Lionsgate Studios May Make Lower-Budget Movies Just For Starz As Company Moves Ahead With Split
deadline.comLionsgate is thinking about making “lower-budget” movies for Starz as the TV streaming and linear network is set to split with Lionsgate Studios by the end of the year. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we also made some lower budget movies specifically for Starz,” said CEO Jon Feltheimer on a post-earnings call. “And we’re talking about that and thinking about the calculus for how that works.” Talking about Lionsgate theatrical output – from big swings to the many smaller films on its slate that he said generate 90% returns, Feltheimer noted that “at the end of the day, we take all that product, all that product, and all that huge investment, and it goes all into the library.
And the new stuff drives the old stuff” in a virtuous circle. “We’ve got a really a great ecosystem, whether we’re the same company or whether we’re two companies.
I think you can expect those mutual benefits to continue.” Lionsgate Studios recently became a publicly traded company (stock symbol LION) through a SPAC merger in the first step in a separation.
Lionsgate Entertainment (LGF), which still includes the studio and Starz, is trading as usual. But the plan is to spin out the studio to shareholders (except the circa 13% owned by SPAC investors), leaving two pure play companies.
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