Summit Bought by Lionsgate

Finally, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment (Ender’s Game movie production company) have closed a huge merger deal, involving $412.5 million in cash and stock and the assumption of Summit’s $500 million debt. Variety reports that the deal was approved Tuesday, but last minute details were not finalized until early Friday morning.

Lionsgate chiefs released a statement saying, “We are uniting two powerful entertainment brands, bringing together two world-class feature film franchises to establish a commanding position in the young adult market, strengthening our global distribution infrastructure and creating a scalable platform that will result in significant and accretive financial benefits to Lionsgate shareholders.” Indeed, with Lionsgate’s new acquisition, the production company will have the market cornered for young adult franchises including the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises and possibly an Ender’s Game franchise.

Some fans may be left wondering if this buyout will impede the production of the Ender’s Game movie which has a tight scheduled release date of March 2013. Summit execs told Variety, “We told them that we’re going to continue to go about their business because we have a lot of films coming,” on what this means for employees and projects currently held by Summit. “We are going to continue to operate Summit day to day and work with Lionsgate on a seamless transition. We are not taking our foot off the pedal.” This is good news for Ender’s Game fans, because it indicates that filming for the Ender’s Game movie will not be delayed, but will begin as scheduled toward the end of February.