Lionsgate Films

Background
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 John Dunning, Frank Giustra, and Andre Link. It was formerly known as "Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)". It is currently a film division of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation.

Background
C/FP Distribution was a Canadian distribution company formed in 1989, a joint venture between Famous Players Entertainment and Cinépix, Inc. (predecessor of "Lions Gate Films"). Christian Larouche joined C/FP in the 1980s. In 1994, Cinépix acquired Famous Players' share of C/FP and it was renamed to Cinépix Inc. Distribution two years later and it shortly renamed again to Cinépix Film Properties this year.

(1989-1997)


Logo: On a black background with a thick stripe at the near bottom, we see a leaf - with a white fleur de lis symbol on a  background - flowing around, as a white stripe comes out from the bottom of the screen and reaches toward the leaf to form the logo for Famous Players. Then, the flower comes into place and pieces attach to write out "C/FP". The sparks connect them together to create this: C/FP D I S T R I B U T I O N The logo would later shine.

Technique: The flower floating, and the stripes flying up.

Music/Sounds: A wounded, boxy synth fanfare which ends calmly, or none.

Availability: Seen on all C/FP releases from 1989 to 1997, including The Lunatic, Nemesis 1 & Nemesis 2: Nebula, Scam, Nails, Baby on Board (1992), Ski School 2, McBain (not to be confused with the metafictional film-series-within-a-show from The Simpsons), Trapped (The Killing Jar), The Crying Game, No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers, Stepmonster, Basket Case 3: The Progeny, The Carpenter, The Big Slice, Trust, The Swordsman, Red Hot, Benefit of the Doubt, Carnosaur, Little Miss Millions, Kafka, Timescape, Fortress (1992), Ticks, The Night We Never Met, Dinosaur Island, Tammy and the T-Rex, Beauty School, The Opposite Sex and How to Live With Them, and Best of the Best 2, among others. Since this is a Canadian label, be sure to check sites like Amazon.ca and eBay for tapes from this company. Some tapes which have the newer CFP Video logo on the packaging may still retain this logo. Such an example is Natural Enemy, also one of the last tapes to feature this logo. Also seen on Canadian Pingu VHS tapes at the time.

Background
Cinépix Film Properties (previously known as Cinépix, Inc.) was founded in 1962 as an independent producer/distributor, and was based in Montreal. Its assets included a 56% stake in animation company CinéGroupe. In 1997, Cinépix was purchased by Canadian financier Frank Giustra and was renamed to "Lions Gate Films" on January 12, 1998.

(1996-1999)
Logo: On an evening sky background above with water below (a la Atlantis Films), we see the sun setting. Then, the silver words "CFP" (in the CFP corporate font (a slim variation of the Adobe Revue font)) slowly rises out of to the water to face us. Then it spins and changes into "CiNEPiX" in the same font. Finally, "FILM PROPERTIES" fades in underneath "CiNEPiX" at the right corner.

Variant: A videotaped version exists with a more bluish hue instead of green and brown.

Technique: "CFP" rising from the water. The "CFP" spinning transition.

Music/Sounds: A spacey synth tune with a saw-blade-like note as "CFP" rises from the water, which takes on a more majestic, orchestral tone as "CFP" changes into "CiNEPiX", and finally a tubular bell toll as "FILM PROPERTIES" fades in. It is almost similar in arrangement to the C/FP Distribution music.

Availability: Uncommon, bordering on rare. Seen on Canadian CFP video releases with the sentence "DISTRIBUTED EXCLUSIVELY BY CFP etc...", as well on theatrical releases of the era such as Johnny Skidmarks. While this is plastered on a regular basis with any of the Lionsgate logos on most current releases (sometimes with the logo theme intact oddly), it is retained on some Canadian Lions Gate DVDs of films such as Baby on Board (1992), Silent Trigger, Nemesis 4: Death Angel, and The Peacekeeper. This is also on streaming prints of Texas Chainsaw: The Next Generation (but not the DVDs, even though they use the same master).

1st Logo (June 6, 1997-July 21, 2000)
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 typeface, then "FILMS" and "PRESENTS".

Variant: On the trailer for Buffalo '66, it doesn't have the word "PRESENTS".

Technique: Traditional cel animation.

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).

2nd Logo (June 26, 1998-April 2, 2004)
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 zoom-out and arrange themselves on the logo, and the words "LIONS GATE FILMS", (with "GATE" in Garamond) in, 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" as in the "American Stock Exchange", not the "American Express").

Technique: CGI 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. Don't expect this to appear films merely released by them such as O and Lantana. It appears on some early Lions Gate and late period Artisan/Trimark DVD releases 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. The AMEX variant appears on films such as Wonderland. It makes a surprise appearance at the end of the TV movie Student Seduction.

3rd Logo (April 16, 2004-March 11, 2006)
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.
 * A print logo is used at the end of many films (same type for the previous logo).
 * On the 2004 TV movie Frankenstein, a short version of this logo is used, beginning with the byline wiping.

Technique: CGI animation.

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 (not to be confused with the 1996 erotic thriller starring James Spader and Holly Hunter), the English version of the French film High Tension, the 2006 film Minotaur, and the first two Saw films (recent prints of the second film however, plasters this with the horror version of the 5th logo). This also plasters the Kings Road Entertainment logo on the current releases of Kickboxer III: The Art of War (including the double feature DVD release with Kickboxer IV), and the Trimark Pictures logo on the 2005 "This is a Special Edition You Schmuck" DVD of Swimming with Sharks.

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


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

Technique: Various light effects.

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

Availability: Extremely rare. This was only used for a very short time. Can be found on In the Mix (not to be confused with the PBS series of the same name), and Undiscovered. Also seen on current prints of Love and a .45 (1994) and some older prints of Pi (the 1998 Darren Aronofsky film). Don't expect to this logo to appear on Hostel and Saw II, as they use the previous logo instead.

Legacy: This is the most obscure logo from the company, and was used in tandem with the previous logo in its lifespan.

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

Closing Title: Just the Lionsgate print logo, often scrolling with the credits, or still.

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 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.
 * A shorter version starting from the zoom out through the keyhole exists.
 * An extremely rare variant is known to exist where the animation plays as normal, but towards the end of the orchestration the logo begins to shrink. We zoom out to find it is the "H" in the THX logo, which moves into the bottom left corner a few seconds later, which leads directly into the menu.

Technique: CGI animation from Devastudios.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare with brass and string instruments and drums (which takes cues from Danny Elfman's Batman theme) 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 short version uses mechanical noises. On rare occasions, both versions are silent or have the film's opening/closing theme playing over them.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The Horror variant was composed and sound designed by Billy Mallery, who also did the opening titles of Caged, as well as the music for the next logo.

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.
 * The THX variant directly fades the end of the Lionsgate theme into the second half of the THX "Deep Note" (more specifically the 2005 "Science of Sensation" version), which includes the whoosh from that logo before fading out early.
 * On prints of King Kobra, the music was reorchestrated with no whoosh effects to it and less drum beats from the final version.

Availability: Common.
 * This was first unveiled on the company's website in late October 2005, and it later debuted on Madea's Family Reunion on February 24 the next year. It can be seen on titles such as Akeelah and the Bee, the Tyler Perry film series, 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 and ending with Saw 3D, (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 films formerly distributed by Trimark Pictures or Artisan Entertainment. 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 was also used as a de-facto home video logo on DVD and Blu-ray releases Lionsgate Home Entertainment and Lionsgate Family Entertainment (the former Family Home Entertainment) until mid-2013.
 * The variant fading into the THX logo is extremely rare, and is only known to exist on the 2006 THX Optimum Resolution DVD of Total Recall (1990), however more such releases may exist.
 * Used in tandem with the next logo until April 26, 2013.

Legacy: With this logo, Lionsgate truly stepped up their game, with Devastudios having produced an excellently-animated logo that still stands the test of time years later. The majestic fanfare in the normal logo (albeit shortened) would later be reused for the next logo's television equivalent after the logo was retired.

6th Logo (April 14, 2013-)
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 the "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.

Closing Title: Same as the previous logo. Sometimes, it's a still of the opening logo's finished product.

Variants:
 * An open matte version exists. This could be seen on 4:3 films with this logo.
 * On Wonder, the logo's animation is slightly sped-up near the end.
 * Films from Trimark Pictures from 1990 to 1994, like The Sun on YouTube for example, had the text "A DIVISION OF VIDMARK INC." after the logo, which is likely mistakened to be a plastering error instead of having a parent company.

Technique: More CGI from Devastudios.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant orchestral and choir fanfare. This was composed by Billy Mallery and Jason Johnson and performed by the Seattle Symphony and Choir. A video showing the rehearsal of the fanfare can be shown on Billy's Facebook page here.

Music/Sounds Trivia: Billy's work for the fanfare won him a Silver Award for Outstanding Original Music in the 2013 Mobius Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Song/Score in a Special Feature in the 2014 HMMA (Hollywood Music In Media) Awards.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Wonder, the theme's intro is cut out.
 * On Contract to Kill (2016), a lower-pitched version of the theme is heard.
 * 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, namely The Nanny Diaries and Doogal, 9 seconds of silence followed by the theme from that company's logo can be heard due to sloppy plastering (though in both cases, the film's opening score/narration begins near the end of the fanfare, so it would be difficult to try and seamlessly remove).
 * On The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, an entirely different fanfare by Mark Isham is used.

Availability: Current, this was used in tandem with the previous logo until April 26, 2013.
 * First seen on the teaser for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The full logo debuted on the wide release of Mud (the TIFF release had the previous logo), and can be seen on newer Lionsgate films released after that, such as all four Norm of the North movies, Hedgehogs, the UK release of Nine Lives, the UK DVD release of Ratchet & Clank (digital, CBBC, POP (UK) prints, and the US/Canada DVD release don't have this logo), Wonder, My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Expendables 3, and all seven Alpha and Omega sequels, among others.
 * This logo is absent from Nickelodeon broadcasts of Shaun the Sheep Movie, but still mentions Lionsgate 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 and the Dimension Films logo on certain titles that Lionsgate currently co-distributes alongside Lantern Entertainment. Some others that Lionsgate produced keep those logos intact.
 * This is also used as a de-facto home video logo on LGHE and LGFE releases since mid-2013.
 * Starting in 2017, it also appears on ex-Anchor Bay titles.
 * Despite Lionsgate co-producing Fall (2022), the logo doesn't appear on the film itself.