increase of 320,000. Total North American Subscribers: 19.6 million, reflecting a sequential decrease of 330,000 due to a carriage dispute in Canada. Net Debt: $615.5 million at the end of the quarter. Leverage: Total leverage of 3.1 times on a trailing 12-month basis. Restructuring Charge: $177.4 million related to content portfolio reassessment. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with LGF.B. Release Date: May 29, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE:LGF.B) reported strong operating and financial results, achieving $92 million of adjusted OIBDA in the quarter. The company experienced a 2% increase in OTT subscriber growth in the US, driven by the premiere of Raising Kanan Season 4. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE:LGF.B) plans to expand margins from 15% to 20% and convert 70% of adjusted OIBDA into unlevered free cash flow by calendar '26. The company is focused on rebuilding its library and reclaiming ownership economics, with plans for half of the calendar '27 slate to be owned and controlled by Starz. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE:LGF.B) has a strong lineup of upcoming content, including five big tempo series and proven hits like BMF and Power spinoffs, which are expected to drive subscriber and revenue growth. North American revenue was down year over year and sequentially, impacted by a strike-affected year with only three tempo series. The company experienced a sequential decrease of 330,000 subscribers in North America due to a carriage dispute in Canada. Revenue was down 6.8% year over year due to lower total subscribers and continued pressure on linear subscribers. The company recorded a restructuring charge of $177.4 million related to the reassessment of its content portfolio. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE:LGF.B) expects revenue growth to remain negative on a year-over-year basis for calendar '25 due to the drag from lower subscribers in prior quarters. Q: What is different about Starz 3.0 as a standalone company compared to when it was part of Lionsgate? A: Jeffrey Hirsch, CEO, explained that Starz 3.0 is fundamentally different from its earlier iterations. Previously, Starz was a 100% linear, wholesale business with no consumer data. Now, 70% of its revenue is digital, and 80% of customers are a la carte or RevShare. As a standalone company, Starz can focus on unwinding cost pressures and rebuilding its IP library, allowing for greater control over costs and a focus on its core demographics of women and underrepresented audiences. Q: How much of the US OTT growth came from new bundling strategies, and why was revenue lighter than expected? A: Jeffrey Hirsch noted that the majority of subscriber growth was driven by the premiere of "Raising Kanan" in the last three weeks of the quarter. While bundling strategies like the Max Starz and BET Starz bundles on Amazon were successful, the revenue was impacted by the carryover effects of a strike-affected year and the timing of the "Raising Kanan" premiere, which did not contribute a full quarter of revenue. Q: What is the strategy for shifting to owned IP, and what are the expected cost savings? A: Hirsch stated that Starz plans to have half of its calendar 2027 slate be Starz-owned shows. The shift to owned IP is expected to result in cost savings of $1 million to $2 million per hour, with additional savings from international sales. This strategy is part of a broader goal to achieve a 20% margin by calendar 2028. Q: How does Starz plan to manage its content spending and leverage in the future? A: Scott Macdonald, CFO, mentioned that Starz expects cash content spending to decrease to about $700 million in calendar 2026, with a long-term goal of $650 million. The company aims to reduce leverage to 2.5 times and will assess capital allocation strategies, such as expanding the content portfolio, once this target is achieved. Q: How does Starz view potential consolidation opportunities in the industry? A: Jeffrey Hirsch indicated that while Starz is not currently discussing specific M&A opportunities, the company sees potential in partnerships with brands focused on women and underrepresented audiences. These partnerships could involve commercial deals or other arrangements to grow the business together. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Post
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas' John Wick spinoff has good fights, bad everything else
movie review FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R (strong/bloody violence throughout, and language). In theaters. Even assassins get a universe now. Continuing the weedy sprawl of a franchise that hardly needs it is 'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,' an origin-to-revenge story about Eve, a dancer and a paid murderer played by Ana de Armas. Call her Killing Eve II. Or Wick the Worse. The first four 'John Wick' films, starring Keanu Reeves, are fantastic and artful orgies of death with stunner locations such as Sacré-Cœur stairs in Paris and the Moroccan desert. The imagery is often breathtaking, and Reeves' steely resolve more than makes up for the thinness of the plots. Too bad 'Ballerina' drops the ball. Despite being led by an actress who once took on the role of Marilyn Monroe, it's a much less attractive movie — downright ugly sometimes. The fights are as brutal and thrilling as they should be: knives to the face, hammers to the face, grenades to the face. The face always loses. But the tale of Eve, whose assassin father was offed before she was taken to the Ruska Roma in New York to be trained in the dark arts by a phoning-it-in Anjelica Huston, is a recycled schlep. A blah de bourrée. This Len Wiseman-directed flick is 45 minutes shorter than 'John Wick 4,' but spiritually, it's longer than jury duty. 3 Eve (Ana de Armas) goes on a hunt for her father's killer in 'Ballerina.' ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection As a boring adult, Eve learns to pirouette and execute. 'Fight like a girl,' her teacher tells her. What a script! She obsessively stares at a toy ballerina from her childhood that spins as music from 'Swan Lake' plays. It's a tad on the nose — or beak, as it were. All the while, she is dead set on finding the baddies responsible for doing in her dad 12 years earlier. All she knows is that the men have an 'X' scar on their wrists. The journey to subdue Mr. Ex is basically a bar crawl. 3 De Armas' acting leaves something to be desired. Whereas John Wick traveled to exotic places and fought in architecturally fun spaces — museums filled with mirrors and glass, art-deco vaults — much of 'Ballerina' takes the aughts route of 'Alias' with Jennifer Garner: nightclubs. There's shootout after shootout in implausible nntz-nntz dancefloors. Everywhere Eve goes has a whiff of Berlin. Except, that is, the one place that finally perks up our depressed eyeballs. Her rogue search takes her to a creepily quiet, snowy village in Austria, where it turns out every resident is an assassin. A blood-soaked Stepford. The best skirmish happens inside a lodge-y restaurant there, where, it turns out, the cook is a professional killer. The dastardly chef wants to make schnitzel out of Eve. Soon after comes a groaner of a battle, in which Eve combats a flame-thrower-wielding blond man with a water hose. 3 Keanu Reeves briefly returns as John Wick. De Armas has never been much of an actress. She's more of a presence. The Cuban-Spanish performer got by in the horrific Monroe monstrosity 'Blonde' by being effervescent. Eve is, like Wick, deceptively complex. On the outside, she's a blank slate. However, while Reeves' character suggests a storm raging beneath his cool surface, de Armas' interior has a neon 'Vacancy' sign hanging up. Other well-liked actors from the Wickiverse return. Lance Reddick, who died in 2023, makes his final screen appearance as Charon, and Ian McShane is back as Winston, the Continental Hotel's dapper boss. They're joined by a mighty roster of character actors: Gabriel Byrne as the evil Chancellor and Norman Reedus as an assassin on the run. Everybody, though, gives their B-game for 'Ballerina.' Even Reeves pops by for what is, unfortunately, an adequate adventure.
New York Post
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Diddy's prison duds are up for sale — but not from his ongoing trial
Life imitates art. The prison costume that Sean 'Diddy' Combs donned on screen in 'Monster's Ball' more than two decades before he was locked up for a horrifying string of alleged sex and abuse crimes is up for auction. Bidding on GWS Auctions will open next week for the rapper's iconic ensemble from the star-studded 2001 romantic-thriller drama. 3 Sean 'Diddy' Combs played a convicted murderer in the 2001 film 'Monster's Ball.' ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement In the film, Combs, 55, played a murderer — 11 years before he allegedly broke into rapper Kid Cudi's home in a real-life plot to kill his love rival. 'The costume is worn by Sean Combs during the beginning to middle of the film while in prison and meeting with his son and wife 'Leticia' (portrayed by Halle Berry) to say goodbye before being executed,' the auction house wrote. The outfit includes a short-sleeved white Hanes crew neck T-shirt, a light grey crew neck sweatshirt with cut-off sleeves, a pair of Faded Glory blue jeans — with one pant leg sliced off — and a pair of black canvas slip-on shoes. Advertisement It also comes with a production costumer's tag with insider details on the costumer and movie scene in which it appears. 3 The costume will be up for bidding next week. GSW Auctions The duds are a far cry from the orange monochrome jumpsuit Combs is mandated to wear while he sits at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Combs' trial has been ongoing for more than three weeks, with the judge expecting it to last as long as eight. Advertisement On Friday, the rapper's former live-in assistant remained strong as she was laboriously grilled in Manhattan court over her explosive accusations that the disgraced music mogul repeatedly sexually assaulted her. 3 The film came out more than two decades before Combs was arrested in Manhattan. ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection 'Mia' – who testified anonymously as an alleged victim of sexual abuse – also claimed that her ex-boss threatened to throw her off a yacht because she took too long counting $100,000 in cash. She is just one of Combs' many alleged victims over his decades as an A-list celebrity, the most notorious being his ex-girlfriend and alleged hostage, Cassie Ventura. Advertisement Combs allegedly sexually and physically abused Ventura and refused to free her from his toxic grasp — going so far as to plot to kill rapper Kid Cudi when he heard Ventura had moved on with him, prosecutors allege. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry up to life in prison, if convicted.
Hindustan Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Studio behind John Wick, Hunger Games films to breakup into two companies
May 07, 2025 12:59 PM IST Shareholders of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the company behind The Hunger Games and John Wick movies, approved a plan to fully separate the film and TV studio from the Starz pay-TV service, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Keanu Reeves stars in the John Wick series, one of the tentpoles of Lions Gate. Shares of Lionsgate Studios Corp., the film and TV production arm, will be distributed to investors at a later date, according to the person, who asked not to be identified since the vote hasn't been announced. The breakup, years in the making, unwinds Lions Gate's $4.4 billion acquisition of Starz in 2016. Management has said the two businesses will be more valuable as independent companies. At present, the largest owners of Lions Gate voting shares are Chairman Mark Rachesky's MHR Fund Management with a 24% stake and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty 77 Capital with 17%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Following the split, MHR will have a stake of approximately 13% in Lionsgate Studios and a 15% stake in the Starz business, according to the person. Liberty 77 will have a stake just under 10% in Lionsgate and 11% in Starz. Shares of Lionsgate Studios, created using a special purpose acquisition company, rose 2.9% to $6.71 in New York. They began trading in May 2024 at around $10. Lions Gate Entertainment gained 2.5% to $8.06.
New York Post
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘American Psycho' casting director slams Austin Butler playing Patrick Bateman for a wild reason
Too pretty for the job. Kerry Barden, the casting director for 'American Psycho,' recently told The Hollywood Reporter he thinks Austin Butler is too beautiful for his rumored role as Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino's upcoming adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel. 9 Kerry Barden at a SAG-AFTRA Foundation event for casting in LA in Feb. 2025. Getty Images Instead of playing Bateman, Butler, 33, would be better suited as Jared Leto's character Paul Allen, Barden said. 'I would cast Austin in Jared's role because he's that beautiful, and that's why we cast Jared, is because he's that beautiful,' Barden told the outlet. 9 Austin Butler at Paris Fashion Week on March 11, 2025. Getty Images 9 Christian Bale in 'American Psycho' in 2000. ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection 'Jared is certainly a great actor as well, and obviously, Austin has a lot of depth as an actor, too,' he continued. 'But not every person has that kind of beauty.' Christian Bale played the iconic investment banker-turned-serial killer in the 2000 film directed by Mary Harron and also starring Leto, Willem Dafoe, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux and Reese Witherspoon. 9 Christian Bale in 'American Psycho.' ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection 9 Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman. ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection In Dec., Variety reported that Butler was officially cast in the lead role in the new 'American Psycho' film. The project is said to be a new adaptation of the novel and not a remake of Harron's movie. Butler — who infamously did method acting for his Oscar-nominated role as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic — has yet to confirm the news of his casting. 9 Austin Butler at the 'Dune: Part Two' red carpet premiere in Mexico City in Feb. 2024. Getty Images According to Variety, Jacob Elordi was rumored to be in the mix to play Bateman. Ironically, Elordi, 27, also played Elvis in Sofia Coppola's 'Priscilla' movie. Guadagnino, 53, teased his 'American Psycho' adaptation at CinemaCon earlier this month. 'We are really working hard to bring to the screen a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' 'American Psycho,' a book that I deeply love that is something that influenced me so much,' the 'Queer' and 'Challengers' director said. 9 Luca Guadagnino at the 'Che Tempo Che Fa' TV show in Milan, Italy on April 13. Getty Images 9 Austin Butler arrives at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' in Feb. 2024. GC Images He also shared that Scott Z. Burns' script 'is coming out very handsomely' and that he's in 'conversation with very exciting performers to play the leads.' Matt Ross, who appeared in the original film as one of Bateman's co-workers, weighed in on the new movie while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. 9 Christian Bale in 'American Psycho.' ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection 'I think they have their work cut out for them, for no other reason than Christian's performance is exceptional,' he said. Meanwhile, producer Chris Hanley told THR: 'Everybody's calling me, going like, 'How stupid to make ['American Psycho']. I'm not like that. Luca is a great director. He's never made a bad movie.'
