Lionsgate is going through a turbulent period following its split with Starz, reporting a $109 million net loss in its latest quarterly earnings report on Thursday.
Excluding one-item items, the adjusted loss for Lionsgate’s reported fiscal first quarter ending June 30 was $88 million, or 32 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance had expected a loss of 19 cents a share.
In a statement, CEO Jon Feltheimer focused more on the studio’s future, which includes the recent dating of the Antoine Fuqua biopic “Michael” for May 2026 after it was previously announced that the film would move out of the 2025 slate. The studio has also begun filming on a new “Hunger Games” prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” due out this November, and set the two-part Mel Gibson film “The Resurrection of the Christ” for release in March and May of 2027.
“In a post-separation transitional year for the studio, we are taking a number of important steps toward returning to solid growth in fiscal 2027,” said Feltheimer, pointing to three tentpole films in the coming fiscal year, in addition to more TV shows.
“We are also continuing to create fresh revenue streams for our film and television library, contributing to another record trailing 12-month revenue performance in the quarter and increasing our visibility into the year ahead,” he added.
More key takeaways:
MOTION PICTURE: Much of Lionsgate’s loss came from a drop in its film division revenue to $267.3 million and a drop in its segment profit to $2.4 million. Lionsgate attributed the decline to tough comparisons from 2024 with hits like “Saw X” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
Lionsgate’s box office this past quarter was highlighted by “Ballerina,” a spinoff of the studio’s hit “John Wick” series that failed to leave a big impact in theaters with just $131 million grossed worldwide, which is just 29% of the $447 million global total of “John Wick: Chapter 4.” The film “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” based on the latest album by The Weeknd, was an even bigger bust, grossing just $7.7 million.
Along with the above release date additions, Lionsgate also secured the future of the long-running “Saw” series thanks to a deal with Blumhouse to acquire the franchise from its longtime producers, Twisted Pictures.
TELEVISION: While the film unit dragged Lionsgate down, the TV unit saw a 20% revenue increase to $288 million and a 150% segment profit increase to $26 million thanks to an increase in episodic deliveries.
Lionsgate Television saw a big lift from Seth Rogen’s acclaimed Hollywood satire “The Studio” on Apple TV+, which set an Emmy record for a first-season comedy with 23 nominations.
LIBRARY: A silver lining for the poor performance of “Ballerina” was that it helped raise interest in the “John Wick” series, contributing to a 12% increase from the prior-year quarter in trailing 12-month library revenue to a record $989 million. That’s the third-straight quarter in which Lionsgate has set a library revenue record.
In a call with analysts, Feltheimer said that Lionsgate would “double our scripted television series deliveries next year and continue to innovate our brands across new businesses and onto new platforms.” The CEO also said that it would continue to find ways to cut costs, highlighting its status as a “first mover” in adopting AI in its operations after reaching a deal with Runway to create a model off of its film and TV library.