Summit Entertainment, which rocketed up to major success with the ‘Twilight‘ franchise, and the struggling studio Lionsgate, which has all it’s assets riding on the maybe-phenomenon ‘Hunger Games,’ are in negotiations to merge. According to Bloomberg:
The companies have resumed discussions that broke down in the past over price and control issues, said the people, who declined to speak publicly because talks are private and there’s no assurance a deal will be reached. Summit has additional suitors, one of the people said. Lions Gate would gain access to the cash generated by the five “Twilight” movies. The first four films have grossed more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. A sale would be a payday for owners of closely held Summit who formed the studio in 2007 with funding from Merrill Lynch & Co.
It may be a great deal for Summit since the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise may rake in “220 million to $733 million” in earnings in the next few years, according to analysts. So, it seems to be a great choice monetarily, but it also could prove to be a bad choice for Summit if ‘The Hunger Games‘ doesn’t do as well as everyone thinks it will. Although there has been a huge craze and great trailer response, there’s no way to know for sure if it will reach ‘phenomenon’ status. It’s extremely unpredictable. However, with the over $1 billion in earnings that Summit has in it’s stockpile, they can more than pay for the $550 million debt Lionsgate has acquired, but is it a worthwhile risk to take? From the perspective of Lionsgate, if ‘Hunger Games‘ does end up being a worldwide phenomenon then they’ll be kicking themselves for merging when they could have been successful on their own. Then, there’s the possibility these talks may fall through entirely. What do you think about this possible merger?
I don’t think it’s a smart move. Either way, someone’s not going to be happy with the decision.
NOOOOOOOOOO! This cannot and should not happen! I understand that Lionsgate is in a bit of a debt (a giant one) but they shouldn’t fall back to Summit! If your going to Merge, Merge with a great company that actually cares about their movies and not just the money!
Well, I think that Summit will leave “THG” alone. This is the same Summit that gave us the instant classic “The Hurt Locker”.
Ah. Please no. It would be a disaster
I’m not too sure about this merge. I believe with the release of the Hunger Games most of their problems will be solved. I hope that Lionsgate can fix their debt and grow to become their own great company without having to merge.
NOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Twilight is horrible! Why would they even consider this!? I hope they take the risk and watch Hunger Games become the smash hit it already is.
i think they should, they are both great book series and the more money the better the movie.
will done of a twilight saga breaking dawn part 1. I will vote to you on national movie awards this year in the 2012