Some of the greatest works in literature and cinema make veiled statements about problems in current society by looking at a futuristic nightmare world, such as 1984, Metropolis, and Blade Runner. Of course, there are no hidden messages in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911; he is like Guy Montag, the lead character in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, who instead of burning books, likes to burn Bush.
And he is burning up the box office -- the top draw over the weekend, at $23.9 million -- which makes his distributor, Lion's Gate (AMEX:LGF), very happy.
Yesterday, Lion's Gate released its earnings report. The company sustained a loss of $94.2 million for the year (ended March 31), primarily from the costs of its acquisition of Artisan Entertainment, as well as increased marketing expenses. The company did increase its revenue guidance to $680 million for fiscal 2005, up from $650 million. Free cash flow is expected to be roughly $80 million.
Some are speculating that Fahrenheit 911could reach $100 million in sales. But there is fierce competition ahead, especially from Sony's (NYSE:SNE) Spider-Man 2, released today.
Then again, Fahrenheit 911 likely will not have a huge direct impact on the bottom line for Lion's Gate. Rather, the publicity it generates -- through previews -- should boost its feature films, such as the upcoming "Open Water."
In the land of entertainment giants, Lion's Gate has done an incredible job in building an entertainment powerhouse. The film library has approximately 8,000 titles, and the company has also produced successful cable series, such as The Dead Zone. Lion's Gate has also struck innovative deals. Look at the recent alliance with Marvel Enterprises (NYSE:MVL), in which both companies will develop direct-to-DVD animated movies.
As everyone knows, Disney (NYSE:DIS) passed on Fahrenheit 911. Well, this is not likely to happen again. Expect the big studios to cash in on this emerging documentary movement.
Fool contributor Tom Taulli is the author of The EDGAR Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He does not own shares in any stocks mentioned.
