STILL HUNGERING? DON’T OVERLOOK ANOTHER LIONSGATE SUCCESS STORY

Hunger Games will not be the only success story Lions Gate Entertainment will write this month. The Spanish-language Casa de Mi Padre, starring Will Ferrell, grossed $2.3 million in just 382 theaters over the weekend. Daily Variety pointed out that that figure represented the third-largest domestic debut ever at fewer than 600 venues. While the soaring number of Hispanic moviegoers is partly responsible for that success, Variety pointed out that its Pantelion unit, responsible for Spanish-language features, has engaged in an astute marketing campaign directed by Brenda Rios that targeted Spanish-language TV stations and the Univision network (which itself is challenging English-language rivals in the ratings, especially among younger viewers). Pantelion, Variety also observed, extensively promoted Casa during last month’s exhibition soccer match in Miami between Mexico and Colombia, which drew 51,615 fans. The studio brought Will Ferrell to the stadium and showed a trailer of the movie on its Jumbotron screen. Moreover, in its limited release, the studio targeted cities like Boston and Seattle, where Ferrell’s films have consistently overperformed, Variety observed. Lionsgate plans to expand Casa to about 500 theaters this weekend.