Lionsgate More Than Tripled Its TV Episodes as 'Michael' Lifted Revenue

Quarterly revenue rose 41% to $668.8 million, and the next season of 'The Hunting Wives' starts shooting in Atlanta in December.

Lionsgate handed networks and streamers 22 finished scripted episodes in the three months that ended Sept. 30. A year earlier it handed over seven, chief financial officer Jimmy Barge told analysts on the company's earnings call Thursday.

That jump helps explain a big quarter for the Santa Monica studio. Lionsgate's earnings release put revenue at $668.8 million, 41% higher than the same stretch last year. TheWrap reported that the King of Pop biopic "Michael" and the wave of new episodes, including "The Studio" and "Power: Origins," did the heavy lifting. For crews watching layoffs pile up around town, the next question is where all those episodes get made.

The TV numbers are the ones a crew member would circle. Television production revenue rose 56% to $309.5 million, and that segment's profit climbed 73% to $21.6 million. Lionsgate says it expects to double its scripted deliveries this fiscal year, which runs through March.

Variety noted that the haul included second seasons of "The Studio" for Apple TV and "The Hunting Wives" for Netflix. On the film side, "Michael," which Variety says grossed more than $1 billion, kept paying out. Motion picture revenue rose 30% to $359.3 million, and the segment's profit nearly tripled, to $88.7 million from $30.5 million.

The bottom line is still red. Lionsgate lost $15.5 million, compared with $113.5 million a year earlier. On an adjusted basis it earned $20.3 million, or 7 cents a share, and TheWrap reported that analysts had expected a 3-cent loss.

Meanwhile, the rest of the business was heading the other way. On Monday, Deadline reported, citing sources, that Disney is preparing another round of layoffs that could reach thousands of people, with some managers told to find as much as 20% in yearly savings. Disney declined to comment to Deadline.

In Burbank, the post-production house Roundabout Entertainment, which handles finishing work like color correction and subtitling, plans to lay off 81 employees starting Dec. 29, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Lionsgate's own cutting has slowed. Its earnings release lists $9.7 million in restructuring and other costs for the quarter, down from $25.7 million a year earlier. "Scripted TV series orders are stabilizing," CEO Jon Feltheimer told analysts, adding that new creative and financial partners are showing up.

Doubling the episodes doesn't tell crews where they'll be working, though. The one upcoming shoot Feltheimer placed on the call was the third season of "The Hunting Wives," which starts filming in December at Lionsgate's own sound stages in Atlanta. Netflix renewed it before the second season had even premiered.

Lionsgate booked $4.9 million in unallocated rent costs this quarter.

Source: TheWrap, retrieved November 6, 2026. Other sources: fool.com, prnewswire.com, Variety, Deadline, yahoo.com.