Republic library back at Lionsgate

UPDATE: Indie studio's revenue slipped 11% in fiscal Q1

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/9/2006

AUG. 9 | Lionsgate closed a deal to continue distributing the Republic film library, the company disclosed in its fiscal first-quarter earnings release Wednesday.

Distribution rights to the Republic library, which includes classics such as High Noon, reverted back to Paramount Pictures at the start of this year after being distributed by Lionsgate.

It’s a Wonderful Life, also part of the Republic library, was retained by Paramount, and the studio will bow a 60th anniversary edition on Oct. 31.

Paramount announced a slate of titles from Republic in the spring but then pulled those releases without explanation, leading some retailers to speculate the company was planning to sell the library.

Lionsgate didn’t provide more details in its earnings release or conference call on the deal.

Madea’s Family Reunion and other Tyler Perry DVDs helped push Lionsgate’s home video revenue up 18% to $114.8 million in the first quarter, the company reported Wednesday.

“In spite of the maturation of the North American DVD market, the truth is that Lionsgate’s packaged media business grew 13% year-over-year in fiscal 2006, and it grew 18% quarter-over-quarter,” CEO Jon Felthiemer said during a Wednesday afternoon conference call. “This growth in our full packaged media business doesn’t reflect the emergence of mobile download and broadband businesses that did not exist six years ago.”

The independent studio narrowed its net loss to $3.6 million in the quarter ended June 30, compared to a net loss of $21.8 million the previous year.

Revenue slipped 11% to $172.5 million.

The studio said it will announce new distribution download deals with two major industry players soon in addition to its deals with iTunes, Movielink and CinemaNow. When asked by an analyst about Apple’s movie download plans, Beeks said iTunes would launch movie downloads by the end of the year but wouldn’t disclose when, leaving the announcement for Apple.

Lionsgate said CinemaNow, which the mini-studio owns a stake in, sold as many movies in July after it began offering download-to-burn as it did in the three previous months.

“Although these digital revenues are only a drop in the bucket for us at this stage, they reflect a critical area of future growth for our business,” Feltheimer said. “It is important to note that this is growth in addition to our core business, not at the expense of them.”

President Steve Beeks predicted that within five years, digital sales could make up 10% to 20% of video revenue.

On the video side, Family Reunion led sales, followed by Tyler Perry plays Madea Goes to Jail and Why Did I Get Married?. The two plays have sold through 80% of the 2 million units shipped, the company said. Other strong video performers in the quarter include Crash, The Barbie Diaries and Lord of War.

Beeks said the direct-to-video business has been particularly strong even following a new push by Warner Home Video and Universal Studios Home Entertainment to bring higher-budgeted pics to DVD.

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