SANTA MONICA, Calif. and
PHILADELPHIA, July 22, 2014 /CNW/ -- Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF)
and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK) today announced the expansion of
their partnership to create uniquely immersive multi-platform
experiences for digital consumers, beginning with the launch of an
app for the motion picture Divergent.
With more than four hours of state-of-the-art bonus features and
interactive content, the Lionsgate-designed iOS app, which is free
to every Divergent fan via the iTunes App Store, includes an authenticated premium
experience available to Xfinity customers with the purchase of the
film through the Xfinity On Demand digital store.
Xfinity customers will be the first to enjoy Divergent
movie scenes from multiple angles, walk the red carpet from
the comfort of their living rooms with 360-degree camera views that
make them feel as if they are at the premiere, embark on a virtual
reality audio experience during a Dauntless initiation and explore
the film's fashion through interactive flipbooks. Divergent
is available in the Xfinity On Demand digital store, which has
consistently been one of the top digital retailers in the U.S., and
via digital retailers nationwide two weeks ahead of the
blockbuster's August 5 DVD and
Blu-ray debut.
The announcement continues the successful partnership formed
last year when Lionsgate became one of the first studios to provide
digital content for purchase on Xfinity. As part of this
ongoing collaboration, Lionsgate will roll out additional
title-specific apps built around upcoming releases featuring
premium digital content available to Xfinity customers.
"We have been working with Lionsgate and all of our studio
partners to launch a product that allows producers, directors,
writers, designers and engineers to explore and create next
generation digital experiences that expand and extend the life of
digital franchises across platforms for Xfinity customers," said
Matt Strauss, General Manager and
Senior Vice President, Video Services, Comcast Cable. "We are
providing studios with a platform to enhance the digital ownership
experience by continually adding new content and experiences for
customers that will immerse them in the worlds of these films like
never before, first on their favorite mobile devices, and soon on
the TV via X1."
"We're constantly exploring ways to use new content-gathering
technologies to extend our franchises for digital platforms," said
Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television & Digital
Distribution Jim Packer. "Franchises like Divergent create
visually rich landscapes lending themselves to a whole new way of
storytelling. The development of the Divergent
app and its premium content specifically for mobile devices is just
one of the ways we're monetizing our brands and driving demand for
EST."
"The app does a wonderful job of expanding the world of
Divergent and creating a rich and immersive experience for
our fans," said Lucy Fisher and
Doug Wick of Red Wagon
Entertainment, who are producing the Divergent series.
"We're particularly excited that this is a life cycle app that will
follow the trajectory of the entire Divergent franchise, and
it showcases Lionsgate and Comcast at their innovative and
visionary best."
Xfinity customers who purchase Divergent from the Xfinity
On Demand digital store and download the free iOS app can sign-in
to the app using their Xfinity credentials to unlock over 250
minutes of premium online content including behind the scenes
footage and exclusive red carpet content captured at
Divergent's Los Angeles
premiere with 360-degree cameras. Enhanced content for
Xfinity customers, combined with the app's generally available
content, create more than 6 1/2 hours of interactive
value-added material for Divergent fans. Next year, Xfinity
subscribers with X1 will be able to access the Divergent
app, and subsequent apps, as an Internet app on the TV through
their X1 set-top box.
The app also features state-of-the-art DTS Headphone: X
technology, enabling fans to share a surround sound experience
using any brand of headphones, marking one of the first times this
ground-breaking technology has been included in the special
features of a home entertainment release.
The Divergent app is a "life cycle" app that follows the
movie not only from theatrical through home entertainment release
and beyond but is designed to meet the demands of fans throughout
the entire trajectory of the franchise. The next film in the
Divergent series, Insurgent, will be released
worldwide on March 20, 2015.
Divergent stars Shailene
Woodley, Theo James, Academy
Award winner Kate Winslet and
Ashley Judd in a thrilling action
adventure set in a dangerous future world divided into factions
where Tris, who is Divergent and will never fit into any one group,
and Four, an instructor for the militant Dauntless faction, uncover
a mind-bending conspiracy that will put their courage to the
ultimate test and forever link their destinies. The first
Divergent film has already grossed nearly $300 million at the global box office, and the
Divergent series of books has sold more than 25 million
copies.
About Lionsgate:
Lionsgate is a leading global
entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in
motion picture production and distribution, television programming
and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital
distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution
and sales. Lionsgate currently has over 30 television shows on more
than 20 networks spanning its primetime production, distribution
and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed
hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men and Nurse
Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, the network series
Nashville, the syndication
success The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed
hit series Orange is the New Black.
Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent
successes as the blockbuster first two installments of The
Hunger Games franchise, The Hunger Games and The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the first installment of the
Divergent franchise, Now You See Me, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Warm
Bodies, The Expendables 2, The Possession,
Sinister, Roadside Attractions' Mud and Pantelion
Films' breakout hit Instructions Not Included, the
highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the
U.S.
Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in
box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate.
Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of
approximately 15,000 motion picture and television titles that is
an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the
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.
About Comcast Cable:
Comcast Cable is the nation's
largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to
residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides
these services to businesses. Comcast has invested in
technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the
fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video,
communications and home management offerings. Comcast
Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology
company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more
information.
For further
information, please contact:
|
|
|
|
Peter D.
Wilkes
|
Lisa
Scalzo
|
Lionsgate
|
Comcast
|
310-255-3726
|
215-286-5211
|
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
|
Lisa_Scalzo@comcast.com
|
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/LA83194LOGO
Logo
- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140721/129132
SOURCE Lionsgate