LIONSGATE Acquires U.S. Distribution Rights to Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment's THE LINCOLN LAWYER, Starring Matthew McConaughey and Marisa Tomei

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), the leading next generation studio, today announced that it has acquired U.S. distribution rights from Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment to the upcoming legal thriller THE LINCOLN LAWYER, based on the best-selling Michael Connelly novel of the same name.  Lakeshore Entertainment is handling international distribution.  The announcement was jointly made today by Joe Drake, Lionsgate Chief Operating Officer and Motion Picture Group President, Tom Rosenberg, Lakeshore Entertainment Chairman and CEO, and Sidney Kimmel, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) CEO.

Matthew McConaughey and Marisa Tomei star.  The supporting cast includes Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, John Leguizamo, Michael Pena, Trace Adkins, and Katherine Moennig.  Brad Furman (THE TAKE) will direct from the adapted screenplay by John Romano (NIGHTS IN RODANTHE, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY).  Lakeshore's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi, and SKE's Sidney Kimmel will produce in association with Scott Steindorff / Stone Village Productions.   Production is slated to begin in Los Angeles in July.

Rosenberg said, "I have long admired and respected Sidney Kimmel and it's exciting to have found such a great project for our first collaboration."

Lakeshore secured rights to the Connelly novel prior to its publication date in 2005 and developed the project.

The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by Rob McEntegart, Senior Executive Vice President, Motion Picture Group, and Wendy Jaffe, Executive Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, Acquisitions & Co-Productions; and by Eric Reid, Lakeshore Entertainment Chief Operating Officer, on behalf of the filmmakers.

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental sedan.  Haller has spent most of his career defending garden-variety criminals, until he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy accused of murder.  But the seemingly straightforward case suddenly develops into a deadly game of survival for Haller.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF - News) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has nearly 20 shows on 10 different networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as "Mad Men," "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with new series such as "Blue Mountain State" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," its spinoff "Meet The Browns" and "The Wendy Williams Show."

Its feature film business has generated such recent hits as TYLER PERRY'S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, the action film KICK ASS, which opened at #1 at the North American box office and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which has garnered nearly $50 million at the North American box office and won two Academy Awards®. The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. 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 remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

ABOUT LAKESHORE ENTERTAINMENT:

Lakeshore Entertainment is one of the leading independent production, finance and international sales and distribution companies.   Founded in 1994 by Chairman and CEO Tom Rosenberg, Lakeshore has produced more than 60 films including the Academy Award® winning MILLION DOLLAR BABY as well as RUNAWAY BRIDE, THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES, the UNDERWORLD franchise, EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, CRANK, THE GIFT,  AUTUMN IN NEW YORK and ARLINGTON ROAD. Most recently, Lakeshore produced UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS, starring Michael Sheen and Rhona Mitra, CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE, starring Jason Statham, and THE UGLY TRUTH starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. 

ABOUT SIDNEY KIMMEL ENTERTAINMENT:

Veteran producer Sidney Kimmel heads Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based, wholly independent production and finance company focused on bringing high profile, quality entertainment projects to contemporary audiences via major studio distribution partners. President Jim Tauber oversees the financing, development and production of the Company's motion picture slate, as well as sales of its films in the international marketplace. SKE has financed and produced, both independently and with studio partners, 18 features since Kimmel founded the Company in 2004. The Company's most recent releases were MANAGEMENT, starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn and Woody Harrelson, and written and directed by Stephen Belber for The Samuel Goldwyn Company; ADVENTURELAND, the Greg Mottola-directed critical hit co-financed and co-produced with Miramax; and SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, for Sony Pictures Classics.  SKE's most recent feature film project was the remake of its own 2006 British comedy DEATH AT A FUNERAL, with co-writer/co-producer Chris Rock leading an all-star ensemble cast.

Prior SKE feature presentations include such critical successes as Jon Poll's CHARLIE BARTLETT, starring Anton Yelcin, Robert Downey Jr., and Hope Davis; Frank Oz's DEATH AT A FUNERAL, starring Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage and Ewen Bremner; Craig Gillespie's LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, starring Ryan Gosling; THE KITE RUNNER, directed by Marc Forster and produced with DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Productions; Billy Ray's BREACH, starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney; and UNITED 93, based on the true story of the doomed flight of 9/11, directed by Oscar-nominee Paul Greengrass, among others.

SOURCE LIONSGATE