‘Twilight’ helps Summit Entertainment quintuple revenue in 2 years

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Summit Entertainment’s revenue more than quintupled from 2008 to 2010 based on the massive success of three ‘Twilight’ movies, according to a regulatory filing by the studio’s new parent company Lions Gate Entertainment.

As part of a presentation to potential lenders as part of its acquisition of Summit, which was previously a private company, Lions Gate disclosed Summit’s financial results for the first time.

They show that from 2008, the year that the first ‘Twilight’ movie was released theatrically, to 2010, Summit’s revenue skyrocketed from $211.6 million to $1.15 billion. The Santa Monica-based studio also swung from an $85.3-million net loss in 2008 to a $352.2 million profit two years later.

In 2009, when the first ‘Twilight’ movie came out on DVD and ‘New Moon’ hit theaters, Summit made a profit of $145.1 million on revenue of $722.1 million.

2010 was a particularly successful year for Summit because not only was the third ‘Twilight’ movie, ‘Eclipse,’ released in theaters, but both that picture and 2009’s ‘New Moon’ came out on DVD. Studios make most of their film profits from home entertainment sales and rentals.

In the first nine months of 2011, the most recent year for which Lions Gate released data, Summit’s revenue plunged to $331.3 million and its net income was only $14.7 million. During that period, however, there were no ‘Twilight’ releases.

The fourth ‘Twilight’ movie was released last November and the fifth and final installment of the popular vampire series will be in theaters in November.

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-- Ben Fritz