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Background

Named after a Vancouver landmark, the Lions' Gate Bridge (officially known as the "First Narrows Bridge"), Lions Gate Films (as of 2005, written as "Lionsgate") is a North American film production/distribution studio that was founded in 1997 and officially formed on January 12, 1998 by Frank Giustra. It was formerly known as "Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)". It is currently a film division of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation.

1st Logo (June 6, 1997-July 21, 2000)

Nickname: "The Constellation"

Logo: On a black background , several stars join together at the right of the screen to form the constellation of the lion. As this happens, a stylized white drawing of a lion standing on its hind legs and looking to the right (in a heraldic "lion rampant" pose) fades in. LIONS GATE fades in the Bernhard Modern typeface, then FILMS and PRESENTS.

Variant: On the trailer for Buffalo '66, it doesn't have the word PRESENTS.

FX/SFX: The stars forming the constellation.

Music/Sounds: A majestic, ethereal synth theme coupled with whooshing and shining sounds.

Availability: Seen on films of the era such as Stardom, Metroland, Mr. Jealousy, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Also seen on the trailers for Buffalo '66. This appeared on the teaser of The Rules of Attraction (the movie used the next logo).

Editor's Note: A pretty simple effort, though not a bad one.

2nd Logo (June 26, 1998-April 2, 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", (with "GATE" in Garamond) 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:

This logo exists in filmed and videotaped forms.
Billed as "FILMS LIONS GATE" on French-Canadian releases.
On an international video trailer for Perfume, "INTERNATIONAL" is placed in between "FILMS" and the byline.
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. Pretty good animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo. 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 films merely released by them such as O and Lantana. It appears on some early Lions Gate and late period Artisan/Trimark DVD releases as a de facto home video logo as well; some examples of this include the two-disc edition of Step Into Liquid and a reprint of All of Me.

Editor's Note: This is a quite nicely-animated logo, aside from the typeface mix-matching problem.

3rd Logo (April 16, 2004-March 11, 2006)

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:

On some films, the logo is tinted green.
A print logo is used at the end of many films (same type for the previous logo).
On the 2004 TV movie Frankenstein, a short version of this logo is used, beginning with the byline wiping.

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, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Crash (not to be confused with the 1996 erotic thriller starring James Spader and Holly Hunter), the 2006 film Minotaur, and the first two Saw films (recent prints of the second film however, plasters this with the horror version of the 5th logo). 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).

Editor's Note: This logo is nowhere as noteworthy as the previous two logos, due to its short lifespan and simplicity.

4th Logo (August 26-November 23, 2005)

Nickname: "LGF II"

Logo: We see the black letters "LGF" with "LIONS GATE FILMS" below (all separated by two lines). A blue spotlight passes on the background. Suddenly the words turn blue, and the background fades to black. The logo zooms in. Then the light streak draws the same byline as the previous logo.

FX/SFX: Various light effects.

Music/Sounds: First we hear a whoosh, then 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. Also seen on current prints of Love and a .45 (1994) and Pi (the 1998 Darren Aronofsky film).

Editor's Note: Same as the previous logo.

5th Logo (October 2005-April 26, 2013)

Provided ID could not be validated.

Nicknames: "The Lions Gate Sky II", "Lionsgate Hero II", "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 the "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.

FX/SFX: More stunning CGI, also designed by DevaStudios.

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.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On Contract to Kill (2016), a low pitched version of the theme is heard.
On current prints of the 1989 TV movie Get Smart, Again!, it has the finishing of the ending theme, then the theme from the 1985 King Features Entertainment logo is heard, most likely due to sloppy plastering.

Availability: Current.

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 absent from Nickelodeon airings of Shaun the Sheep Movie, but still mentions Lionsgate in the opening credits. This also appears at the beginning on some PolyGram films, such as King of the Mountain.
As with the previous logo, this is also used as a de-facto home video logo.

Editor's Note: Another wonderfully-animated logo, even if it rather pales in comparison to the last logo.

6th Logo (April 14, 2013- )