Studio Report Cards: Lionsgate

TheWrap has done a series of Studio Report Cards assessing how well — or not — the major studios did in terms of box office performance in 2010. I’ll be featuring excerpts from those articles each day for the next week or so. Today: Lionsgate:

Lionsgate
Grade: B 

Its “Saw” franchise finally ran out of teeth, but the indie studio had a hit with the Stallone action movie “The Expendables,” while the low-budget horror film “The Last Exorcism” was wildly profitable.

In a year of boardroom battles, Lionsgate’s film division quietly pulled off an impressive year at the domestic box office.

Propelled by low- to mid-budget hits such as “The Expendables” and “The Last Exorcism,” the studio, which was battered by an ongoing takeover bid from billionaire Carl Icahn, the company’s largest shareholder, added a $100 million to its annual haul.

That saw Lionsgate ending the year with $508 million total at the domestic box office, an impressive rebound from the $404 million the studio banked last year off roughly the same number of films.

“There were a few bumps in the road, but we systematically launched movies that could become new franchises and freshen our brand,” Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group president and co-chief operating officer, told TheWrap.

There were also lessons to be gleaned. When Lionsgate sticks to the cost-effective horror and action films that have historically been its bread and butter, it doesn’t miss.

But when it strays from that formula, such as with the costly action comedy “Killers,” which opened with a whimper, Lionsgate rarely makes a killing.

Tomorrow: Warner Bros.