Lionsgate Licenses the Action Thriller THE EXPENDABLES, the Number One Movie in North America, to Spike TV for Network Premiere Window

SANTA MONICA, Calif., VANCOUVER, British Columbia and NEW YORK, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fresh off its number one debut at the North American box office with an opening weekend gross of $34.8 million, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading next generation studio, has licensed its hard-hitting action thriller THE EXPENDABLES to Spike TV for its first free television window, the two companies announced today.  The film will premiere on Spike TV in April 2013.

The sale follows on the heels of the Company's recent licensing of the action hit KICK ASS to Spike TV.  THE EXPENDABLES, directed, starring and cowritten by Sylvester Stallone, is currently the number one movie in North America and brings together an iconic cast of action stars never before seen in one film, including Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke.

"We are very excited about the tremendous box office opening of THE EXPENDABLES, and we're delighted to license it to our partners at Spike TV as the latest film in our steady diet of high octane action thrillers ideally suited to their audience," said Lionsgate Television Group President Kevin Beggs.  "We're committed to monetizing our strong slate of films in all distribution platforms, and Spike has proven to be a perfect partner for our action thrillers."

"THE EXPENDABLES is one of this summer's hottest action films, and we're delighted to be the first network to offer it to our audience," said Spike TV President Kevin Kay.  "Lionsgate is one of the premier suppliers of the kind of explosive action thrillers that our viewers crave and we look forward to a continuing pipeline of action thrillers from them in the future."

The agreement was negotiated by Rand Stoll, Lionsgate's executive vice president of television sales, and John Griffin, Spike TV's senior vice president of programming.

THE EXPENDABLES is the hard hitting story of a group of hardened mercenaries led by Stallone who infiltrate the fictional South American country of Vilena to overthrow its ruthless dictator.  But when their job is revealed to be a suicide mission, the men are faced with a deadly choice, one that might redeem their souls... or destroy their brotherhood forever.

THE EXPENDABLES was directed by Sylvester Stallone from a story by David Callaham and screenplay by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and it is produced by Avi Lerner, John Thompson and Kevin King Templeton.  Lionsgate and Millennium Films present a Nu Image production.

About Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF):

Lionsgate 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 15 shows on more than 10 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 "Running Wilde" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House Of Payne", its spinoff "Meet The Browns" "The Wendy Williams Show" and the recently announced "Are We There Yet?".

Its feature film business has generated such recent hits as THE EXPENDABLES, which opened at #1 at the North American box office last weekend, TYLER PERRY'S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, KICK ASS and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards(R). 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 Spike TV:

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is Spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press

SOURCE Lionsgate