LIONSGATE(R) Feasts on THE HUNGER GAMES

LIONSGATE(R) Feasts on THE HUNGER GAMES

Studio Acquires Worldwide Distribution Rights To Color Force's Film Version Of Suzanne Collins' Best Selling Futuristic Young Adult Novel

Collins To Pen Screenplay Based On First Novel In Her Projected Trilogy

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LIONSGATE(R) (NYSE:LGF), the leading next generation studio, announced today that it has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film version of Suzanne Collins' best selling futuristic young adult novel THE HUNGER GAMES. Collins will adapt the screenplay from her novel, the first in a trilogy. Nina Jacobson is producing through her Color Force shingle. The announcement was made by Joe Drake, Lionsgate President, Motion Picture Group, and Co-Chief Operating Officer.

"The Hunger Games" was published by Scholastic last year, and has been singled out for raves by "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer. The trilogy's eagerly anticipated second installment, "Catching Fire," is due out September 1, 2009.

Lionsgate President of Motion Picture Production, Alli Shearmur, will oversee the production for the studio, along with Lionsgate Senior Vice President of Motion Picture Production, Jim Miller.

Said Shearmur, "THE HUNGER GAMES is an incredible property and it is a thrill to bring it home to Lionsgate. This is the exactly the kind of movie I came to Lionsgate to make: youthful, exciting, smart and edgy. We are looking forward to working with Nina and Suzanne to create a movie that satisfies audiences' hunger for high-quality entertainment."

Said Jacobson, "I am thrilled to have Lionsgate as a partner in THE HUNGER GAMES. The suspense of THE HUNGER GAMES is heightened by its spirit of moral inquiry, and Suzanne has entrusted Lionsgate and me to bring that moral perspective to the adaptation - a charge we fully intend to honor."

The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by Miller and Robert Melnik, Lionsgate Executive Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs; and by Jason Dravis of Monteiro/Rose/Dravis, on behalf of Collins and Color Force.

SYNOPSIS

A dystopic Capitol requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl who are forced to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. When Katniss Everdeen's little sister is chosen in the lottery, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

Since its publication in September 2008, Suzanne Collins's award-winning novel "The Hunger Games" has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 25 consecutive weeks to date, and rights for 32 foreign-language editions have been licensed. "The Hunger Games" won the 2008-9 Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. It was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008; a 2008 Horn Book Fanfare Book; a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008; a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008; a 2008 Booklist Editors' Choice; a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice; and a Kirkus Best Book of 2008.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is the leading next generation studio with a major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company is leveraging its content leadership and marketing expertise through a series of partnerships that include the operation of the FEARNet branded VOD and Internet horror channel with Sony and Comcast, the expected fall 2009 launch of EPIX, the new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom and MGM, investment in the leading young men's digital distribution platform Break.com, ownership of the premier independent television syndication company Debmar-Mercury and an alliance with independent filmed entertainment production and distribution company Roadside Attractions. Lionsgate also has forged partnerships with leading content creators, owners and distributors in key territories around the world, including Televisa in the U.S. and Latin America, StudioCanal in the UK, Hoyts and Sony in Australia and Eros International in India. Most recently, Lionsgate acquired the TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com, in a transaction that closed as of February 28, 2009.

The Company has generated one of the industry's leading North American theatrical box office market shares for calendar 2009 to date, propelled by successes such as Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail, which achieved the largest opening weekend in Lionsgate history, and My Bloody Valentine 3D. Lionsgate has forged strong positions in television and home entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television series as "Weeds" and "Mad Men," the distribution of "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," "Family Feud," "South Park," and "The Dead Zone," and nearly 7% market share and the industry's leading box office-to-DVD conversion rate in home entertainment. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with entrepreneurial innovation and original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.

www.lionsgate.com

For further information, contact:

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
corporate inquiries, Peter D. Wilkes, +1-310-255-3726, pwilkes@lionsgate.com,
both of Lionsgate

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

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