Lionsgate has set up a joint venture with SP Media, the company run by producer and financier Steven Paul, under which SP Media will put capital into new Lionsgate ventures and toward the continuing diversification of 3 Arts, Lionsgate’s talent management and production company, and other Lionsgate businesses. SP Media will also produce independent features that Lionsgate will distribute. The two companies announced the deal from Santa Monica on Monday 26 October, in a statement issued at 21:15 CET.
Key facts
- Lionsgate and Steven Paul’s SP Media have formed a joint venture, announced on 26 October 2026
- Lionsgate will hold the majority of the venture and control it
- SP Media’s capital goes to new ventures, 3 Arts and other Lionsgate businesses; the companies did not give a figure
- TheWrap, citing a single unnamed person familiar with the deal, puts the investment at around $100m; neither company has confirmed a figure
- SP Media will produce independent features for Lionsgate to distribute
The joint statement describes a “significant capital investment” but sets no amount. TheWrap reports a figure of around $100m from a single unnamed source, and adds that the financial terms were not disclosed. Deadline notes that Paul is not taking a minority stake in Lionsgate itself: his money goes into the venture, where he sits as a co-financier.
For Lionsgate, the statement frames the deal as a new source of independent features for its distribution business, plus money for new ventures and its other businesses. For SP Media, the statement says it gives Paul’s films “a world-class distributor”.
Lionsgate chief executive Jon Feltheimer called Paul “a savvy and experienced entrepreneur” who has a long relationship with the studio. Paul said in the statement that he wanted to build on his relationship with Feltheimer and the Lionsgate team “in an industry environment filled with opportunity”.
Paul is chairman, founder and chief executive of Crystal Sky Pictures and SP Media Group. His producing credits include the Baby Geniuses films, Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with Nicolas Cage, Ghost in the Shell with Scarlett Johansson and Rambo: Last Blood, which Lionsgate released. In 2024, while Skydance was pursuing Paramount, he led an investor group that bid $2.25bn for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that held the controlling vote in Paramount, according to Deadline. That bid did not succeed, and Skydance went on to take control of Paramount, which closed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on 6 October.
The deal comes as Lionsgate fields takeover interest. Bloomberg reported on 20 October, citing people familiar with the matter, that Legendary Entertainment had submitted a takeover offer; Lionsgate declined to comment and neither company has confirmed it. Deadline says Legendary is carrying out due diligence, though its sources say no formal sale process is under way and no bankers have been hired. TheWrap says Banijay, Mediawan and Bolloré have also shown interest without making formal offers. The joint statement does not mention any of the approaches.
The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by chief operating officer Brian Goldsmith, general counsel Bruce Tobey and corporate development senior vice-president Suzy Felfeli, and for SP Media by SP Media Group president and chief operating officer Scott Karol. Moelis advised Lionsgate and Lazard advised SP Media; Paul Hastings acted for SP Media.
What is not yet known: the size of the investment on the record, how many films SP Media will make for Lionsgate and over what period, and whether the venture would survive a change of ownership at the studio. For independent producers, the deal settles who gets Paul’s films in front of audiences at a time when distribution executives are on the move elsewhere, as at Black Bear in the US.
Our reading
A minority partner putting fresh money into parts of Lionsgate, 3 Arts among them, while Legendary carries out due diligence on a reported takeover offer, per Deadline, is a signal about value as much as a financing deal. With no figure on the record, it does not yet put a price on anything. The next things to watch are whether Lionsgate puts a figure on the investment, and whether the SP Media slate comes with named titles and release dates before Lionsgate responds to Legendary.