How 'Hunger Games' Box Office Haul Impacts Lionsgate's Bottom Line (Analysis)

The Hunger Games has been a monumental box office hit, making over $155 million in its opening weekend domestically. No one benefits from this more than Lionsgate, who released the film. This is by far its biggest film and its biggest success, so this article analyzes how that could affect the future of the company.

Hunger Games, A Waste of Time?

This article is by far one of the more thought provoking critical arguments on the Hunger Games that I've read since the film's premiere this past Friday.

The author makes a good point in the sense that although the film managed to hit the basic elements of the book, the dampening of the violence created an emotional disconnect with the film's characters and the audience. Essentially, the killings were cheapened by Hollywood's economic desire for a PG-13 rating.

The film lacked any political charge or groundbreaking social commentary. Romantic chemistry among the two star crossed lovers, essentially non-existant.

These are very daring comments on a film that seemed to be ranking in the approval of critics everywhere.

The Hunger Games breaks US box office record The Hunger Games enjoyed the third highest opening weekend ever, taking $214 million worldwide. By Flore

Eagerly anticipated fantasy flick The Hunger Games took $155 million in its opening weekend in North America and Canada, the highest domestic total for a film that isn't a sequel.

It is the biggest debut outside the summer blockbuster season, and ranks as the third-highest domestic opening weekend in history behind only last summer's Harry Potter finale and 2008 Batman sequel The Dark Knight, Lionsgate said on Sunday.

The film also went to the number one spot in nearly every country, amassing a global total of $214.3 million. What's more, The Hunger Games alone earned more than all films combined during the comparable 2011 dates.

Hunger Games Could Dramatically Help Lions Gate and Their Value

The Hunger Games, which is produced by Lions Gate, could be seeing some huge profits in terms of its stock with the release of the film.

According to Bloomberg via the Washington Post:

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. has also produced a windfall for its bond investors, along with shareholders, with the anticipation built around today’s release of the action film The Hunger Games.”

The independent film and television studio may pay off all of its long-term borrowings in one and one-half to two years, thanks to hits such as “The Hunger Games” and the “Twilight” films, said John Kornitzer, founder of Kornitzer Capital Management, which held some of the debt and 2.92 million shares of the Vancouver-based company as of Dec. 31.

Things are looking good for Lions Gate, and things will likely only get better for them as they continue to make big money on these investments.

Hunger Games Fever

Featured in the New York Times online today, this article by Hollywood reporter Brooks Barnes details Lionsgate's interactive marketing campaign for The Hunger Games, which hits theaters this Friday. 

Hunger Games Soundtrack

As we discussed in class on Tuesday, one thing The Hunger Games has going for them is the diverse soundtrack. From Taylor Swift to Kid Cuzi, the soundtrack reaches multiple demographics. This article talks about how Taylor Swift's "Eyes Open" and Kid Cuzi's "The Ruler & The Killer" have been leaked online. The article then states that Lionsgate already released one of Taylor's songs, "Safe and Sound", which is the lead track. The article talks about these two leaked songs a little bit and links in the videos so you can see/listen to them.

Adventures in Hunger Games Marketing: Effie Trinket, Style Icon

As The Hunger Games' March 23 release fast approaches, Lionsgate is churning out a steady stream of stills and goodies and tie-ins to stoke the fires of fandom and they've put a surprising bit of marketing muscle behind not only star Jennifer Lawrence, but co-star Elizabeth Banks and her supporting character, Effie Trinket. On second thought, maybe that's not so surprising; Effie's strikingly gaudy visual look, representative of image-obsessed Capitol culture in the fictional nation of Panem, offers more in the way of marketing opportunities than Katniss Everdeen's tomboy-turned-teen warrior ensembles.

How 'Hunger Games' is Trying To Reach Every Demographic

This article from the Wall Street Journal discusses how the marketing team behind The Hunger Games is trying to reach nearly every demographic and stray away from portraying the film as a cheesy teenage love triangle. So far 48% of young males have shown an interest in seeing the film, but Lionsgate is determined to get the attention of older male adults as well.

Lionsgate is also releasing the film in 300 IMAX screens to bring in the "fanboys" who are already accustomed to seeing films screened that way. So far this method is working, 47 IMAX screens have sold out for the film's Midnight release.

5 Lessons Marketers Can Learn from 'The Hunger Games'

Here are some good tips for marketers that Lionsgate is doing well for 'The Hunger Games'. We have already learned about some of these, but this article hits on what Kevin said in class yesterday about 'The Hunger Games' doing everything right in making this film a success with their marketing.

#HungerGames24

With only 24 days left until the release of The Hunger Games, Lionsgate launched today the #HungerGames24 campaign.  In coordination with Nook by Barnes and Nobel, Lionsgate will show 24 Advanced Screenings of the film before it hits theaters. 

In the novels, each of the 12 Districts have Sponsors who send the 24 Tributes things like medicine, food, weapons, and more in the area via silver parachutes.  The only way to get Sponsors is to make a spectacular first impression at the opening ceremonies, interviews, the training arena, and a number of other events that take place before the Hunger Games.  Keeping with this theme, the #HungerGames24 campaign has chosen 24 cities (2 for each District) to host Advanced Screenings. 

In order to unlock these screenings, Twitter users (Citizens) tweet their city's unique hashtag along with the promotional hashtag #HungerGames24.  Then, starting March 1, the top four cities (based on volume of tweets) will be announced daily and 24 fans (Tributes) from that city will have the chance to win a pair of Advanced Screening tickets from their city's (District's) "Sponsor."  Sponsors include Fandango, IGN, and Moviefone. 

For Hunger Games fans out there, Phoenix's (District 12) hashtag is #hungergames24PHX.  And if you decide to participate, may the odds be ever in your favor.

"The Hunger Games" Poster Puzzle

This article discusses an interesting strategy by Lionsgate to get people engaged in the coming film, The Hunger Games. For the full poster for the film, the studio has broken it up into 100 separate pieces and sent them to eight different websites, including Entertainment Weekly. The reasoning behind the 100 pieces is, from December 15th, it was 100 days to the release of the film.

To find the pieces, search the tag, "#HUNGERGAMES100," on Twitter. Once someone has finished the poster, they are encouraged to take a photo of it all together and post it to Facebook.

Taking Over the Young Adult Market, One Franchise at a Time

Lionsgate has bought Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million.  With Summit's success with the Twilight Saga and Lionsgate's upcoming Hunger Games Trilogy, it looks like they can effectively take over the Young Adult market (The final Twilight film will be released in November, The Hunger Games in March.)

Here's another article (a little more in-depth) from Huffington Post.

Lionsgate and Summit Merge? What about The Hunger Games?

As we all know, Summit Entertainment has made a reputation for themselves as a successful independent studio, having franchised the Twilight films. Lionsgate is also incredibly successful for an independent studio, even releasing The Hunger Games (which too will be a trilogy). There are rumors, however, that these two independent studios will be merging in order to compete against major studios in this fast-paced entertainment industry. With the last installment of Breaking Dawn already filmed, this merger would not affect any of the Twilight films, but if Summit and Lionsgate were to merge, it could in fact impact The Hunger Game installments.

Both studios are doing incredibly well right now, so I doubt they would go through with a merger at this point in time; however, rumors surrounding the topic state differently. With their reoccuring success these days, the studios might be thinking that a merger would make them even stronger. What are your opinions on this article? And do you think it would in any way impact The Hunger Games' trilogy? If so, do you think Summit would help make the trilogy stronger or do you think Lionsgate is better off doing those films on their own?


Here is the article that discusses the possible "merger"
http://www.bsckids.com/2012/01/rumor-lionsgate-to-buy-summit-entertainment-will-it-affect-the-hunger-games/