Director Darren Lynn Bousman Returns for More Jigsaw Puzzles, Will Helm SAW IV for Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures

Director Darren Lynn Bousman Returns for More Jigsaw Puzzles, Will Helm SAW IV for Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures

Feature Reunites Core Creative Team of History-Making Horror Franchise

Production Slated to Begin April 16th in Toronto

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, and Twisted Pictures announced today that Darren Lynn Bousman (SAW II and SAW III) is back to helm the next installment of the SAW franchise, the most successful horror series in history. The announcement was made jointly by Lionsgate's President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions Peter Block and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions Jason Constantine, and Twisted Pictures' Mark Burg and Oren Koules.

Production offices opened February 12th in Toronto to begin pre-production on SAW IV. Twisted Pictures' Burg and Koules are again producing, and Executive Producers Daniel Jason Heffner, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, and Stacey Testro also return. Executive producing for Lionsgate are Block and Constantine. Key contributors of the first three films returning include Editor Kevin Greutert, Director of Photography David Armstrong and Production Designer David Hackl. SAW IV is slated to begin shooting April 16 for six weeks and will be released domestically and internationally October 26, 2007.

Said Block, "Having Darren behind the camera gives SAW IV a real edge, so to speak. He has led this franchise into box office history while proving himself a modern master of psychological terror."

Burg and Koules of Twisted Pictures remarked, "It's great to have the SAW creative team back together for SAW IV. We're looking forward to working with Darren, Lionsgate and all the Twisted minds to bring horror fans more of Jigsaw's gore and games."

Added Bousman, "It's not often that a filmmaker is given the opportunity to follow a genuinely compelling character through two films, much less three. So I'm very excited about picking up the reins on SAW IV, and delving even deeper into the Jigsaw legend."

With a worldwide box office of over $400 million, the SAW series is the most successful horror franchise of all time. SAW III opened at #1 domestically on October 27, 2006, and opened at #1 in eleven additional countries, including the U.K. and Australia; it was the year's top-grossing horror film, taking in over $80 million domestically and over $100 internationally. The DVD, released on January 23, 2007, repeated the success of its two predecessors as it debuted as the week's #1 new home entertainment release.

Following SAW IV, Lionsgate, Twisted Pictures and Bousman will reunite for REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, a horror opera which Bousman will direct from an original story by co-composers and screenwriters Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith. The film is set in a not-too-distant future when a worldwide epidemic of organ failures inspires a biotech company to launch an organ financing program reminiscent of an automobile loan plan -- complete with a repossession clause. Bousman, who directed the original stage production of REPO!, has been planning a big screen version for several years. Lionsgate signed on to distribute after viewing a 12-minute promo reel that Bousman created in 1 1/2 days, the exact same scenario that brought the company the first SAW feature.

ABOUT TWISTED PICTURES

Twisted Pictures is helmed by Mark Burg and Oren Koules, and is the horror/thriller division of their company Evolution Entertainment. SAW, one of the most profitable films of 2004, was the first picture released under the Twisted banner. The film was distributed by Lionsgate, which entered into a nine-picture distribution deal with Twisted Pictures in November 2004. In 2005, Twisted Pictures produced SAW II, which opened at #1 on Halloween weekend and became the year's highest-grossing horror film. Halloween 2006 saw the release of SAW III, which opened at #1 in North America, the U.K. and Australia and became the year's top-grossing horror film. Twisted Pictures' slate includes the upcoming DEAD SILENCE by SAW creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell; CATACOMBS, currently in post production; SAW IV; and the just-announced REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, winning the 2006 Best Picture Academy Award(R) for CRASH, generating two consecutive years of $300 million-plus domestic theatrical box office, operating a $500 million-plus home entertainment business and producing a broad slate of prime time television series for fiscal 2007. It is a premier producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than 10,000 titles is a valuable source of stable, recurring revenue and a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

www.lionsgate.com

For further information, contact:

For Lionsgate:
Sarah Greenberg
310-255-3856
sgreenberg@lionsgate.com

For corporate inquiries, please contact:

Peter D. Wilkes
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
310-255-3726

Source: Lionsgate

CONTACT: Sarah Greenberg, +1-310-255-3856, sgreenberg@lionsgate.com, or
Peter D. Wilkes, +1-310-255-3726, pwilkes@lionsgate.com, both of Lionsgate

Web site: http://www.lionsgate.com/

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