Lionsgate Signs Major Licensing Agreement for Top Film Slate Titles with Leading Chinese Streaming Platform iQIYI

Agreement Covers Streaming Rights for Upcoming Blockbuster Titles Robin Hood, Patriots Day, American Assassin, The Glass Castle and Wonder

Deal Also Encompasses Significant Number of Library Titles

SANTA MONICA, Calif. and BEIJING, Nov. 29, 2016 /CNW/ -- In a move further extending the reach of its global content platform, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) has signed a new long-term output deal for a broad range of commercially exciting feature films and a number of prestigious Lionsgate library titles with China's largest comprehensive online video platform, iQIYI, the two companies announced today.

The agreement covers subscription (SVOD), transactional (TVOD), and advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) rights for films streaming on iQIYI's platform in China, which includes over half a billion unique users.  iQIYI will have exclusive streaming rights in China to Lionsgate theatrical titles covered by the agreement, enable broadcasting of the titles and launch a major promotional commitment to them on its platform.

iQIYI, which has been streaming Lionsgate titles in China since last fall, served as Lionsgate's promotional partner earlier this year on the global blockbuster Now You See Me 2, the highest-grossing Lionsgate film ever released at the Chinese box office.

The deal includes upcoming titles such as Otto Bathurst's eagerly-anticipated Robin Hood, starring Jamie Foxx and Taron Egerton, Lionsgate/CBS Films' Patriots Day, the acclaimed AFI Fest closing night dramatic thriller about the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bomber directed by Pete Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, The Glass Castle, based on the worldwide best-seller and starring Brie Larson, Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson, Lionsgate/CBS Films' American Assassin, starring Michael Keaton and Dylan O'Brien in the counter-terrorism thriller, and the uplifting Wonder, starring Academy-Award® winner Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and The Room's Jacob Tremblay.

"We're delighted to expand our relationship with iQIYI, a world-class platform at the cutting edge of delivering premium quality films to online Chinese audiences," said Lionsgate Executive Vice President of International Sales Wendy Reeds. "We have collaborated with iQIYI on the promotion and distribution of some of our biggest releases in China, and our new agreement represents a great opportunity to bring a slate of blockbuster films and a deep portfolio of library titles to one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in the world."

"Lionsgate has emerged as a major creative force in the global marketplace, and we're proud to continue adding their incredible pipeline of star-driven movies to our platform," said Yang Xianghua, senior vice president of iQIYI.  "iQIYI already has the largest online movie library in China, and this agreement with one of Hollywood's major studios significantly expands the selection of premium quality movies we will bring to our audiences."

The agreement was negotiated for Lionsgate by Senior Vice President International Business & Legal Affairs Christian Perala based in the Company's London office.

ABOUT iQIYI
Founded in April 2010, iQIYI has grown into China's largest Internet and mobile video service provider. An independently operated subsidiary of Baidu, the world's largest Chinese search engine, iQIYI is focused on providing Chinese users with the best possible online video experience, and has become an industry leader in developing innovative products and technologies.

ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment.  The Company's feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me and John Wick series, Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween, the critically-acclaimed Hacksaw Ridge, Nerve, CBS Films/Lionsgate's Hell or High Water, Sicario, Roadside Attractions' Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes, Codeblack Films' Addicted and breakout concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films' Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

The Company has nearly 80 television shows on 40 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses.  These include the ground-breaking hit series Orange is the New Black, the fan favorite drama series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show, the hit drama series The Royals, the Golden Globe-nominated dramedy Casual and the breakout success Greenleaf.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates.  Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com

For further information, please contact:

Peter Wilkes
Lionsgate
310-255-3726
[email protected]

Celine Sun
iQIYI
[email protected]

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SOURCE Lionsgate