Posts

Showing posts from January, 2025

Lionsgate and Starz Strike New Deal as Separation Gets Underway

Image
  Lionsgate and Starz may be separating ways shortly, but it seems they will still be working together for a long while to come. Last week, they announced a new multi-year theatrical deal before their pending split. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, fills in the details.                                                  Brandon Blake   Exclusive Rights   Under the new deal, Starz will retain its exclusive rights to theatrical films from Lionsgate, giving them the first pay-TV and SVOD windows for the properties. Interestingly, the window has been accelerated some, with films set to shift to the streaming service much closer to the theatrical release. Last year, Lionsgate’s SVOD window was in the 136-180-day range, and PVOD was 18-39. Starz also keeps its exclusive second window and has gained a third....

Indies Thrive as The Brutalist Targets Event Cinema

Image
  It’s been a great year for the indie industry, and things are still looking up. As we see plenty of strong action at the specialty box office, the Venice Film Festival's darling, The Brutalist , is even gearing up to net itself a slice of the event cinema pie. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has the in-depth story for us.                                                  Brandon Blake   The Brutalist Goes Big   It’s not always that we see an over 3-hour long epic period indie film have much of a breakout— but The Brutalist is making it work. This last weekend, the film went into limited expansion, managing to pull in $1.39M from just 68 screens. Add to that its recent successes at the Golden Globes, and you certainly have a reason to celebrate.   Nor are A24 content to expand the film’s run...

The State of the Box Office 2025 in its First Week

Image
 With the first full week of the 2025 Box Office behind us, what can we anticipate for the year ahead? Brandon Blake, our industry insider entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A., unpacks the facts and figures.                                                                             Brandon Blake A Normal Year Ahead? 2024 has been earmarked as one of the first “Normal Years” we’ve seen since the opening of the 2020s. With no surprises (yet) from pandemics, lockdowns, or strike action, most of the industry is predicting a year with normal production pipelines and a generally steady release environment. However, we will still feel a few ripples from the protracted dual strikes of 2023.   So far, so good. The weekend’s box office total is currently estimated at $105.5M ...