Lionsgate Films

1st Logo (1998-2004)

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:

1. On an international video trailer for Perfume, INTERNATIONAL is placed in between FILMS and the byline.

2. Starting in 2003, AMEX: LGF appears underneath the byline (AMEX as in the American Stock Exchange, not the American Express).

FX/SFX: The stars and sparkling.

Cheesy Factor: The text in LIONS GATE FILMS mixes-and-matches typefaces to no good effect; LIONS and FILMS are set in Bernhard Modern, and GATE is set in ITC Garamond. This might stick out very much to some; others might no notice unless they look close enough.

Music/Sounds: A majestic synth theme coupled with whooshing and shining sounds. 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 on films merely released by them such as O and Lantana.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo (2004-2005)

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:

1. On some films, the logo is tinted green.

2. 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, Search for Bobby Long, Crash (not to be confused with the 1996 erotic thriller starring James Spader and Holly Hunter), and Saw. 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).

Scare Factor: Low to medium, due to the darkness, thunderclap, and sudden appearance of the logo.

3rd Logo (2005)

Nickname: LGF 2

Logo: We see the black letters LGF with LIONS GATE FILMS below (all separated by two lines). The blue light spot passes on a 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 in the previous logos.

FX/SFX: Various light effects.

Music/Sounds: First we can hear the whoosh, then the 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.

Scare Factor: Low.

4th Logo (2005-2013)

• Lionsgate Hero
• Lionsgate Horror

1/2

Nicknames: The Lions Gate Sky, Lionsgate Hero, The Lions' Gates

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.

Trivia: This logo was designed at DevaStudios, Inc.

Variants:

1. 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".

2. 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.

3. The print version with black text on a white background is used on The Expendables 2 and Reservoir Dogs video games.

4. A shorter version starting from the zoom out through the keyhole exists.

FX/SFX: The animation of the gears and doors.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare (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 theme playing over them.

Availability: Common. The standard version 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 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 first film to use the Heaven variant was the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Hard Candy, and the last film to use this logo before the next logo was introduced was The Big Wedding. The horror variant debuted on Saw II and 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. 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.

Scare Factor: It depends on the version shown. The standard version is low and is a favorite amongst users, but the horror version is medium to high due to the surprisingly reddish background and sounds (though it is meant to be unsettling).

5th Logo (2013-)

Nicknames: The Lions Gate Sky 2, Lionsgate Hero 2, 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, flickering like from the film projector.

Trivia: Like the previous logo, this was also designed by DevaStudios, Inc.

FX/SFX: Stunning CGI!

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare composed by Jason Johnson. Like the last logo, sometimes it is silent or has the film's opening theme heard over it.

Availability: Common. 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. This logo is strangely absent from Nickelodeon airings of Shaun the Sheep Movie, but still mentions Lionsgate in the opening credits. This also appears at the beginning of some PolyGram films such as King of The Mountain.

Scare Factor: None. Like the previous logo, this is a favourite of many. This is also much tamer than the previous logo's horror variant.