Lionsgate Films/Summary

Logo descriptions by Silversword55, WizardDuck, EnormousRat, Supermarty-o, mr3urious, and others

Logo captures by Bob Fish, Eric S., V of Doom, Mr. Logo, and LogosForTheWin

Editions by Eric S., WizardDuck, mr3urious, Nathan B., Bob Fish, and Shadeed A. Kelly

Video captures courtesy of MyNewBryceIsHere2012, IdentsandLogos, Qualended Paficic Faction, Cesar Blanco, and Lionsgate Movies

Background: Lionsgate Films is a Canadian–American film production, distribution, and financial sales conglomerate owned by the Starz Entertainment Group. Named after a Vancouver landmark, the Lions' Gate Bridge (officially known as the "First Narrows Bridge"), Lions Gate Films (as of 2005, written as "Lionsgate") is a North American film production/distribution studio that was founded in 1997 and officially formed on January 12, 1998 by Frank Giustra. It was formerly known as "Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)".

Note: Lionsgate Films is not to be confused with director Robert Altman's company; Lion's Gate Films.

1st Logo (June 6, 1997-July 21, 2000)

Nickname: "The Constellation"

Logo: On a black background , several stars join together at the right of the screen to form the constellation of the lion. As this happens, a stylized white drawing of a lion standing on its hind legs and looking to the right (in a heraldic "lion rampant" pose) fades in. LIONS GATE fades in the Bernhard Modern font, then FILMS and PRESENTS.

Variant: On the trailer for Buffalo '66, "PRESENTS" is missing.

FX/SFX: The stars forming the constellation.

Music/Sounds: A majestic, ethereal synth theme coupled with whooshing and shining sounds.

Availability: Seen on films of the era such as Stardom, Metroland, Mr. Jealousy, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Also seen on the trailers for Buffalo '66. This appeared on the teaser of The Rules of Attraction (the movie used the next logo).

Editor's Note: A pretty simple effort, though not a bad one.

2nd Logo (June 26, 1998-April 2, 2004)

Lionsgate Films Ident - 2003

Lions Gate Films Cinerenta (2002)

Nicknames: "The Comets", "The Shining Constellation", "Leo in Space"

Logo: Against a dark blue starfield background, several stars swirl around to form the lion logo from before, which zooms out. Some more stars that turn from white to gold zoom-out and arrange themselves on the logo, and the words "LIONS GATE FILMS", in gold, flash in at the top right of the lion. A burst of light wipes in a white line with the byline "A LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" underneath it. The words sparkle a bit.

Variants:

• This logo exists in filmed and videotaped forms.
• Billed as "FILMS LIONS GATE" on French-Canadian releases.
• On an international video trailer for Perfume, "INTERNATIONAL" is placed in between "FILMS" and the byline.
• Starting in 2003, "AMEX: LGF" appears underneath the byline ("AMEX" being short for "American Stock Exchange").

FX/SFX: The stars and sparkling. Pretty good animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo. Sometimes, it is silent or has the film's opening theme.

Availability: Common.

• Seen on Lions Gate films from the period, but not titles merely distributed by them, such as O and Lantana.
• It appears on some early Lions Gate and late period Artisan/Trimark DVDs as a de facto home video logo as well; some examples of this include the two-disc edition of Step Into Liquid and a reprint of All of Me.
• It's also plastered with the logo for their home entertainment division on the 2004 DVD of Shattered Glass.

Editor's Note: This is a quite nicely-animated logo.

3rd Logo (April 16, 2004-March 11, 2006)

"Crush" Intro Logos (2004)

Nickname: "LGF"

Logo: Against a dark sky with clouds and thunder, the letters "LGF", followed by "LIONS GATE FILMS" below, appear in a "flashing" effect. It zooms forth, and the Lions Gate byline from before gets wiped in from left to right.

Variants:

• On some films, the logo is tinted green.
• A print logo is used at the end of many films (same type for the previous logo).

FX/SFX: The clouds, thunder, and "LGF" appearing.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent, but some films use thunderclap sounds with the sound of a sword being drawn and hitting another sword.

Availability: Uncommon.

• Can be seen on films such as The Punisher, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Crash, Minotaur, and the first two Saw films (recent prints of the second film, however, plaster this with the horror version of the 5th logo).
• This also plasters the Kings Road Entertainment logo on current prints of Kickboxer III: The Art of War (including the double feature DVD with Kickboxer IV). The green-tinted variant plasters the Trimark logo on the 2005 DVD of Swimming with Sharks.

Editor's Note: This logo is nowhere as noteworthy as the previous two logos, due to its short lifespan and simplicity. The sudden thunderclap when the "LGF" text appears may also catch many off-guard.

4th Logo (August 26-November 23, 2005)

Nickname: "LGF II"

Logo: We see the black letters "LGF" with "LIONS GATE FILMS" below (all separated by two lines). A blue spotlight passes on the background. Suddenly the words switch to blue, and the background fades to black. The logo zooms in. Then the light streak draws the same byline as the previous logo.

FX/SFX: Various light effects.

Music/Sounds: First we can hear a whoosh, then vibration sounds, and finally the streak drawing.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was only used for a very short time. It appears on In the Mix, later prints of Pi, and Undiscovered.

Editor's Note: Judging from its short lifespan, it may be a placeholder for the next logo.

5th Logo (October 14, 2005-April 26, 2013)

Lionsgate Intro - ICC

LIONSGATE HORROR INTRO

Nicknames: "The Golden Gears", "The Lions Gate Sky", "Lionsgate Hero", "The Lions' Gates", "The Gears", "Lionsgate Horror (Horror variant)"

Logo: We fade in close to several gears and zoom out to a view of them rotating in a large Art Deco-inspired chamber. The camera then zooms all the way back and out through a keyhole, revealing an enormous pair of doors, with the company's "lion rampant" logo on both of them (intended to evoke its heraldry-inspired appearance) and a geometric pattern as well. The doors open and we see the name "LIONSGATE", now written as one word and with a metallic texture, over a heavenly sky background with clouds surrounding it.

Variants:

• There is a version which appears on horror and action films (basically, wherever a "rugged" appearance is desired), where the gears and doors are rusted, and the "LIONSGATE" text appears over a hellish red sky, showing more wear than it does in the standard version. This version is known as "Lionsgate Horror."
• On current prints of Star Kid, the logo plasters the Trimark Pictures logo and is sped up to accommodate the length of the original logo. The film's opening music is left intact.
• The print version with black text on a white background is used on The Expendables 2 and Reservoir Dogs video games.
• A shorter version starting from the zoom out through the keyhole exists.
• A 2.39:1 version can be found on the 2013 Blu-ray of Warm Bodies.
• On the 2006 DVDs of Total Recall and Stargate, as the logo completes its animation, the whole thing crossfades inside the "H" of the THX logo, which zooms out from the middle of the screen and shines. The THX logo then zooms again to the bottom-left corner of the screen, then a flash appears behind it to reveal the Optimum Resolution DVD menu. This variant is unique in that it is not based on any of THX's then-existing home entertainment logos.

FX/SFX: The animation of the gears and doors. Very nice CGI, done by DevaStudios, Inc.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare (which takes cues from Danny Elfman's Batman theme) This was composed by Bill Johnson, for the standard version. The horror version has the sounds of the gears cranking and door creaking, alongside sounds resembling a heartbeat and moaning; the sound design in this version was done by Billy Mallery, who also co-composed the next logo's fanfare. The short version uses mechanical noises. On rare occasions, both versions are silent or have the film's opening theme playing over them.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On Syfy airings of Leprechaun 2, the Trimark Pictures theme was heard over the first half of the logo, and the Lionsgate theme played over the second half of the logo, possibly due to an editing error or cheap plastering.
• On both THX Optimum Resolution DVDs, the end of the standard fanfare quickly crossfades to the Deep Note nearing its peak.

Availability: Common.

• The standard version was first unveiled on the company's website in late October 2005, and made its first theatrical appearance on Madea's Family Reunion on February 24 the next year; it can be seen on titles such as Akeelah and the Bee, Tyler Perry's films, Employee of the Month, and releases from Pantelion Pictures, among others. The horror version can be seen on the Saw films starting with Saw III (as well as recent prints of II), The Descent, and action films such as The Expendables among others.
• The short version was seen at the beginning of one of the Marvel DTV features, The Invincible Iron Man.
• The "Heaven" variant was last used on The Big Wedding, and the "Horror" variant was last seen on Texas Chainsaw 3D.
• It also plasters other companies' logos on its titles released by Lionsgate, such as the Trimark Pictures catalog. At some cases of plastering older logos on horror movies (like The Blair Witch Project and Leprechaun sequels), the normal version appears instead of the preferred horror one. It also plasters the second logo on current prints of But I'm a Cheerleader.
• It was also used as a de-facto home video logo on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases, and appears at the front of current prints of Pumping Iron as well.

Editor's Note: With this logo, Lionsgate truly stepped up their game, producing an excellently-animated logo that still stands the test of time years later. Some may be annoyed by it plastering some older logos, however.

6th Logo (April 14, 2013- )

Lionsgate 2013

Nicknames: "The Lions Gate Sky II", "Lionsgate Hero II", "The Constellation Returns", "The Return of the Constellation"

Logo: We see the horizon of the earth surrounded by clouds as it zooms away from us. Stars fly past us as they form a lion constellation based on the first two logos. As soon as the constellation forms, it is seen reflected on "S" of "LIONSGATE" in 3-D lettering as the word flies past through the clouds from the fifth logo. A light shines through the "S" and the "G" as the name is revealed in a deep blue. The clouds swoop away, leaving the light.

Variants:

• At the end of home video releases (except for Lady Macbeth), a still version is used.
  • Normally, this fades in and out, but on DVDs starting with Pearl, it cuts in and out.
• Starting in 2021, the space background was enhanced.

FX/SFX: More stunning CGI, also designed by DevaStudios.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare composed by Billy Mallery and Jason Johnson.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• A low-pitched or high-pitched version of the fanfare exists.
• A fanfare with less whooshes exists.
• On Green Street Hooligans 3: Never Back Down, a low-toned version of the previous logo's theme is heard due to plastering error.
• On current prints of the 1989 TV movie Get Smart, Again!, it has the finishing of the ending theme, then the theme from the 1985 King Features Entertainment logo is heard, most likely due to sloppy plastering.
• In some cases, it's silent or has the opening theme of the movie.
• On current prints of some Weinstein Company films, there are a few seconds of silence followed by the theme from that company's logo due to sloppy plastering (in some of these cases, the film's opening score/narration begins near the end of the fanfare, so seamless removal would be tough).
• On the Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray of Backtrack (the director's cut of Catchfire), it once again has the finishing of the ending theme, this time is followed by the theme from the 1987 Vestron Video logo, possibly another case of plastering error.
• The TV logo uses the same theme as the previous logo.
  • Sometimes, the theme is sped-up and abridged.
  • Original network airings use their generic themes.
  • Sometimes, the logo is silent.
  • On Gray, an abridged version of the 2013 theatrical logo's theme is used.

Availability: Current.

• First seen on the teaser for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The full logo debuted on the wide release version of Mud (when shown at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, it had the previous logo), and can be seen on newer Lionsgate films released after that.
• This logo is absent from Nickelodeon airings of Shaun the Sheep Movie, but Lionsgate is still mentioned in the opening credits.
• This also appears at the beginning on some PolyGram films, such as King of the Mountain.
• This has also began plastering over The Weinstein Company logo on certain titles that Lionsgate currently co-distributes alongside Lantern Entertainment.
• As of the 2020s, this logo now plasters over the Summit Entertainment logo on the majority of their entire back catalog (though very few films from the period keep their logo intact).
• As with the previous logo, this is also used as a de-facto home video logo. It is even seen on UHD & Blu-ray releases of films licensed to boutique labels such as Kino Lorber.
• The 2021 version debuted on Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar.

Editor's Note: Another wonderfully-animated logo, even if it rather pales in comparison to the last logo.