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Disney is exploring possible deals with artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, according to a report from Bloomberg. The entertainment giant is looking at how it can use AI to improve its business, but it’s also trying to protect the characters and stories that made it famous.

As tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Google spend billions on AI, Hollywood has been slower to act. Studios want to use AI to make production cheaper and faster, but they also worry about losing control of their copyrighted content and clashing with labor unions.

One major move from Disney shows how serious the company is. Earlier this month, it sued AI startup Midjourney. The startup lets people create images using written prompts, and Disney believes it used characters like Darth Vader and Deadpool to train its system without asking. Disney said it had sent takedown notices that were ignored. Midjourney hasn’t responded to the lawsuit.

Disney is in talks with companies like OpenAI, looking at ways to work together in the fast-growing world of artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg. This comes as studios try to figure out how to use AI to their advantage without losing control over their most valuable content , characters, stories, and everything that makes Hollywood what it is.

While tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Google are pouring billions into AI, Hollywood is moving more carefully. Studios want to cut costs and boost production with AI, but they’re also worried about protecting their copyrights and not upsetting major unions. It’s a delicate balance, and everyone is watching closely.

Disney has already taken a big step. Earlier this month, the company sued Midjourney, a startup that lets people create images using text prompts. Disney said Midjourney used its characters, like Darth Vader and Deadpool, to train its system without permission.

Alright, let’s just say it straight out: an anime version of Twilight would be fantastic. Seriously, imagine it: dramatic sparkles, over-the-top romantic stares, a brooding Edward leaning against a cherry blossom tree, and Bella internally monologuing in the rain while a sad J-pop song plays in the background. Tell us that’s not peak anime perfection.

But here’s the catch: we want it done right. We want actual artists making it. Not, you know, a bunch of AI code stitched together to spit out vampire drama like a half-baked filter app. Which, sadly, is more or less what Lionsgate thinks is a good idea.

Lionsgate thinks AI can turn movies into anime in 3 hours, and that’s just wild

So, it seems Lionsgate, the film studio that gave us The Twilight Saga and Borderlands, believes it can just grab any random film in its vault, put it into an AI blender,...

Lionsgate, the movie studio behind The Twilight Saga and Borderlands, claims it can turn any movie from its film catalog into anime within three hours, thanks to AI. This bold statement comes nearly one year after Lionsgate invested in the AI startup Runway in September 2024.

New York Magazine recently published an article about Hollywood's not-so-secret love affair with AI, citing numerous business suits who believe this controversial generative prompt technology can enhance creative filmmaking by eliminating the creatives. One of those suits highlighted in the article was Michael Burns, the 66-year-old vice chairman of Lionsgate, who inked a deal with Runway, one of many AI prompt-generative companies sued by a group of artists over copyright control of their work in 2023 and was approved to move forward in August 2024. Burns claimed AI could be used to revitalize their films by fine-tuning them for a younger generation, such as making them appear like anime.

You know the saying, “Too much of a good thing can turn a gourmet feast into reheated leftovers”? Well, I’m watching Lionsgate reach for the microwave. Imagine John Wick, not as the blood-slicked ballet of bullets we’ve gasped over, but as an animated figure, possibly PG-13, spun out by AI in three hours flat. That’s not innovation; that’s franchise taxidermy.

Michael Burns, Lionsgate’s vice chairman, recently admitted they’re playing AI roulette with Runway, tinkering with cheaper, faster, algorithmically generated content. Repackage the classics, sprinkle in anime, and resell to teens… voilà! But here’s my two-cent howl: Keanu Reeves deserves a gracious exit, not a Saturday morning cartoon send-off.

I believe John Wick deserves a mythic exit, not a software update. The man has bled enough. Reeves should exit stage left, his dignity unbent, before Wick becomes a franchise on algorithmic autopilot.

Lionsgate wants AI to reimagine movies,...

Lionsgate announced last September it had inked a deal with AI startup Runway to allow filmmakers the chance to “augment” their work and to help the studio “enhance and supplement” their operations. The pact was touted as Runway’s first deal with a Hollywood studio. So how exactly does Lionsgate plan to use AI? Vice chairman Michael Burns recently spoke to New York Magazine and said his studio is trying stuff to “see what sticks” when it comes to AI.

Burns said the driving force behind the Runway deal was to allow filmmakers to “make movies and television shows we’d otherwise never make. We can’t make it for $100 million, but we’d make it for $50 million because of AI… We’re banging around the art of the possible. Let’s try some stuff, see what sticks.”

As reported by New York Magazine: “With a library as large as Lionsgate’s,...

Runway, an emerging provider of artificial intelligence technology, has raised $308 million in Series D funding.

A specific valuation was not mentioned in the company’s announcement of the transaction, but the funding round values the company at about $3 billion, according to a person familiar with the financials.

As the media and entertainment business has sized up the potential of AI, a sensitive area for unions and the creative community, Runway has attained a notable profile. The company inked a deal with Lionsgate last September to augment the film and TV studio with Runway AI tools. Michael Burns, vice chairman of Lionsgate, told the Wall Street Journal when that agreement was announced that it would save the company “millions and millions of dollars” in production costs. “We do a lot of action movies, so we blow a lot of things up and that is one of the things Runway does,” Burns said.

Almost every time Robert Zemeckis called cut on a scene in Here, Tom Hanks would run back to the playback monitors. The veteran actor had been on dozens of sets through his 40-year career but nothing like this.

On Here, he plays a character whose arc is traced from high school to senior citizen with the help of a generative AI tool from VFX studio Metaphysic. For every shot he was going to be de-aged, there were two monitors. One showed what the cameras were capturing. The other showed him in the scenes at various ages in real time, as if he came straight from shoots on Splash or Saving Private Ryan. After seeing the takes, he would adjust his physicality to walk with a bit more spring in his step or appear stiffer getting up off the couch, depending on his age in the scene.

Rewind just a couple of years,...

Lionsgate took another step in its quest to separate its studio division from Starz.

The studio filed a Form S-4 Registration Statement on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A Form S-4 is essential when it comes mergers or acquisitions. But in the case of Starz, which is splitting from Lionsgate Studios to be owned by Lionsgate the company, the form has more to do with a stock exchange offer.

As part of this new arrangement, pre-transaction shareholders of Lionsgate will hold shares of two different companies: the rebranded Starz Entertainment Corp. (Lgec) and the new version of Lionsgate Studios, which will be named Lionsgate Studios Corp. The latter will be owned by both Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. shareholders and Lionsgate Studios shareholders.

If the SEC approves this filing, the company will be able to set a date for its shareholder meeting to vote on the separation. As this...

Lionsgate moved a step closer to a planned split of the studio from Starz with an SEC filing today officially marking its plans.

The long-in-the making transaction to create two separate publicly traded companies is set out in an official S4 document that needs to be declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission if it has no further questions or clarifications. The company can then set a date for its shareholder meeting to vote on the split, which has already been approved by the board. The idea was to complete the move by year end and Lionsgate is pretty much on track. The process could slip into 2025 but not by much.

It will see a new company called Lionsgate Studios split off from the old Lionsgate, which will be renamed Starz Entertainment. The filing today set out the management teams of both with nothing surprising — he same executives that...

Lionsgate has taken another step towards a proposed separation of its studio operations from Starz, its pay TV and streaming business.

On Wednesday, the Hollywood studio disclosed the public filing of a Form S-4 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission around the long-awaited separation of its studios business, to be called Lionsgate Studios Corp., and its media networks business, mainly Starz.

The SEC filing offers a joint proxy statement and prospectus that calls for Lionsgate’s studios business, known as LG Studios, to formally split from Starz to produce two separately traded public companies. The first, Lgec, will be renamed Starz Entertainment Corp., and New Lionsgate will be called Lionsgate Studios Corp.

Earlier, Lionsgate spun off its film and TV studios business in a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Spac) to create a separately traded public company, with an eye to a formal separation from Starz down the road.

Bella and Edward are making their way to the small screen with an animated series in the works by Lionsgate Productions and Netflix. The Twilight saga follows a young teenager, Isabella Swan, who moves from Arizona to the small town of Forks, Washington, and falls in love with two young men. The only issue is that neither of them is human. Edward was an immortal vampire, and Jacob was a werewolf fighting for her love. Team Edward fans are in for a treat with a new Twilight TV series that appears to focus on Stephanie Meyer's novel The Midnight Sun, a retelling of the first Twilight book from Edward's perspective.

The novels had a cult following, but the Twilight movies starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as Edward Cullen and Bella Swan launched a multi-billion franchise and made these stars household names. The Twilight saga is one of the most profitable franchises in history,...

The Lionsgate earnings call this afternoon would not have been proper without addressing the elephant in the room: the studio’s deal with AI research firm Runway.

Announced on September 18, it was a first-of-its-kind partnership between a major Hollywood studio and Runway, which would create and train a new AI model customized to the studio’s portfolio of film and television content. Eyebrows, of course, were raised. What did that mean? Keanu Reeves’ likeness used in perpetuity across John Wick movies until the end of time? Complete, 100% AI-generated movies?

Lionsgate Motion Picture Chair Adam Fogelson sought to calm any concerns when asked by an analyst about the studio’s use of AI under this new deal.

“There were some questions when it was reported,” the exec said. “Once we clarified for our filmmaking partners, for our talent partners, exactly what this was, how it would be used, what it is,...

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer offered details on a recent deal with video-focused artificial intelligence research firm Runway to train a new generative AI model on Lionsgate content library.

“The entertainment business is a creative enterprise, but its future growth will require a combination of art and science,” Feltheimer told financial analysts in prepared remarks on Thursday in the wake of a recent agreement with Runway aiming to allow the entertainment company to use the AI tech as it produces future film and TV projects.

“We believe that AI, harnessed within the appropriate guardrails, can be a valuable tool to serve our talent. And we believe that over the long term, it will have a positive transformational impact on our business,” the Lionsgate chief added.

Feltheimer stressed Runway will create and train a model for the use of Lionsgate and the filmmakers that “we designate,” indicating discipline around project development and production.

Previously a skeptic, James Cameron is now a Stability board member. Plus: fake Keir Starmer and Brian Sewell. We review a weird week in AI.

When society finally collapses in a mire of chatbots, wildfires, rising sea levels and autonomous drones armed with machine guns, it’s a wonder whether the surviving dregs of humanity will look back at 2024 as a tipping point. Certainly, this week (commencing 23rd September) has seen some fascinating developments in AI, the technology that may one day destroy us all.

First came the news that Piranha II: The Spawning filmmaker James Cameron has joined the board of directors at Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion. If you’re unfamiliar, Stable Diffusion takes user prompts and, ripping off existing images made by real people, creates a new, faintly creepy looking picture.

Stability AI boss Prem Akkaraju said that Cameron’s decision to join the company was a “monumental statement,...

Runway, the generative AI company that recently inked a first-of-its-kind deal with Lionsgate, will dole out grants of up to $1 million to filmmakers working on AI-powered projects.

Runway is launching The Hundred Film Fund, an initiative to help produce and fund as many as 100 short films and feature-length movies that use generative AI technology to tell their stories.

The funding grants will range from $5,000 to $1 million and decisions on applications will typically be made within 14 days of submission, according to Runway. The company also is offering up to $2 million in credits to use Runway’s gen-ai system. Interested filmmakers can submit applications at this link.

To evaluate pitches for the fund, Runway has assembled an advisory panel of tech and entertainment leaders. Initial advisors are: Jane Rosenthal, film producer and co-founder of Tribeca Festival; Richard Kerris, VP, Gm of media and entertainment, Nvidia (which is an investor in Runway); artist,...

The dam broke. That’s how several artificial intelligence experts who spoke to IndieWire described the news of Lionsgate’s partnership with AI research firm Runway. While the deal is the first of its kind with a major Hollywood studio, it’s already likely that other studios will follow suit. One source speculated that almost all studios are weighing the option, but are reluctant to go public.

Lionsgate was also reluctant to explain why they’re heavily investing in allowing Runway to build exclusive AI models on its own film and TV library. Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns cited its uses in the “pre-production and post-production process” and that AI can be a tool for “augmenting, enhancing, and supplementing our current operations.”

That could mean almost anything, but Reid Southern, a concept artist on the original “The Hunger Games,” had a clear take. “This is the first step in trying to replace artists and filmmakers,...

Lionsgate has signed a deal with AI company Runway, giving it full access to the John Wick and Hunger Games producers’ film and TV archive.

Lionsgate has signed a deal with Runway that will allow the company to train AI on its back catalogue in exchange for access to its software for use in film and TV production, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The studio hasn’t yet specified what aspect of the production process the technology will be used for. AI was at the centre of months-long negotiations with Hollywood’s actors and writers’ guilds during the strike action of 2023.

“Runway… will help us utilize AI to develop cutting edge, capital efficient content creation opportunities,” Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns said in a statement, according to the BBC.

Runway is one of a number of AI companies currently being sued for potential copyright infringement in a California court.

Lionsgate and applied AI research company Runway have partnered on a new model customized to the studio’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content.

The new AI is designed exclusively to help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work by generating cinematic video that can be further iterated using Runway’s suite of tools. It’s Runway’s first collaboration with a Hollywood studio.

“Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner who will help us utilize AI to develop cutting-edge, capital-efficient content creation opportunities,” said Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns. “Several of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process. We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations.”

Lionsgate has a 20,000-title film and television library with franchises from The Hunger Games to Twilight to John Wick.

“We’re committed to giving artists,...

As Hollywood continues to reckon with the emergence of AI, one major studio has decided to take the plunge into the creatively murky waters. Lionsgate, the studio that has been struggling in the box office as of late in 2024, just inked a deal to introduce AI into their internal movie-making processes. The new AI model from Runway is intended to help maximize their efficiency and cut costs, and it will use some of the studio's biggest franchises to do so, including John Wick.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has signed a deal with artificial intelligence firm Runway to implement AI in the company's creative process, in hopes of leveraging the rising technology as a means to make movies easier and cheaper. It will be customized to Lionsgates proprietary portfolio of film and television content, collecting data from movies like John Wick and The Hunger Games, among others, to find the...

It seems like only yesterday when the world was introduced to ChatGPT or Midjourney, and talks of AI replacing humans had begun. Well, Lionsgate Studios, a veteran film-making company has joined hands with an AI research company called Runway.

The John Wick franchise is owned by Lionsgate | Credits: Lionsgate

This doesn’t mean that there are going to be layoffs or anything but it does seem that the timing of this deal is quite, suspicious. The recently released Lionsgate films are suffering at the box office and AI could potentially be the solution!

Lionsgate Makes A Deal With Runway

Although Lionsgate has some iconic movies to its name such as the John Wick franchise, Saw, The Expendables, and, more, the studio has been struggling recently.

Bill Skarsgård in The Crow (2024) | Credits: Lionsgate

Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow and Kevin Hart’s Borderlands are two recent examples of movies that have...

Lionsgate is aiming to save a boatload of cash using generative AI technology as an assistive creative tool for filmmakers.

Lionsgate, the film and TV studio behind film franchises including “John Wick” and “The Hunger Games,” announced a deal with applied AI research company Runway, whose investors include Google and AI hardware vendor Nvidia.

Touted as Runway’s first deal with a Hollywood studio, the pact centers around Runway’s creation and training of a new AI model, customized to Lionsgate’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content. Lionsgate owns a film and television library with more than 20,000 titles.

According to Lionsgate, Runway’s model “generates cinematic video” that filmmakers, directors and other creative talent can use to “augment their work.” That AI-generated video can be “further iterated using Runway’s suite of controllable tools,” Lionsgate said.

According to Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns, several filmmakers the studio works...

Lionsgate and applied AI research company Runway have formed a partnership to collaborate on “content creation opportunities”.

The pact will see Runway’s creation and training of an AI model customised to Lionsgate’s film and television library which the parties said on Wednesday will help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work.

The model generates cinematic video that can be adapted using Runway’s suite of tools. Lionsgate’s franchises include the John Wick and The Hunger Games, and the partnership is the first collaboration between Runway and a Hollywood studio.

Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns said,...

In an ongoing effort to incorporate artificial intelligence into its production pipeline, Lionsgate Entertainment has formed a new collaboration with the AI company Runway. The partnership will see Runway use Lionsgate’s extensive library of movies and TV shows to train customized AI models for assisting filmmakers.

Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns expressed hope that AI could help reduce costs on the studio’s modestly-budgeted films. “Several of our directors are excited about using this technology in pre-production and post-production,” he said. However, Burns stressed the AI tools would enhance rather than replace human work.

Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said the goal is to provide film creators “new ways of bringing stories to life.” The company’s generative models can produce video content based on text or image prompts.

While specifics of the deal were not disclosed, it raises questions about compensation if AI is trained on artists’ work. The...

In a significant move, Lionsgate and the video-focused artificial intelligence research firm Runway have inked a deal that will see Runway train a new generative AI model on Lionsgate content, and will see the entertainment company use the tech as it produces future film and TV projects.

While details are scarce, the companies say that the new model will be “customized to Lionsgate’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content,” and exclusive to the studio. The purpose will be to “help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work.”

Lionsgate is the studio behind John Wick, The Hunger Games and other franchises.

The Lionsgate deal is the first partnership between Runway and a major Hollywood studio, though everyone in the business is looking at the potential for the tech closely, given the speed with which generative AI tech can create images and video based on text or image prompts.

So this is pretty gross: Lionsgate, the film and television studio behind franchises like John Wick, and The Hunger Games, films like The Fabelmans and La La Land, and shows like Yellowjackets, Mad Men, Weeds, and more, has entered into a "first-of-its-kind" partnership with artificial intelligence research firm Runway. The...

The upcoming Twilight reboot could happen with Robert Pattinson reprising his role as Edward, if the producers want it.

The last Twilight film was released in 2012, and for 10 long years, fans have been eager to return to the world of glittering vampires by any means necessary.

Of course, the ideal scenario would be if the original cast – which includes Robert, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner – were attached in some way.

Given that their supernatural characters are ageless, that seemed like a pipe dream.

But some new news about the future of the franchise has given fans hope, especially considering how eager the Og stars are to return to Forks!

Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson attend the “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” premiere at the Kinepolis cinema on November 15, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images) ‘Twilight’ Gets A Reboot: Vampire Tale Is Heading...

Midnight Sun, a Twilight novel by Stephanie Meyer, is heading to the small screen at Netflix – in animated series form.

There was a time in the early 2010s when Twilight was just about the biggest film franchise around.

It comprises five films – 2008’s Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2009’s New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz, 2010’s Eclipse, directed by David Slade, and the two part finale Breaking Dawn, directed by Bill Condon and released in 2011 and 2012. Their success was such that two parody films were also released in quick succession, the much maligned Vampire’s Suck and Breaking Wind.

The films followed Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan as she becomes romantically involved with vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, and werewolf Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner. Which all leads to a battle with vampire coven The Volturi.

Adapted by future Jessica Jones creator Melissa Rosenberg, the large ensemble cast also included Billy Burke,...

You better hold on tight, spider monkeys! Twilight is coming back — only not quite as you remember it. 12 years after the epically titled The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 brought the Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart starring YA vampire series to a close on the big screen, we're getting word that a new animated take on the saga is headed our way. As reported by Deadline, Netflix has given a straight-to-series order for Midnight Sun, an animation based on author Stephanie Meyer's same-named 2020 book.

Tell Me Lies writer and co-executive producer Sinead Daly is aboard to pen the adaptation of Meyers' book, which gives the Twilight saga a compelling new wrinkle: rather than following the story from Bella Swan's Pov, Midnight Sun takes up sparkly vampire Edward Cullen's perspective on events as the deathless dude's path crosses with the angst-ridden teen. First floated as a prospective Lionsgate project...

Twilight animated series, Midnight Sun is coming to Netflix, meaning there will be a new generation of vampire fans. The animated series will be based on Stephanie Meyer’s novel of the same name. The book, released in 2020, follows the story of Twilight from century-old vampire, Edward Cullen so fans of the original books and movies will also enjoy the return of familiar characters.

Twilight Empire

The Twilight Saga took over the world years ago, what will it be like now? Vampire and werewolf fans were created all over the world with the release. The five films grossed over $3 billion at the global box office in total. Furthermore, the film made Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner rise to fame in such a short time.

‘Twilight’ Netflix

For those who have never seen Twilight, it is a romance fantasy film series. The first film follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart...

“Midnight Sun,” the new animated “Twilight” series based on Stephenie Meyer’s novel of the same name, has landed at Netflix.

The streamer has granted a straight-to-series order for the animated show, which has officially begun development, Netflix announced Wednesday. The project, which hails from Lionsgate Television, is described as a “retelling of ‘Twilight’ from the perspective of Edward Cullen.”

The news comes months after Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns confirmed the company would be shopping around the series during a Morgan Stanley media conference in March, saying, “I think there’ll be a lot of interest in that.”

The series was first reported to be in development at Lionsgate TV in April 2023, with Meyer’s involvement expected.

Meyer will executive produce alongside Meghan Hibbett for Fickle Fish Films, while additional EPs include Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen for Temple Hill Entertainment and Erik Feig and Samie Kim Falvey for Picturestart.

The animated series based on Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” novel “Midnight Sun” has been given a straight-to-series order at Netflix, Variety has learned.

The project was first reported to be in early development back in April 2023 at studio Lionsgate Television. Michael Burns, vice chairman of Lionsgate, confirmed in March 2024 that it would be an animated series. Netflix is now developing the project.

“Midnight Sun” was originally released in 2020. It serves as a retelling of the first “Twilight” book from the perspective of Edward Cullen rather than Bella Swan.

Sinead Daly will serve as writer and executive producer on the series. Daly’s past credits include “Tell Me Lies” at Hulu, “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” at AMC, “Raised by Wolves” at Max, and “The Get Down” at Netflix.

Meyer serves as an executive producer on the series along with Meghan Hibbett for Fickle Fish Films. Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen...

Netflix has given a straight-to-series order to a Twilight animated series based on Stephenie Meyer’s 2020 novel Midnight Sun. The project, which has entered development at the global streamer, comes from Lionsgate Television, whose movie studio sibling released The Twilight Saga.

Sinead Daly (Tell Me Lies) is writing and executive producing the adaptation of the Twilight companion novel, a retelling of Twilight from the perspective of Edward Cullen. Robert Pattinson’s performance as Edward in the 2008 film Twilight was informed by Midnight Sun as Meyer shared her then-unfinished manuscript with the actor.

Meyer, creator of the best-selling Twilight book series that spawned Lionsgate’s multibillion-dollar film franchise, is executive producing the animated series alongside Meghan Hibbett for Fickle Fish Films. Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen exec produce for Temple Hill Entertainment, Erik Feig and Samie Kim Falvey for Picturestart. Emily Wissink is overseeing for Picturestart. Temple Hill was a producer...

The overlap of Swifties and Team Edward appears to be going strong more than 15 years later.

While opening for Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour this weekend in London, Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams dedicated the band’s 2008 single ‘Decode’ to Robert Pattinson after the song appeared on the soundtrack of his breakout film Twilight that year.

“Did you guys see Suki [Waterhouse] earlier?” she asked the crowd in a fan-captured video after Pattinson’s wife performed earlier in the night at the Wembley Stadium concert. “But I would like to dedicate this next song to Mr. Waterhouse.”

Quoting Pattinson’s vampire character Edward Cullen from the movie and the 2005 Stephenie Meyer book, Williams teased, “This is the skin of a killer, Bella.”

“This is for you, Robert,” said Williams as the song began.

pic.twitter.com/dZHVEyeMIV

— @bestsukiw (@sukiwmedia) August 17, 2024

Pattinson played the 108-year-old vampire who falls in love with Forks,...

Lionsgate has extended longtime CEO Jon Feltheimer’s contract for another five years through July 31, 2029.

Feltheimer signed a new deal in 2020 that aimed to keep him at the studio through Aug. 2025. On Aug. 8, Lionsgate’s compensation committee approved a new employment agreement with the studio head to keep him as CEO for another five years, the studio said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.

Feltheimer has served as CEO of the Hollywood studio since March 2000 alongside vice chairman Michael Burns, and that followed a nine-year run at Sony Pictures where he worked on popular shows like Mad About You, The Nanny, Dawsons Creek and Party of Five.

The latest deal replaces Feltheimer’s current employment agreement, which was amended on Aug. 12, 2022 to run through to 2025. The new contract has him earning an annual base salary of $1.5 million and being eligible for an annual performance bonus.

The first...

Lionsgate’s board of directors has adopted a recommendation from its special committee to collapse the company’s dual-class stock structure, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The recommendation will be included as a proposal to shareholders in a proxy/registration statement set to be filed later this year in connection with the separation of the company’s studio business and Starz.

If approved by shareholders, the shares would be collapsed into a single class of stock and give Class A voting shares a 12% premium as part of the process.

The move comes after Lionsgate executives revealed during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in May that the company had formed a special committee to explore collapsing the dual-class structure.

“The special committee is discussing with a variety of experts what the ratio should be, the premium for the A’s,” vice chairman...

Jim Packer, president of worldwide television distribution at Lionsgate, is betting the upcoming spin off of his Hollywood studio’s film and TV production and library business will become a franchise machine.

“It’s clear it’s going to be an IP-focused company. It’s going to produce, distribute, film and TV,” Packer told the Gabelli Media & Entertainment Symposium during a session that was webcast. He pointed to the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua and set for an April 2025 release.

“The buzz that we’re getting every time a photo gets released is kind of crazy. And I think that’ll be the biggest movie we’ve ever had,” Packer forecast. On the intellectual property front, he also pointed to Lionsgate’s Hunger Games movie series, which has brought in around $3.3 billion in box office to date.

“We’ve taken that franchise and it doesn’t map to Harry Potter,...

Lionsgate 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.

Lionsgate has released its first quarterly financial results since completing a spinoff of its studio business into a separately traded stock.

The Hollywood studio posted a fourth quarter net loss attributable to shareholder at $39.5 million, compared to a year-earlier $96.8 million loss, on overall revenue rising to $1.117 billion, against a year-earlier 1.08 billion.

That beat a Wall Street analyst estimate of $1.11 billion in overall revenues by $7 million for the latest quarter. Lionsgate posted an earnings per-share loss of 22 cents, compared to a year-earlier per-share loss of 42 cents.

Starz, which continues to drive into the digital space, ended the fourth quarter with 19.35 million domestic subscribers on cable, satellite and streaming platforms, down from 19.73 million customers at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2024, due to a decline in linear TV customers. The premium platform had 12.59 million streaming subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 12.63 million customers at the end of the third quarter.

Lionsgate will at long last launch its standalone film and TV studio business, Lionsgate Studios, on Nasdaq on Tuesday.

The studio, led by CEO Jon Feltheimer, said the transaction will see the spun-off company begin trading separate from Lionsgate’s Starz business and under the ticket symbol Lion. It expects to raise $350 million in proceeds. Lionsgate Studios is made up of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group and Television Studio business, along with a 20,000-strong film and TV library.

“This transaction reaffirms our longstanding belief in the value of premium content by enabling us to launch Lionsgate Studios as one of the world’s leading standalone, pure play, publicly-traded content companies,” Feltheimer and vice chair Michael Burns said in a statement ahead of the Nasdaq’s opening bell on Tuesday.

“It is an important step forward in the process of preparing strategically and financially for the full separation of our studio...

Captain America: Brave New World star Anthony Mackie insists on appearing in the John Wick film franchise, wanting to achieve "cool dad" status by starring opposite the popular eponymous assassin.

Speaking with Total Film, Mackie delved into his admiration for the John Wick film series and desire to appear in it, having nudged star Keanu Reeves to get him a spot in John Wick 5. When asked about his "bucket list project," Mackie said, "I’m really trying to get Keanu Reeves to consider me for John Wick 5 or 6. I think that will make me a cool dad if I had, like, a five-minute fight scene with Keanu Reeves." Mackie also alluded to his experience fighting All Elite Wrestling world heavyweight champion, Samoa Joe, during Twisted Metal. "I’m gonna put up a fight! [Pro wrestler] Samoa Joe punched me in the face in this [Twisted Metal] and I did not go down!" he said.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer recently picked up shares of the company on the open market and vice chair Michael Burns said today he thinks the purchase was spurred by a visit the set of the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

“He is pretty fiscally conservative in many ways and so that was actually interesting to see him do it, and I swear he bought it because he went to the set — we are shooting the Michael Jackson movie on the Sony lot – and he just came back and just said, ‘This thing is going to be incredible’,” Burns said at a Deutsche Bank media conference today.

According to an SEC filing Monday, Feltheimer acquired 100,000 shares, half each Class A and B shares.

Burns was talking up the studio ahead of an upcoming split with Starz. He confirmed that about 13%-15% of the studio’s equity will move into a Spac and...

Twilight's TV reboot as an animated series allows for more creative freedom with source material. The animated format resolves the challenges of visual effects faced by the movie adaptations. However, there's still the risk of making fantasy elements more ridiculous in the TV show.

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight universe is getting a remake as a TV show, and its weirdest decision so far actually has one huge advantage over the Twilight Saga. In 2005, Stephenie Meyer shared her version of vampires and werewolves in Twilight, a fantasy romance novel set in a world where these classic “monsters” coexist with humans – except that the latter aren’t aware of it. The focus of the Twilight novels and movies is the romance between mortal Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen, who end up teaming up with werewolves to defend their family from other vampire clans.

Meyer’s Twilight book series made the...

Animated Twilight series confirmed in development, may be spinoff or set in same universe. Stephenie Meyer is expected to be involved in the TV adaptation. The Twilight saga began as fantasy romance novels, and has since been turned into blockbuster movies.

An animated series based on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga is now in the works, it has been confirmed. As per a report by Deadline, the Twilight animated series is now a go, with Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns revealing that the project is in development during a recent Q&a at the Morgan Stanley media conference. You can see what Lionsgate had to say about the Twilight series below...

"We're going to go out with the Twilight series, an animated series, I think there'll be a lot of interest in that."

News of a new adaptation of Twilight first broke last April, and while details of what the...

As the hotly-anticipated John Wick spinoff undergoes reshoots, two more actors have been added to the cast of Ballerina.

According to Deadline, David Castañeda and Sharon Duncan-Brewster have joined the Ballerina cast amid reshoots abroad. Castañeda currently stars as Diego in The Umbrella Academy and was recently seen in Poker Face. His film credits include The Guilty, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and End of Watch. As for Duncan-Brewster, she has appeared in Dune, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Enola Holmes, and the Netflix series Sex Education. At this time, it is not known who either actor will be playing in the spinoff movie.

Related Ballerina Spinoff: John Wick Producer Hypes Up Emerald Fennells Fing Great Script John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk explains the reason why theyve enlisted Emerald Fennell to rewrite the script for the Ballerina spinoff. Close

Ana de Armas portrays the title character in Ballerina, a...

Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster Twilight franchise is heading to the small screen, and here are the details.

There was a time in the early 2010s when Twilight was just about the biggest film franchise around.

It comprises five films – 2008’s Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2009’s New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz, 2010’s Eclipse, directed by David Slade, and the two part finale Breaking Dawn, directed by Bill Condon and released in 2011 and 2012. Their success was such that two parody films were also released in quick succession, the much maligned Vampire’s Suck and Breaking Wind.

The films followed Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan as she becomes romantically involved with vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, and werewolf Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner. Which all leads to a battle with vampire coven The Volturi.

Adapted by future Jessica Jones creator Melissa Rosenberg, the large ensemble cast also included Billy Burke,...

Your scent. It's like a drug to me. You're like my own personal brand of heroin. Or perhaps it's just that Lionsgate simply refuses to let sleeping dogs (shape-shifters?) lie, even now that we're more than a decade removed from the peak of "Twilight" fever. The studio has already revealed its intention to reboot Stephenie Meyer's YA fantasy romance phenomenon for the small screen as a TV series, which begs the question: how exactly does it plan to go about trying to rebottle the "stupid lightning in a stupid bottle" that was the original movie adaptations of Meyer's books, to quote /Film's Bj Colangelo? We now have part of the answer and, incredibly enough, it's not at all a bad idea.

Speaking during a Q&a at this week's Morgan Stanley media conference (as reported on by Variety), Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns casually dropped the bombshell that...

Lionsgate currently has distribution deals in place with The Roku Channel and Peacock, but will they survive the studio’s split from one company into two?

The long-promised split of the Lionsgate movie studio from the Starz cable/streaming bundle is getting underway in April. A new report from Deadline indicates that the studio will merge with a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) in April, and will begin trading on the Nasdaq under a different symbol than Starz.

The plan is for Lionsgate to be fully split from Starz by the end of 2024. Once the split is complete, Starz and its properties like “Outlander” and the “Power” franchise would be available for acquisition. The transactions should not have an effect on licensing deals between Lionsgate and streaming partners like Peacock and The Roku Channel. Sign Up $5.99+ / month peacocktv.com

Lionsgate filed paperwork seeking approval to split into two separate entities,...

Lionsgate baffles many with an animated "Twilight" remake, deviating from the original live-action format. The decision to go animated seems unnecessary and confusing, as many expected a live-action reboot. Lionsgate is currently shopping the "Twilight" animated television show around to different platforms.

Twelve years following the release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Lionsgate is going forward with a Twilight remake as a television series, but the studio's plan for the show's format is baffling. Summit Entertainment, owned by Lionsgate, first adapted Stephenie Meyer's fantasy romance novels into a five-part film series, which grossed over $3 billion at the box office and is undoubtedly one of the most popular Young Adult franchises of the 2000s. Given its acclaim, it's not surprising that the entertainment company would want to continue producing projects set in the Twilight universe.

Lionsgate announced that a Twilight television show was in development in April...

In 2023, it was announced that a Twilight reboot TV series was in the works at Lionsgate, and now the company is offering more background on the latest adaptation of Stephenie Meyer‘s best-selling book series. Instead of envisioning a live-action remake, Lionsgate is opting to take the animated route for this television venture. The show is being shopped around with a John Wick offshoot which Lionsgate’s Vice Chairman Michael Burns revealed during a Q&a at the Morgan Stanley media conference, according to Deadline. “We’re going to go out with the Twilight series, an animated series, I think there’ll be a lot of interest in that,” Burns said. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (Credit: Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment) As previously reported, Sinead Daly was tapped to serve as writer on the project that could either be a remake or offshoot of the book series. Meyer is...