Lionsgate To Launch Interactive "The Hunger Games: The Exhibition" In Summer 2015

Lionsgate will launch a U.S. tour of “The Hunger Games: The Exhibition” in summer 2015, it was announced today by Lionsgate Chief Marketing Officer Tim Palen. The state-of-the-art exhibition, which will include interactive displays of authentic costumes, props and other elements of the world of The Hunger Games, will be designed in conjunction with Thinkwell Group, one of the world’s leading theme park and location-based entertainment companies. (Thinkwell are the people behind The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour outside London, which is pretty impressive if you haven't seen it.)

“The Hunger Games: The Exhibition” will launch several months ahead of the November 20, 2015 worldwide release of the fourth Hunger Games film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, and will incorporate artifacts featured in the first three films from locations within the Capitol and the various Districts of Panem. The exhibition will be featured in major museums and institutions across the country and will be supported by a multimedia promotional effort and nationwide advance ticket sales.

“Now that we’ve built a critical mass of intellectual property, we’re committed to extending our brands into exciting new businesses that create opportunities for our fans to engage with our properties at the same time they deliver significant incremental financial benefits to Lionsgate,” said Palen. “We’re thrilled to launch this initiative with the U.S. tour of The Hunger Games exhibition, which celebrates the world of The Hunger Games and offers Hunger Games fans an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the movie-making process.” He noted that the exhibits will also be paired with local school curricula, and nearly all aspects of the tour will be interactive.

Palen also announced that, as part of the studio’s commitment to expand its branded retail and merchandising operations, it has brought veteran Thinkwell executive Jenefer Brown in-house, naming her to the newly created post of Senior Vice President, Branded Attractions. Brown will not only oversee the launch of the U.S. tour of The Hunger Games exhibition but will explore additional theme park attraction and other location-based entertainment opportunities around the world for The Hunger Games franchise and the Company’s entire portfolio of branded properties.

Lionsgate-Summit Marketing Shake-up: Tim Palen Now Head of Lionsgate, Summit & Pantelion Theatrical Marketing

Image courtesy The Hollywood ReporterAccording to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate marketing chief Tim Palen will now oversee all theatrical marketing for Lionsgate, Summit, and Pantelion with the late April departure of studio executive Nancy Kirkpatrick. Tim Palen is the maverick marketing chief responsible for all of The Hunger Games films' marketing campaigns. He even photographs the campaigns himself (read more on Tim Palen and the Catching Fire marketing campaign here):

When Lionsgate bought Summit two years ago, their respective marketing operations were kept separate in order to service Summit's remaining stable of films. Kirkpatrick continued to serve as worldwide president of marketing for Summit, while Palen continued to head up marketing for Lionsgate.

Upon Kirkpatrick's departure, Palen will have oversight of Lionsgate and Summit titles, as well as Pantelion Films. He'll also have expanded merchandising and theme park duties.

Among other Summit properties, Kirkpatrick ran the marketing campaigns for the blockbuster Twilight franchise. More recently, she successfully launched Divergent, the first title in a new Summit franchise.

“Now was the right time to take the next step in integrating the marketing departments of our Lionsgate and Summit film labels as we continue to achieve significant operational synergies following the acquisition of Summit Entertainment two years ago,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairman Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger.

'Catching Fire' Is The Biggest Digital Launch in Lionsgate's History

Congrats to Lionsgate on the huge success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital HD! The company announced today that they sold an estimated 3.9 million DVD and Blu-Ray units in the first weekend, increasing almost 40% over The Hunger Games.

The press release:

Lionsgate (LGF), a leading global entertainment company, announced today that the global blockbuster Hunger Games franchise continued to gain momentum as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sold an estimated 3.9 million DVD and Blu-ray units in its first weekend of North American release and had the biggest digital launch in the Company's history with opening weekend digital sales increasing nearly 40% over the first Hunger Games film.

The record digital performance was driven by #1 openings on all major digital platforms, including iTunes, Xbox, Amazon, Vudu, Comcast Xfinity, Verizon FiOS, Google Play and Sony Entertainment Network, among others. Higher-margin Blu-Ray titles surged to 50% of all packaged media sales of Catching Fire in its opening weekend compared to 35% of packaged media sales of the first Hunger Games film.

"This is a monster opening and a tremendous result for the second film in a franchise, underscoring the enormous momentum of The Hunger Games films," said Ron Schwartz , Lionsgate President and General Manager of Home Entertainment Sales & Distribution. "Opening weekend packaged media sales of Catching Fire were comparable to the first Hunger Games title released nearly two years ago while digital sales grew by nearly 40%. With strong increases in digital revenue and Blu-Ray accounting for 50% of packaged media sales, the opening weekend performance is driving significant margin growth and is a testament to the strength of the franchise."

"We opened Catching Fire on nearly 20 digital platforms, including six that have launched since the home entertainment debut of the first Hunger Games film in 2012, and it was number one on almost all of them," said Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television & Digital Distribution Jim Packer. "The broad demographic appeal of The Hunger Games franchise uniquely positions it for this surge in digital ownership."

Thanks to our friends at QuarterQuell.org for the heads up and the photo!

The 'Mockingjay' Team on Marketing and Plans for the Next Two Films

Variety just posted a great article on the Mockingjay films. They spoke with Lionsgate's head of marketing, Tim Palen, producers Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, production president Erik Feig, and director Francis Lawrence on everything from the marketing plan to European shooting sites. Read on:

“When we started, we decided to look at this as one big movie that’s eight hours long,” notes Tim Palen, the architect of Lionsgate’s marketing effort. “Otherwise, it’s going to be kind of overwhelming to do a new campaign for each movie.”

Palen admits the bar is set higher for the Mockingjay movies than for the first two pics — even though foreign box office jumped by more than 50% (to $450 million from $283 million) from the first to the second pic.

“A big part of the second film was growing the franchise, and the greatest potential was international,” he says. “We did a major presentation to distributors in Cannes, and did six premieres outside the U.S. And we still have room to grow. We’ve matched Iron Man 3 on domestic, but we can do better on international.”

Mockingjay: Part 1, which hits theaters Nov. 21, takes place in a location far different from the world of Suzanne Collins’ first two books — and the first two movies in which Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen battles through two versions of the gladiatorial Hunger Games. In the coming film, Katniss becomes the poster child of a massive rebellion in a world on the brink of war.

In his promotional materials, Palen used the iconic mockingjay image from the The Hunger Games book covers for the first film as a symbol of freedom and for the second with the pin ablaze. In the third image, the bird is breaking free and taking flight — reminding fans of what they liked about the first two movies and hinting at what’s to come.

Director Francis Lawrence ended Catching Fire with a shot showing a spark in Lawrence’s eyes, followed by the rebels’ mockingjay logo. “It was a great way get from one to the next eloquently and elegantly,” Palen notes.

There will be reveals of the campaign in May at the Cannes film festival and in July at Comic-Con. Until then, Lionsgate is trying to keep specifics under wraps, though director Lawrence allows that the next two films take place in a Panem so devolved as to be barely recognizable.

Much more after the jump!

Click to read more ...

OFFICIAL: See The New 'Mockingjay Part 1' Poster Released Today!

 You saw it at the end of Catching Fire, now it's been released in it's full glory! The official Mockingjay Part 1 logo and first poster! What do you think?? Let us know in the comments below!

Click to read more ...

'Catching Fire' is The First Film With a Female Lead to Top the Box Office in 4 Decades

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has made history by becoming the first film with a solo-female lead to top the year end box office.

The movie made a massive $409.4 million, surpassing Iron Man 3, which earned $409 million through tickets sales, reports Huffington Post.

"The Hunger Games franchise continues to evolve into a truly global phenomenon," said Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer in a statement.

"The success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a testament to the vision of author Suzanne Collins, the sure hand of director Francis Lawrence, the brilliant performances of a remarkably talented cast led by the amazing Jennifer Lawrence and superb execution by our motion picture production, marketing and distribution teams.

“We will continue to grow the transformative Hunger Games franchise in the years to come even as we continue to develop a dynamic portfolio of premium new brands."

Catching Fire is the first film in four decades to have a woman as a lead to finish top, the previous movie was 1973 thriller The Exorcist, with Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn in the leads.

via YahooUK

Hunger Games Theme Parks a Possibility

Yeah, it's all over the news today: Hunger Games theme parks are being discussed. According to Variety, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer made the disclosure Friday during a conference call with analysts following release of the studio’s quarterly earnings report.

Feltheimer said Lionsgate had been approached about Hunger Games theme parks in two territories and was considering those possibilities. He gave no further details.

The CEO’s disclosure came in response to an analyst question about which areas of Hunger Games merchandising had performed well. Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Rob Friedman had said that Lionsgate was “very excited” by sales of the “Capitol Couture” line of attire.

What do YOU think? Would you go to a Hunger Games theme park?

100 Day Countdown To The 'Catching Fire' Premiere Starts Next Week

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said this morning that the announcement of Coldplay's new Song "ATLAS" on the Catching Fire soundtrack was only the first of several announcements promoting the movie with a "100-day Countdown" to the release starting next week. 

Feltheimer touted the announcement Friday morning during a call with analysts following the release of better-than-expected earnings for the studio’s first quarter ended June 30. 

What can we expect for the 100-day Countdown? Definitely more announcements about artists included on the Catching Fire soundtrack. And we know Capitol Couture launches their new edition, Zoetic Sol next week. With the new edition, the new feature "Game Faces" begins, but there's no indication whether we're getting NEW portraits of the victors or if they're using the Quarter Quell portraits:

Over the next few weeks, a Capitol Couture style jury will evaluate the portraits of our victors for their allure and polish. Our judges include a makeup artist, hair stylist and physical trainer. No doubt, each victor’s prep team will anxiously await the scores. Victors will be ranked from one to ten, based on their coifs, pouts and poise.

Maybe a puzzle hunt like last year? Be prepared for the madness to start on Tuesday, August 10th when we'll officially be at 100 days to the Catching Fire premiere! 

Stay Tuned!

P.S. Coldplay's song, “Atlas,” will be available through iTunes and other digital retailers through Republic Records. Lionsgate is releasing the film amid sky-high expectations on Nov. 22. Click HERE for more details on the Coldplay collab, including song lyrics.

via Variety