Summit Entertainment in Merger Talks

About a month ago, reports surfaced that the Ender’s Game production company, Summit Entertainment, was in merger talks with two similarly-sized studios. These two studios are Lions Gate Entertainment and Miramax Films. The Los Angeles Times now reports, Summit Entertainment had hoped to seal a deal before the end of this year, but with just a few days left in the year executives have given up on that deadline. Until the new year, negotiations have slowed down with both Lions Gate and Miramax. 

“If Lions Gate were to take control, Summit chiefs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger are expected to run the merged studio’s motion picture group, sources close to the negotiations said. If Colony [Miramax], which is led by billionaire investor Tom Barrack, were to be the winning bidder, Summit would likely be merged with Miramax. In that scenario, it’s likely that Friedman and Wachsberger would run the combined company, possibly alongside Miramax CEO Mike Lang.”

There is no word on how a possible merger with either studio would affect the Ender’s Game production, although it should be noted that Summit Entertainment is about $200 million dollars in debt.