Lionsgate Close to Dropping 700 Million Bucks On Summit Entertainment

What happens to a movie studio that lives and dies by one franchise — when that franchise is over? Well, according to Deadline, that studio gets purchased by a larger fish. To be more specific, it sure looks like Lionsgate is *this* close to signing a $ 700,000,000 purchase order for the whole of Summit Entertainment. Here’s what that price tag includes:

• Twilight
• Twilight 2: New Moon
• Twilight 3: Eclipse
• Twilight 4a: Breaking Dawn
• Twilight 4b: Breaking Dawn 2

Oh, and also this stuff:

• 50/50
• Astro Boy
• Bandslam
• The Beaver
• A Better Life
• The Brothers Bloom
• The Darkest Hour
• Drive Angry
• Fly Me to the Moon
• Furry Vengeance
• The Ghost Writer
• The Hurt Locker
• Knowing
• Letters to Juliet
• Man on a Ledge
• Never Back Down
• Next Day Air
• Penelope
• P2
• Push
• Red
• Remember Me
• Sex Drive
• Sorority Row
• Source Code
• The Three Musketeers

Yes, there are some truly solid films in that list, but overall it’s not all that pretty. One logically assumes that this deal would transfer all of Summit’s upcoming titles (like The Cold Light of Day, The Impossible, Sinister, and Ender’s Game) to the folks at Lionsgate. More on this deal as it closes.