Lionsgate Buying Summit Entertainment, Putting All Our Hugely-Popular Young Adult Eggs in One Basket

Joyously marrying like a casual vampire and his human bride, two major independent studios are coming together in a single blessed union, with Lionsgate today announcing the buyout of a young and frightened but excited Summit Entertainment. In a deal for $412.5 million in cash and stock, as well as the assumption of Summit's over $500 million in debt--which you'd really think they could have paid off a bit of with some of that crazy Twilight money, yeah?--Lionsgate takes control of the smaller studio and will at last be able to tack their name onto that movie about Sam Worthington being on a ledge.

More relevantly, at least from the gross perspective of controlling the hearts and minds of 14-year-old girls, the merger brings The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games under the same roof--the veteran, departing giant and the hotly-anticipated newcomer, at last on the same team. That combination worked out great for the Lakers for a few seasons, but it remains to be seen how Lionsgate will capitalize on their newly powerful grip of the young adult adaptation world. If nothing else, dudes are gonna make a killing in branded back-to-school supplies.