LGF - Critics Corner

Maple Pictures

For those of you interested in viewing the Canadian site for Lionsgate Films, feel free to copy and paste this link.

http://www.maplepictures.com/

Although Lionsgate originated in Canada, they now reside in the US. Their Canadian arm of the business now runs under the title of Maple Pictures.

VHS REWIND : Death Ride (2006)

An American photographer (Gamble) has an affair with a mysterious woman (Yoshikawa), which leads him into a confrontation with the occult. Prepare to be driven insane.

Captivity Trailer

Journey into the darker side of the human psyche in this thriller.

VHS REWIND: LORD OF WAR (2005)

Lord of War is a 2005 film written and directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage. It was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, with the DVD following on January 17, 2006 and the Blu-ray Disc on July 27, 2006. Cage plays the antiheroic protagonist, an illegal arms dealer with similarities to Russian arms dealers Viktor Bout[1][2][3] and Leonid Minin. The film was officially endorsed by the human rights group Amnesty International for highlighting the trafficking of weapons by the international arms industry.



I really enjoyed the timelapse scene, with the airplane being taken apart!

The Descent

Brought to us courtesy of Maple pictures (Canadian Division of LGF), this movietakes us on a journey into the mouth of madness. 6 women on an extreme outdoor adventure decide to tempt fate exploring a remote, uncharted cave in the Appalachians. Deep under the surface; well into the intricate maze of caverns, disaster strikes. A rockfall seals the path they entered by, and almost kills two of them out in the process. Panicing and scared for thier lives, they are forced to find another exit from the cave. And that is the least of thier worries.......

The Descent gives us a taste of the dark side of the human psyche, as well as a glance at just how twisted and deadly evolution can be. Are you ready for a trip into the darkness?? Are you prepared for The Descent?

Here's a taste........ENJOY!

Crash

What does a Brentwood housewife and her D.A. husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives. An African-American television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple. Los Angeles. And the in the next 36 hours they will collide have in common.

Well one Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing from the 78th Academy Awards in 2005for the movie Crash.

If you have not seen it go out and rent it our buy it. As well check out the Official Site.

Fool's Gold takes #1

In their second on-screen pairing, Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson returned to #1 at the box office on Sunday with the adventure comedy "Fool's Gold."
The movie earned $22 million for the three days beginning Friday, according to estimates issued by its distributor. The Time Warner Inc-owned studio said the tally exceeded its expectations by $3 million to $4 million.

McConaughey and Hudson topped the charts exactly five years ago with the romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," which kicked off with $23.8 million; it finished with $106 million.

This time, McConaughey plays a bounty hunter who reunites with his estranged wife (Hudson) to search for sunken treasure in the Caribbean. Critics almost unanimously lambasted the film. Warner Bros. said older women were the primary audience.

Also new, at No. 2, was the Martin Lawrence comedy "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," with $17.1 million.

RAMBO REVIEW

By Tarren Rasmussen

I went to see RAMBO on Friday Feb. 8, If you are a person that likes blood and gore, this is a movie or you. I dont think I've never seen more heads blown off and arms and legs blown up or cut off inone movie before. In fact, I think there was more of that in this movie, than I have seen in any other movies put together. It was violent. But, if you like violence, your missing out.

Nightwish : Wish I had an Angel

From the soundtrack for Lionsgate's movie : Alone in the Dark.

Decent movie......Great sountrack!

ENJOY!

Lionsgate Shrugging
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

Ayn Rand's most ambitious novel may finally be brought to the bigscreen after years of false starts.
Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to "Atlas Shrugged" from Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who will produce with John Aglialoro.
As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it's not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie's name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt.
"Atlas Shrugged," which runs more than 1,100 pages, has faced a lengthy and circuitous journey to a film adaptation.
The Russian-born author's seminal tome, published in 1957, revolves around the economic collapse of the U.S. sometime in the future and espouses her individualistic philosophy of objectivism. The violent, apocalyptic ending has always posed a challenge but could prove especially so in the post-9/11 climate.
Howard Baldwin said some people have pigeonholed "Atlas" as better suited for a miniseries. That's why he sometimes pondered turning "Atlas" into two movies. In fact, a two-part script penned by James V. Hart ("Contact") for the Baldwins envisions "Atlas" as two pics, although it's likely to be reworked.
For years, producer Al Ruddy tried to make Rand's definitive book into a movie, attracting the interest of Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway at one point.
But while Rand was still alive, she had script approval, complicating the process. After the author's death in 1982, Ruddy continued his efforts and, in 1999, he inked a pact to produce "Atlas" as a miniseries for TNT. Ultimately, the deal faltered.
In 2003, the Baldwins acquired the film rights to the novel from Aglialoro, a New York businessman, after launching Crusader Entertainment with Philip Anschutz. Hart was hired at that time to adapt.
Anschutz, however, ultimately decided not to make the movie.
The Baldwins then took the project with them when they left Crusader and formed the Baldwin Entertainment Group.
"What we've always needed was a studio that had the same passion for this project that we and John have," said Baldwin,
Generally speaking, Lionsgate keeps production budgets below $25 million. "Atlas" is likely to cost north of $30 million, but the studio will reduce its exposure through international pre-sales and co-financing partners. Actors would likely take less money upfront -- a common practice for the indie.
Rand's individualistic and character-driven stories have captured the imagination of Hollywood before. Warner Bros. made "The Fountainhead," starring Gary Cooper as the maverick architect Howard Roark, in 1949.
Oliver Stone was attached to direct a remake of "Fountainhead" for Warner Bros. and Paramount, but the project has languished in development. Along the way, Pitt expressed interest in playing Roark.

Studios Proceed Cautiously. End of Strike in Sight.

Even if Hollywood writers end their three-month-old strike soon, as the buzz seems to suggest, studios will be reluctant to ramp up development too aggressively because they must still contend with a possible walkout by actors in June.

"There's a lot we can do now (in the case of a resolution) that we couldn't do during the writers strike. But there's still a lot we can't do," said one studio executive.

The timing of the potential resolution between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the bargaining arm of the studios -- less than five months before a potential actors strike -- means there will be no immediate greenlights based on the work of returning writers.

Still, development projects frozen at the beginning of November can now finally begin to thaw.

Story continued at : http://au.news.yahoo.com/080208/11/15s1p.html

Stallone's back!! And with a 2 picture deal!

Boxoffice comeback champ Sylvester Stallone has inked a lucrative deal to direct and star in two action films with "Rambo" producers Danny Dimbort,

Several scripts are being considered for follow-ups to his surprise hit sequels to "First Blood" and "Rocky." With Nu Image/Millennium's new Writers Guild of America interim deal speeding up the process, the first script is expected to be ready by the fall, with production set to begin shortly thereafter.

"The past year and a half of working with Avi, his partners Danny and Trevor and his film family has been nothing but a high point for me and my career and an extremely rewarding experience," Stallone said. "Avi is a real gentleman and a man of his word."

Stallone will produce the films with Kevin King-Templeton and Lerner. Dimbort, Short and Boaz Davidson will serve as executive producers.

VHS REWIND : Employee of the Month (2006)

At Super Club, a large warehouse store, the employees strive to obtain the "Employee of the Month" award with the benefits of having their picture featured on the wall of fame in the staff lounge. Zack Bradley, a box boy, and Vince Downey, a cashier, are two competitive Super Club employees. Vince has become head cashier of the store and winner of seventeen consecutive "Employee of the Month" awards.

Zack, on the other hand, is a slacker but is popular with his colleagues. Zack has not won any "Employee of the Month" awards and has no desire to except when Amy, a new cashier who only dates "Employee of the Month" winners, transfers to the store. Zack and Vince compete to get Amy's attention through competition and courtship. Vince attempts to impress Amy with skills as a cashier and his seventeen "Employee of the Month" awards, while Zack attempts to use several methods of charm and comedy to win her affection. After realizing that Amy is falling for Vince, Zack believes his only chance to get her is to win Super Club's next "Employee of the Month" award.

Witless Protection Soon To Theatres!

Coming February 22

Larry the Cable Guy on the big screeen again. Last year you saw him in Delta Farce. This year see him in Witless Protection.

The story centers on a small-town sheriff who witnesses what he believes is a kidnapping and rushes to rescue a woman. The kidnappers turn out to be FBI agents assigned to protect her and deliver her to a big Enron-type corruption trial in Chicago but are later found to be on the take and are villains who are bent on killing her.

Might we ask a Small Favor?

Although this is somewhat unrelated to Lionsgate Films, it is related to the film industry, as well as to all the fans.

All I ask is that anyone who reads our blog please take a few seconds to follow this link:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/927860626

Brandon Lee was an incredible artist, and deserves a few seconds of your time.

Thanks in advance!

Official Saw IV Trailer!

Considering Investing?

If you're interested in investing, but haven't quite decided if Lionsgate Films is the right choice for you, you may want to consider following this link:

http://www.lionsgate.com/investors/pr_financial.php

Here you will find the 2002-2007 Quarterly reports, as well as any Financial PR that has occurred in the time frame.

This information can be quite valuable to any prospective investors. It should tell you all you need to know to come to an informed decision.

You may also wish to check my previous post of LGF stocks.

Are Movies Profitable??

You be the judge......

Here are a few numbers to consider:

Movie Name / 1st Weekend / US Gross / Worldwide / Gross Budget

Gods and Monsters/ $75,508 / $6,451,628 / - / $3,500,000
Dogma/ $8,669,945 / $30,651,422 / - / $10,000,000
Fahrenheit 9/11/ $23,920,637 / $119,114,517 / $222,414,517 / $6,000,000

These are just a few of the MANY profitable movies from Lionsgate Films. For those of you interested in seeing how some of your favorites stack up, just click on this link:

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/LionsGate.php

TRAILERS

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/