Investors get hungry for Lions Gate

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Fans line up to see the midnight shows of "The Hunger Games" at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square Theatre in New York March 22, 2012.

By Martha C. White

As countless reviewers have pointed out, teenagers killing each other in a futuristic gladiatorial arena doesn't sound like promising blockbuster material. Boy, were they wrong.

The first installment of "The Hunger Games," based on the first novel of a trilogy by author Suzanne Collins, surpassed expectations with an opening weekend take of $155 million in the United States. Analysts say the blockbuster has catapulted Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.?into the big leagues, raising both the studio's profile and the stakes for its future projects.?

Investors were as excited as moviegoers, with the stock up more than?4 percent at $15.16?by midafternoon Monday. "It bodes well for the overall performance of the first film and it bodes extremely well for the prospects of the rest of the movies they plan to produce," Marla Backer, managing director at Hudson Square Research, said.?

To a certain extent, an expectation of success was already baked into the share price, which had been on an upward trajectory thanks to pre-release buzz about the movie. But $155 million blew the doors off even the most optimistic projections. J.P. Morgan, which predicted a $120 million to $130 million opening weekend, raised its estimates and set a price target of $18 by December. In a research note, analyst Monica DiCenso called the franchise "transformative" for Lions Gate.

How well the movie does this coming weekend will affect investor sentiment. "If it holds well in its second weekend, then the stock should continue to advance," Doug Creutz, analyst at Cowen & Co., said via email.?

Some think this is likely. "Original movies tend to hold better than sequels," Matthew Harrigan, an senior analyst at Wunderlich Securities, said. Harrigan predicted many fans will see the movie again and said next weekend is likely to include a wave of adult moviegoers who sat out the opening weekend's teen fan frenzy. The movie's second weekend "could be another $90 million," he said.

A broader effect of "The Hunger Games" is that more investors are now looking at Lions Gate's entire portfolio and liking what they see, analysts say. "I think there are a lot of people looking at the company now with fresh eyes," Backer said.?

In a CNBC interview Monday, DiCenso pointed out that Lions Gate has relied on sequels for some time with franchises like Tyler Perry and "Saw" and predicted a more aggressive expansion of this strategy.

"What you see now when you look at their slate is a significantly expanded franchise slate," she said. In addition to TV hits like "Mad Men," which its television division produces, Lions Gate also acquired Summit Entertainment this year. Summit is the studio behind the blockbuster "Twilight" franchise, the final installment of which is scheduled to be released this year.

The flip side of "The Hunger Games'" huge initial success is that the stakes are much higher for the remaining three movies planned for the series. (Like the "Harry Potter" franchise and "Twilight," the final book in the trilogy is being split into two films.) The movie was made for a relatively modest $80 million and promoted for $45 million, but analysts say the sequels will probably have bigger production and marketing budgets.

While the record for the biggest opening weekend still goes to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the final movie in the?Potter series, analysts say Hunger Games is much more important to Lions Gate than the boy wizard was to Warner Bros. and parent company Time Warner.?

"Remember, Time Warner is a company with a?market cap of $41 billion and $52 billion in enterprise value," Alan Gould, entertainment analyst Evercore Partners, said. "Harry Potter was great? but it didn't move the needle that much for a company the size of Time Warner."

By contrast, Gould said Lions Gate's enterprise value is around $2.5 billion, and some analysts predict that the Hunger Games franchise could generate $1.5 billion in profit.?Enterprise value is a broader measure of a company's value that includes market capitalization plus debt, preferred shares and minority interest, minus cash and cash equivalents.?

"This is going to be their baby for a long time," Backer said.

Related:

Mattel to release "Hunger Games" Barbie doll

As "The Hunger Games" made a massive opening of $155 million dollars, Monica DiCenso, J.P.Morgan media analyst discusses the company's plans to maintain its growth with more franchises.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/26/10871070-viewer-appetite-for-the-hunger-games-gives-lions-gate-a-boost

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Mylan, Teva launch generic versions of Seroquel

Two drugmakers say they have started selling generic versions of the antipsychotic Seroquel, days after a U.S. court dismissed a bid by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to extend the patent protecting its blockbuster drug.

Canonsburg, Pa.-based Mylan Inc. and Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. both say they are starting the commercial launch of quetiapine fumarate tablets.

A U.S. court on Friday dismissed AstraZeneca's bid to extend patents on the medication's active ingredient, quetiapine, and on the formula for Seroquel XR, the extended-release version. Astra Zeneca was seeking U.S. protection until December.

The Seroquel brand, AstraZeneca's No. 2 drug behind cholesterol treatment Crestor, accounted for 17 percent of the company's $33.6 billion in sales in 2011. Sales of Seroquel XR were $1.49 billion, 4.4 percent of total revenue.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-03-28-US-Generic%20Seroquel/id-70c3009b15a3415b801d29bd685bcf12

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IOC leaders to discuss heads of state with Cameron

LONDON (AP) ? IOC leaders will meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron this week to review final preparations for the London Olympics, including the delicate issue of which heads of state will be invited to the games.

With the opening ceremony just four months away, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge will lead the delegation Wednesday to a meeting with Cameron at Downing Street.

The summit will be the centerpiece of the final inspection visit before the games by the IOC coordination commission, which monitors the host city's preparations for the Olympics.

Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC commission, told The Associated Press on Monday the talks with Cameron would cover "the aspect of the different heads of state who are going to come."

"There are some protocol aspects to discuss," Oswald said in a telephone interview from Switzerland.

Oswald said he did not know how many world leaders will be attending the opening ceremony July 27, noting that heads of state are invited by their own national Olympic committees or the host country.

"We are pretty sure a large number will come," he said. "It's really something that is left to the organizing country, but certainly there will be some difficult decisions to make for the British government. It's up to them to determine who will be invited and who will be accepted."

One leader who definitely won't be attending is Syrian President Bashar Assad. The U.N. says more than 8,000 people, many of them civilian protesters, have been killed since his regime launched a crackdown on the opposition a year ago. Assad and dozens of other Syrian officials are covered by sanctions, including a European Union travel ban.

"He will certainly not be invited," Oswald said. "I don't think he will take the risk of being rejected."

Assad's British-born wife, Asma, was also recently hit with a European travel ban but it's unclear whether she can still enter the U.K. with her British passport.

Cooperation among various security services traveling with the heads of state will also be discussed during the London meetings.

"Most of their heads of state come with their own security people," Oswald said. "We remember in Beijing when (President George W.) Bush and the Chinese president were together at the basketball and there were some kind of fights between the two services. We want to avoid that and have a clear understanding."

The White House announced this month that first lady Michelle Obama will lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic opening ceremony. There has been no word of President Barack Obama attending the games, something which would come as a relief to security planners.

Oswald and IOC executive director Gilbert Felli will accompany Rogge to the meeting with Cameron. The full IOC coordination panel has been invited for lunch at 10 Downing Street after the talks.

Oswald and Felli also plan to visit the Olympic Stadium in east London to review plans for the opening ceremony, which is being masterminded by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle.

The IOC officials will meet with London organizers through Friday, the 10th and final visit by the full coordination group since the city was awarded the games in July 2005.

Oswald said he could return with a small IOC group to London ahead of the games "if it's needed."

"We are very happy with the preparations," he said. "On our dashboad, we mainly have green lights and a few yellow. We will ask a few questions, but nothing is orange or red."

Among the issues on the table, as always, will be transportation ? the challenge of keeping the city moving and getting spectators to and from the Olympic venues on the city's already strained public transit networks.

"Until the end, this is something that will require full attention," Oswald said. "It's nothing new. They have developed plans, but they are now even more precise than a few weeks ago. We are confident."

Security also remains a priority.

"They inform us about the plans, but obviously the less we speak about it, the better," Oswald said.

Overall, with the Olympic venues ready and the $14.7 billion public sector project within budget, the IOC is fully satisfied.

"We are in a rather comfortable situation," Oswald said. "A few months before the games, everything is in place. We are not pushing to finish things as we had to do before. We feel confident. We can refine a few small things, but basically London is and ready and will be ready."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ioc-leaders-discuss-heads-state-cameron-145651522--olympics.html

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Red Bulls handle Rapids with ease

Associated Press Sports

updated 6:17 p.m. ET March 25, 2012

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) - Thierry Henry gave the New York Red Bulls the boost they were looking for in their home opener.

Henry scored his first two goals of the Major League Soccer season and assisted on one of Kenny Cooper's pair Sunday to lead the Red Bulls to their first win of the season, 4-1 over the Colorado Rapids.

"The way we went out there was great," Henry said. "We scored early and put a lot of pressure on them. We did what we needed to do in getting the first goal."

The 34-year-old, who had three goals in seven games during a winter loan to Arsenal, scored in the third and 54th minutes. He assisted on a sixth-minute goal by Cooper, who also got a goal in the 89th off a pass from Roy Miller.

New York (1-2), which drew 21,024, was coming off road losses at Dallas and Salt Lake.

"It's safe to say that the players were a little shaken confidence-wise coming off those losses," Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said. "But we got off to a flying start, scoring two goals in the first five minutes. All around, we looked very solid. This is the way we have to dig in and play with emotion every game. You could see in the warmups how focused we were. We lost the two games and were under pressure. We needed to perform. We have to be unbeatable here. That's theory and not just talk."

New York improved to 6-0-3 in its last nine home openers. Henry has five goals in four MLS games against Colorado.

Omar Cummings scored the Rapids' goal in the 77th, preventing rookie Ryan Meara from getting his first shutout. Colorado (2-1) had started the season with wins over Columbus and Philadelphia.

"The back line was uneven and not on the same page," said Rapids defender Marvell Wynne Jr., a former player with New York. "They made the most of their opportunities. We knew that they were going to come out hard, because it was their home opener and they came off two losses. We let them get off early and that was pretty much it."

Henry scored his first goal when he ran onto a back pass from Ross LaBauex intended for goalkeeper Matt Pickens. Henry got the ball about 30 yards from goal and scored on a left-footed shot that trickled past the keeper.

Three minutes later, Henry lofted the ball from midfield toward Cooper, who settled and scored with a right-footed shot.

Meara, who grew up as a MetroStars and Red Bulls fan, saved with a diving punch in the 32nd minute and made another punching save in the 39th.

Henry made it 3-0 in the 54th when he controlled a long pass from defender Wilman Conde with a touch, and slid the ball past Pickens with the inside of his right foot. Henry then took a bow to the cheering fans in that end of the field following his 20th goal for the Red Bulls in all competitions.

Cummings scored his first of the season from 30 yards after Rafa Marquez lost possession in his first match since a three-game suspension for throwing a ball at Landon Donovan in last year's playoff against Los Angeles.

Cooper then scored his third goal of the season.

"This is an incredibly talented group and I'm just glad to be a part of it," said Cooper, acquired from Portland during the offseason. "It was great to be here and get a win in our home opener in such a great atmosphere. The fans had incredible passion and enthusiasm."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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PST: Saer Sene scored his first MLS goal on his first shot in the first minute of play, and the New England Revolution beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46850611/ns/sports-soccer/

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'Hunger Games' battles to $155M opening weekend

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "The Hunger Games" has filled fan appetites with a $155 million opening weekend that puts it near the top of the domestic record book.

The huge haul marks the third-best debut ever in terms of revenue, behind the $169.2 million opening for last year's "Harry Potter" finale and the $158.4 million opening of 2008's "The Dark Knight."

"Harry Potter" and "Batman" were well-established franchises. "The Hunger Games" set a revenue record for a non-sequel, taking in more than twice what the first "Twilight" movie did with its $69.6 million opening weekend.

"This is the birth of a franchise. To launch in this fashion is mindboggling," said David Spitz, head of distribution at Lionsgate, which now also owns the "Twilight" franchise after its purchase of Summit Entertainment.

While it's already a blockbuster on its North American home turf, "The Hunger Games" had a much slower start overseas. The film took in a modest $59.3 million in 67 markets, including Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Australia.

The "Harry Potter" finale took in a record $314 million overseas in its debut last summer, and half a dozen other films have opened with more than $200 million outside the United States.

Even "John Carter," a dud domestically, managed to take in more than "The Hunger Games" overseas, launching with $70.6 million in 55 international markets two weekends ago.

Still, "The Hunger Games" amassed a worldwide total of $214.3 million in just a few days.

Domestically, it also was by far the biggest start for a film opening outside the busy summer and holiday seasons. According to Sunday studio estimates, "The Hunger Games" came in nearly $40 million ahead of the previous March record-holder, 2010's "Alice in Wonderland" at $116.1 million.

"The Hunger Games" slid into the No. 3 spot on the domestic revenue chart ahead of "Spider-Man 3," which opened with $151.1 million in 2007. Factoring in today's higher tickets prices, "The Hunger Games" sold fewer tickets over opening weekend than "Spider-Man 3," though.

Fans camped out for the first screenings of "The Hunger Games," which began just after midnight Friday. Many fans showed up dressed as favorite characters from the story.

"That type of behavior puts it on the level of the 'Star Treks' and 'Star Wars,'" Spitz said. "I was so excited to see how everyone was responding to the material and how ecstatic they were to be a part of it."

With a broader fan base than the "Twilight" franchise, "The Hunger Games" pulled in bigger crowds than the top-grossing installment of that series. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" leads that franchise with a $142.8 million opening weekend in 2009.

Women and girls have made up as much as 80 percent of the audience for the "Twilight" flicks. Though it features a female lead, "The Hunger Games" drew more balanced crowds, with girls and women accounting for 61 percent of audiences, according to distributor Lionsgate.

Despite its teen fan base, "The Hunger Games" also did well among older moviegoers. Fans 25 and older made up 56 percent of the crowds.

"The Hunger Games" stars Jennifer Lawrence as a teen who is one of 24 youths forced to compete in a televised death match in a post-apocalyptic North American society.

The film is based on the first novel in the best-selling trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Lionsgate plans to release part two, "Catching Fire," in November 2013, and hopes to do the finale, "Mockingjay," as a two-part film installment.

"The Hunger Games" gave Hollywood a huge lift during a normally quiet time at theaters, with the start of the summer movie season still a month and a half away.

Overall domestic revenues totaled $214 million, up 76 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" led with $23.8 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Business has soared this year, with domestic receipts now at $2.4 billion, 19 percent ahead of last year's. Hollywood also has a potentially record-breaking summer lineup coming that includes the superhero tales "The Avengers," ''The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Rises."

"With this incredible weekend for 'The Hunger Games,' we're perhaps experiencing what could be called the perfect box-office year," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We're just on a trajectory like I've never seen."

The previous No. 1 movie, Sony's action comedy "21 Jump Street," dropped to a distant No. 2 but held up well in its second weekend with $21.3 million. That raised its domestic total to $71.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Hunger Games," $155 million ($59.3 million international).

2. "21 Jump Street," $21.3 million ($5.3 million international).

3. "Dr. Seuss' the Lorax," $13.1 million ($5.5 million international).

4. "John Carter," $5 million ($22.2 million international).

5. "Act of Valor," $2.1 million.

6. "Project X," $2 million ($4.4 million international).

7. "A Thousand Words," $1.9 million.

8. "October Baby," $1.7 million.

9. "Safe House," $1.39 million ($2.3 million international).

10. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," $1.37 million.

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "The Hunger Games," $59.3 million.

2. "John Carter," $22.2 million.

3. "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," $8.2 million.

4. "This Means War," $5.9 million.

5. "Dr. Seuss' the Lorax," $5.5 million.

6. "21 Jump Street," $5.3 million.

7. "Project X," $4.4 million.

8. "Intouchables," $3.7 million.

9. "The Devil Inside," $3.4 million.

10. "Turkisch fur Anfanger," $3.1 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hunger-games-battles-155m-opening-weekend-154147044.html

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Justin Berrier: Krauthammer Brings Thoroughly Debunked Health Care Cost Myth To The Washington Post

In his March 22 Washington Post column, conservative commentator and frequent health care misinformation peddler Charles Krauthammer parroted the latest right-wing myth?about the Affordable Care Act (ACA): that a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of the cost of the ACA showed that the law will cost twice as much as a similar estimate from two years ago. From The Washington Post?(emphasis added):

Obamacare was carefully constructed to manipulate the standard 10-year cost projections of the CBO. Because benefits would not fully kick in for four years, President Obama could trumpet 10-year gross costs of less than $1 trillion -- $938 billion to be exact.

But now that the near-costless years 2010 and 2011 have elapsed, the true 10-year price tag comes into focus. From 2013 through 2022, the CBO reports,?the costs of Obamacare come to $1.76 trillion?-- almost twice the phony original number.

[...]

Rarely has one law so exemplified the worst of the Leviathan state -- grotesque cost, questionable constitutionality and arbitrary bureaucratic coerciveness. Little wonder the president?barely mentioned?it in his latest?State of the Union address. He wants to be reelected. He'd rather talk about other things.

Of course, the claim that the cost of the health care law has suddenly doubled has been thoroughly debunked over the past week by numerous sources -- for example, here, here, here, and here. Krauthammer can't plead ignorance, as even his Washington Post colleagues have shot down this myth. In a March 20 post on his Washington Post blog, Wonkblog, Ezra Klein provided this helpful chart -- two days before Krauthammer weighed in -- explaining that an "apples-to-apples graph of the 'net' cost of the coverage provisions" showed a decrease in the cost of the law:

The title of Klein's post makes the truth plainly clear: "No, the CBO hasn't doubled its cost estimate for health-care reform." Again, this was published on The Washington Post's website two days before Krauthammer's column went up.

Although largely dedicated to perpetuating this myth, even a few members of the right-wing media have admitted that the claim is a distortion of the CBO's report. On the National Review Online blog The Corner, Patrick Brennan, who describes the law as a "Brobdingnagian bureaucracy" with "fishy accounting" explained:

This claim, that the CBO's 2012 estimate suggests Obamacare will cost twice as much as originally projected when the bill was passed in 2010, has been widely trumpeted, by some?rather doggedly, as another Obamacare failure, but unfortunately, it's entirely dishonest accounting, as a range of liberal bloggers have pointed out.

Here's why: The gross costs of Obamacare's insurance coverage in the CBO's 2010-2019 estimate were indeed $940 billion (table 2, page 2,?here). The updated estimate covers the years 2012-2022, in which the gross costs will be $1.76 trillion, which is, yes, almost double the other number (table 2,?here). But these numbers aren't remotely comparable.

[...]

Pretending that the $940 billion number has been revised to $1.76 trillion is like comparing Tom Brady's first through eighth seasons in the NFL with his third through eleventh (though probably only Paul Krugman thinks of?government?spending?as a touchdown pass). Gross costs in each year haven't really changed -- e.g., in 2019, the old, 2010 estimate predicted a gross cost of $216 billion, the new estimate is $224 billion (the net costs of coverage have consistently decreased from the old estimate to the new -- in 2019, say, from $175 billion to $149 billion).

Given Krauthammer's history of pushing conservative myths about the health care law, perhaps it's not surprising he would highlight this latest falsehood. What is surprising, though, is The Washington Post publishing it after already debunking it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MediaMattersForAmerica-CountyFair/~3/A70ZzHtJSGA/201203230004

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Today is Show Time-First Public Speaking Event Explaining Why I ...

Ok fans, it is showtime. I have to appear in a few minutes and give my first public speech and appearance in downtown Fort Myers. Great.

I get another opportunity to speak publically in a forum with others that think they are better or more qualified than I am. I kindly disagree for several reasons:

1. I am in love and like many things and people. I am in love with my son, my finance, my country, Florida, Kansas but not Missouri.

2. I have many of the necessary virtues, values and character that uniquely qualify me to represent the people of this nation.

3. I have anxiety. This is a good thing to have explaining why I do so much for those things and persons I love. The way the anxiety plays out means I will work my tail off moving and making our nation a better place.

4. Unlike the other candidates, I walk the talk, sparing voters of the same old thing when it comes to issues. I do not spin political rhetoric like most [politicans do, speaking like a two-headed snake, never taking a stand on divisive political issues smartly to avoid voter alienation.

I am not that smart and I do not want to speak on both sides of a divisive issue. I am too old to be overly concerned about voter alienation.I have askled for, and recieved what voters want, all across the nation. I get it.

5. Best reason of all. God, Jesus, Jacob (my son) and Queen all love me. If they want me to be your next congressman, that is God and Jesus's work-not mine. I am merely their instrument doing whatever job they delegate to me.

So God and Jesus, be there today guiding me to what I refer to as showtime. Remember, when I write, so help me God, I mean it. Finally, make sure that slacker angel of mine is right there on my shoulder today.

Amen. Time to go. I have been getting ready and prepared all of my life.

Source: http://www.schererforyourcongressman.blogspot.com/2012/03/today-is-show-time-first-public.html

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