Lionsgate reported a profitable first quarter of 2025 in its first earnings report since completing its split with Starz, with a net income attributable to shareholders of $21.9 million.
The profit came off the back of a 22% year-over-year surge in revenue to $1.06 billion, driven by the successful box office run and home platform sales of early-year films like “Den of Thieves: Pantera” and “Flight Risk” as well as the TV release of productions like “The Rookie” and “Acapulco” and licensing of the independently produced Christian series “The Chosen” to Amazon Prime.
The $21.9 million profit represents a rise from the year-prior loss of $47 million, equating to an adjusted earnings per-share profit of 21 cents. Adjusted OIBDA rose 49 percent to $138.3 million.
During the quarterly earnings call, CEO Jon Feltheimer announced that “Michael,” Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming biopic of Michael Jackson, would likely be pushed back to a release sometime in 2026, with April being the earliest considered month. Motion picture group chairman Adam Fogelson hinted at the film being possibly split into two releases, with more details on new release plans promised in the coming weeks.
If and when “Michael” moves, it will join a 2026 Lionsgate slate that includes “Hunger Games: Sunset on the Reaping,” the sixth film in the studio’s most lucrative franchise, and Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” his sequel to his 2004 box office record-breaker “The Passion of the Christ.”
Earlier this month, Lionsgate completed its split from its formerly owned streaming service Starz, with the two now separately traded entities. The split was done to allow Lionsgate Films and Starz to be valued separately at a time when mergers and acquisitions are expected to continue in the entertainment sector, though the boom that was expected with the arrival of the Trump Administration has yet to arrive.
Though the companies have split, they maintain a distribution relationship as Starz has released the Lionsgate-produced series “Power” along with other shows like the upcoming “The Hunting Wives.”
“The separation of Lionsgate and Starz doesn’t diminish the headwinds in our operating environment, but it does give both companies more flexibility in responding to them. And it enables us to launch an exciting new chapter in the growth of our studio, positioning ourselves in the sweet spot of the entertainment ecosystem, making and delivering great content for our buyers, expanding opportunities for our talent in old and new businesses and translating our unique portfolio of assets into incremental value for our shareholders, partners and audiences,” Feltheimer told investors and analysts during Thursday’s earnings call.
Following earnings release, Lionsgate stock rose slightly in afterhours trading to $6.82 per share at time of writing.
