As a seasoned film industry veteran with over three decades of experience, I have seen my fair share of studio highs and lows. From the rise and fall of once-great studios to the birth of new powerhouses, I’ve witnessed it all.
2024 hasn’t been a great year for movie studio Lionsgate (known for hits like The Hunger Games, La La Land, and Knives Out) at the domestic box office. In fact, they’ve only made $200.6 million domestically this year. Their top-grossing film in North America in 2024 has been The Strangers: Chapter 1, earning $35.2 million. Notably, excluding the atypical years of 2020-2022 (which were heavily impacted by theater closures and Lionsgate releasing very few films theatrically), 2024 is shaping up to be one of the studio’s least profitable years since 2011, when The Lincoln Lawyer was their highest-grossing production.
Over the past eight weeks, Lionsgate’s box office struggles have reached an alarming level. A succession of films with dismal performances were released during this period, including “Borderlands”, “The Crow”, and “Killer’s Game”. These movies have been some of the biggest box office flops in 2024. In fact, both “The Crow” and “Killer’s Game” hold two of the largest third weekend theater drop records (the point when theaters are no longer obligated to carry a new release). To add to their woes, Lionsgate is also distributing “Megalopolis”, a film they have no financial stake in. However, with Lionsgate’s name attached to another box office failure after so many disappointments, the situation isn’t ideal.
2024 has been a tough year for Lionsgate’s box office performance. To add insult to injury, smaller studios like A24 and Neon have had significant successes, each earning over twice as much domestically with their 2024 releases than Lionsgate’s top-grossing film of the same year. It seems something isn’t going right for Lionsgate – what adjustments can this studio make to improve its situation?
The highest-grossing films produced by Lionsgate include the Hunger Games series, the concluding Twilight installment (acquired through purchasing Summit Entertainment), the initial Divergent, and La La Land. The last two John Wick movies, with their action focus, also rank among its top five, without a doubt. Interestingly, Lionsgate’s most successful films have often appealed to female audiences and teenagers. Moreover, Lionsgate has found success with titles that seemed risky to others, such as those from Tyler Perry’s original movies, which were initially rejected by other studios before Lionsgate/Summit secured their distribution rights. Was there ever doubt about a film like La La Land making money?
In a surprising twist, one might expect Lionsgate to keep producing unique projects, niche genres, and catering to overlooked moviegoers in 2024. However, the studio has chosen an unexpected path. Their upcoming releases are categorized either into horror (a genre that’s flooding theaters), action movies, or Christian films (yet another subgenre that multiplexes are saturated with). It’s no surprise these films have underperformed, given their close release dates. The question remains: how can The Crow, Borderlands, and Killer’s Game make an impact when they’re all debuting so closely together? It seems audiences barely have a moment to catch their breath before another Lionsgate action movie hits the screens!
As we approached the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic outbreak, Lionsgate had significant wide-release dramas such as “Midway” and “Bombshell” premiering in cinemas. Unfortunately, these titles will not be part of Lionsgate’s lineup in 2024. The rest of the year does not seem to address this issue. On Friday, a spin-off from the “Wonder” series titled “White Bird” is set to hit theaters after numerous release date postponements. Later, on November 8, the faith-based family comedy “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will be released.
2025 promises a mix of titles from Lionsgate, ranging from the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” to John Carney’s comedy “Power Ballad.” Yet, it seems 2025 is leaning heavily towards action, horror, and rehashes of old Lionsgate properties. Instead of chasing the next blockbuster, Lionsgate appears to be over-leveraging “Now You See Me” and “John Wick.” In a move that could be seen as a last resort, Lionsgate is partnering with Blumhouse to try and revive “The Blair Witch Project” franchise again. This endeavor has failed twice before, but given the unique circumstances, it might just work for them this time. However, recapturing the original film’s magic in a bottle remains a challenge.
In a more favorable light for Lionsgate, it’s important to acknowledge that throughout its approximately 15-year existence, the company has maintained a somewhat inconsistent performance at the box office. This unique position places Lionsgate between the ranks of major studios and significantly outperforming any other American independent film studio. Consequently, years like 2018, where hits such as A Simple Favor were few compared to flops, are not uncommon for this sizeable company. Nevertheless, the expenses associated with Lionsgate’s 2024 failures represent an exceptional case in its history.
Despite frequent claims in popular media that Lionsgate’s recent financial slump is due to the previous leadership, specifically Joe Drake’s regime, this may not fully account for the situation. The problems with the “Borderlands” project, which began during Drake’s tenure, are evident. Moreover, domestic rights for “The Crow,” acquired last September, were also under Dake’s management. However, the recent failure of “Killer’s Game” was not initiated by Lionsgate but by STX Films, now headed by Adam Fogelson at Lionsgate Films. The inconsistent performance of Fogelson’s previous projects with STX should cause concern about Lionsgate’s future prospects.
In his efforts to revitalize Lionsgate, Fogelson might find it beneficial to reflect on STX Entertainment’s experiences. The studio thrived when it released movies that were not overly abundant in the market, similar to Lionsgate’s most successful films. For instance, “Bad Moms” offered a fresh take on raunchy comedy for women aged 35 and above, while “Hustlers” humanized sex workers in a mainstream context, which was quite unusual. Even “The Upside,” released in January 2019, provided a lighter inspirational story as a breath of fresh air amidst the string of bleaker dramas that dominated the 2018-2019 award season. However, producing yet another Mark Wahlberg action movie or Melissa McCarthy raunchy comedy consistently led to disappointing box office performance. Trying too hard to replicate past successes often results in current failures.
In 2024, it seemed as if Lionsgate had been following a mantra that proved both life and death for them. Movies like Borderlands, which resembled a disappointing imitation of Guardians of the Galaxy, left audiences unimpressed (and the final film was even more dismal). The remake of The Crow, an action movie from the 1990s that nobody asked for, also failed to impress. Even Megalopolis flopped at the box office despite a marketing campaign that solely emphasized Coppola’s past successes. With little reason to watch these films, they couldn’t compete with the 2024 sleeper hit Longlegs, which Neon promoted using an eccentric marketing strategy. On the other hand, Civil War stood out with eye-catching posters and billboards displaying American landmarks in disarray. Given these factors, it’s no surprise that these titles outperformed Lionsgate’s Arthur the King, a film centered on a star (Mark Wahlberg) who isn’t popular in inspirational dramas.
As a gamer, I’ve learned that sometimes the underdog can surprise everyone with unexpected victories. Remember when a smaller studio like Lionsgate managed to rake in over $400 million domestically with a movie? That was The Hunger Games, who would have thought! Even a low-budget horror film from Sundance 2004 named Saw turned into a box office sensation. So, maybe the current lineup of John Wick spin-offs and Blair Witch Project reboots isn’t the silver bullet Lionsgate needs to revive its fortunes. They’ve defied odds before, all they need is to focus on nurturing fresh, original ideas – the kind that built their franchises in the first place. Keep an eye out for the next John Wick or Knives Out, not just reminisce about past hits like Dirty Dancing (even though I’m secretly hoping that legacy sequel works out).
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2024-10-03 17:15