With its three latest releases — "Conan," "Abduction" and "Warrior" — performing poorly at the box office, Lionsgate says it expects to lose between $40 million and $50 million in the current quarter.
Lionsgate, which is preparing to sell investor Carl Icahn’s stake in the company, on Monday disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the three underperforming releases have cost it possibly as much as $50 million in the three-month period that will end Sept. 30.
The studio is selling 22 million shares on behalf of Icahn following his agreement last month to give up his ownership stake.
Anecdotally the industry was aware of the three films’ disappointing results, but the timing was hardly ideal. It comes as Vice Chairman Michael Burns is setting out on an investor road show this week to sell the Icahn shares.
Also read: Taylor Lautner's Action Career Stumbles With 'Abduction'
A more complete accounting for the quarter will come in November.
"Conan the Barbarian” debuted in August to a soft $10 million and will close out its run at a little over double that. Despite strong reviews, "Warrior" seemed to land somewhere in between its tearjerker elements and it s fisticuffs theme and straggled from a $5.2 million opening towards $15 million.
Finally last weekend, supposed heartthrob and “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner couldn’t launch the thriller "Abduction," which came in lower than hoped at $11.2 million.
It may be a long haul until the scheduled March release of hoped-for franchise “Hunger Games.”
Perhaps sensing an opportunity, investors kept the stock hovering near $7 in Monday trading after the filing.