VFX Lionsgate studio reports $50.5 million loss due to global pandemic

Lionsgate studio reports $50.5 million loss due to global pandemic

Lionsgate, the studio that produced the John Wick and Hunger Games series has reported a $50.5 million loss for January-March quarter due to the global pandemic.

The charge is made up of losses due to the costs of stopping the production of Lionsgate’s numerous movie and TV productions, among other things.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement, “Our Lionsgate family has risen to the challenge of these unprecedented times with resilience, dedication, and collaboration.”

Looking to the future, Feltheimer said Lionsgate continues to work closely with its development partners to plan restarting production and releasing movies in theatres again.

“The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and measures to prevent its spread, and the resulting unprecedented economic uncertainty, are affecting our business in a number of ways,” Lionsgate said in its news release. “The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict.”

The $50.5 million charge is broken down to $46 million from impairments related to the issue stated above, $4.2 million in marketing and distribution expenses related to movies and events that were cancelled or postponed. Restructuring and other costs, relating to the transition to work-from-home, made up the remaining $300,000.