Summit Entertainment

"The Devil Inside" was a surprise hit at the box office this weekend - a micro-budget horror film with no stars and plenty of bad reviews, the film came out of nowhere to gross $33.7 million and become the third-highest January opening in Hollywood history. But far from a novelty, "Devil Inside" is the first in a new wave of films that use the conceit of "found footage" - movies that blend fantastical plot lines with supposedly real video - due for release in the coming year.

Lionsgate has solved one of the thorniest staffing problems resulting from its acquisition of "Twilight" studio Summit Entertainment by keeping the marketing chiefs from both studios. Tim Palen, Lionsgate's chief marketing officer who is coming off the blockbuster success of "The Hunger Games," has signed a new deal that will keep him in his job through 2015. However, the studio is also keeping Summit's marketing president, Nancy Kirkpatrick, in her current job as president of marketing for the studio, which is now a Lionsgate label.

Sequestered inside a Hollywood studio in late September, director Bill Condon, putting the finishing touches on the latest film in the blockbuster "Twilight" franchise "Breaking Dawn — Part 1," asked a technician to reduce the heavy beats thundering across the soundtrack. On a screen, terror dawns on the face of a Brazilian housekeeper as she realizes that the young woman standing in front of her, newly married 19-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), is carrying the child of her vampire husband Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson)

Combining Hollywood's two biggest independent film studios and the blockbuster young adult franchises "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" into one powerful entity, Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to acquire Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million in cash and stock. The two Santa Monica companies have engaged in on-and-off merger talks since late 2008 as Lions Gate sought to bolster its library of film and TV properties and Summit's investors tried to cash in on the lightning-in-a-bottle success of the "Twilight" movie series, which has grossed $2.5 billion worldwide over four films.

Bringing Hollywood's two biggest independent film studios and the blockbuster young adult franchises "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" into one powerful entity, Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to acquire Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million in cash and stock. The two Santa Monica-based companies have engaged in on-and-off merger talks since late 2008 as Lions Gate has sought to bolster its library of film and TV properties and Summit's investors have tried to find a way to cash in on the lightning-in-a-bottle success of its "Twilight" movie series, which has grossed $2.5 billion worldwide over four films.

Lions Gate Entertainment and Summit Entertainment are back in merger talks that would combine two of Hollywood's largest independent studios, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who are not authorized to speak publicly. Should a deal be consummated, it would bring together one of the movie industry's most successful young adult franchises, Summit's "Twilight," with one of the most highly anticipated new series, "The Hunger Games," from Lions Gate. The two companies, headquartered around the block from each other in Santa Monica, have held on-and-off merger talks since late 2008 but were unable to resolve key issues of price and management control.

Roman Polanski may still be in Switzerland, but his movie will be coming to the U.S. The director, who is caught in legal limbo abroad, will see his new movie -- a thriller called "The Ghost Writer" -- released in the U.S. by Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the phenomenally successful "Twilight" franchise. The company plans on a quick turnaround, releasing the Polanski film sometime in the first half of 2010. "Ghost Writer" did not previously have a U.S. distributor. The embattled Polanski is currently living in his Swiss chalet after being released from jail on $4.5-million bail.

Two film veterans have become the latest Hollywood players to tap into the gusher of money Wall Street is putting into the movie business by arranging a $1-billion credit line. Patrick Wachsberger, chief executive of foreign sales and distribution company Summit Entertainment, and Robert Friedman, former head of marketing and distribution for Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group, aim to use the money from Merrill Lynch & Co.

Summit Entertainment's estimates of how many filmgoers outside North America saw "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was low. Way low. After more information rolled in from overseas markets, the independent studio updated its estimate of ticket sales in the 24 countries where its blockbuster vampire movie played over the weekend. Its new opening weekend overseas total, $132.1 million, is $14 million, or 12%, higher than its estimate Sunday morning of $118.1 million. Combined with the newly updated domestic total of $142.

The festival market for independent films is again attracting Hollywood's attention after several years in the economic doldrums. Witness the quick deal cut at the Sundance Film Festival by the indie market's resurgent showman, Harvey Weinstein. It was just after 10 one night last week when Weinstein stopped by a dinner to meet producers and sales agents of the film "My Idiot Brother," a dysfunctional-family comedy starring Paul Rudd that had just been shown. By the next day, Weinstein, with help from supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, opened his wallet and spent upwards of $6 million for the right to distribute the film in the U.S. and select foreign countries.

Lions Gate Highest-grossing movies (worldwide ticket sales) 1. "The Expendables" -- $274. 5 million 2. "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- $222.4 million 3. "Saw III" -- $164.8 million 4. " Saw II" -- $147.7 million 5. "Saw IV"-- $139.3 million TV shows include: "Mad Men" "Weeds" "Nurse Jackie" "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" Management: CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns ...

"The Devil Inside" was a surprise hit at the box office this weekend - a micro-budget horror film with no stars and plenty of bad reviews, the film came out of nowhere to gross $33.7 million and become the third-highest January opening in Hollywood history. But far from a novelty, "Devil Inside" is the first in a new wave of films that use the conceit of "found footage" - movies that blend fantastical plot lines with supposedly real video - due for release in the coming year.

Lions Gate Entertainment is putting the finishing touches on a deal to acquire rival independent studio Summit Entertainment in a deal worth about $700 million, according to several people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. The agreement, expected to be announced within days, would bring together the studio behind "Saw," "Mad Men" and the upcoming "The Hunger Games" with the maker of the hugely successful "Twilight" films.

Lions Gate Entertainment and Summit Entertainment are back in merger talks that would combine two of Hollywood's largest independent studios, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who are not authorized to speak publicly. Should a deal be consummated, it would bring together one of the movie industry's most successful young adult franchises, Summit's "Twilight," with one of the most highly anticipated new series, "The Hunger Games," from Lions Gate. The two companies, headquartered around the block from each other in Santa Monica, have held on-and-off merger talks since late 2008 but were unable to resolve key issues of price and management control.

The latest installment in the "Twilight" series didn't break franchise records this past weekend, but the film still had the fifth-best domestic opening of all time at the box office. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" raked in $139.5 million, according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment. While that was an impressive opening, "Breaking Dawn" fell just short of the $142.8-million opening weekend record held by the second movie in the series, 2009's "New Moon.

Fifteen feature-length documentaries have advanced for the upcoming Academy Awards, including Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's continued investigation of the three teenagers wrongly convicted of murder in Arkansas 20 years ago, "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. " The 15 films announced Friday were chosen from 124 films that had originally qualified in the category. Members of the academy's documentary branch will now select the five nominees from among those titles on the shortlist.

Showtime Networks said it acquired the rights for up to 42 movies released by Summit Entertainment, including the independent studio's new blockbuster, "Twilight." The premium cable network, one of the most profitable units of CBS Corp., will have access to Summit movies released from 2008 through 2012, including all films in the "Twilight" franchise. Summit Entertainment plans to release 10 to 12 films a year. This year Showtime did not renew its existing deals with major studios Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate Entertainment in a dispute over price.

A partial list of films recently in movie purgatory: "Margaret" director Kenneth Lonergan. Shot: 2005. (Fox Searchlight) Lonergan's follow-up to his acclaimed "You Can Count on Me" has been the subject of numerous reshoots and two lawsuits. Status: No release date "Case 39" director Christian Alvart. Shot: 2006. (Paramount) The Renée Zellweger- Bradley Cooper supernatural thriller endured several studio regime changes and several aborted release dates. Status: Released three weeks ago. "Spring Breakdown" director Ryan Shiraki.

The latest chapter in the mega-popular "Twilight" movie franchise is expected to take a substantial bite out of the box office when it debuts this weekend, possibly raking in as much as $150 million in ticket sales. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" is the fourth movie based on author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novels about a love triangle involving a girl, a vampire and a werewolf. The latest installment in the series is likely to gross $140 million to $150 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.