WITH ABDUCTION TANKING, LIONSGATE WARNS OF BIG LOSSES

This weekend’s failure of Abduction made it three money losers in a row for Lionsgate, and the mini-studio wasted no time in filing a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that, as a result, it now expects to lose $40-50 million in the current quarter. The filing is required by the SEC in order for Lionsgate to comply with regulations affecting its sale of Carl Icahn’s stake in the company. The company had previously reported losses this year for Conan the Barbarian and Warrior. Icahn had long been feuding with the company’s management over its risky investments in movies, demanding that it focus its attention instead on television, where it has registered solid successes with such shows as Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and the Emmy Award-winning Mad Men.