Can’t go to the movies? Lionsgate is bringing the movies to you! Lionsgate, in conjunction with Fangando, YouTube and NATO, are launching Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies. For four consecutive Friday nights, Lionsgate will be live-streaming classic movies on YouTube, allowing people to tune in for free to watch some of their favourite flicks. Each week will feature special programming and interactive events for audiences, such as real-time fan chats via YouTube Live, live tweeting with @Lionsgate and their partners, and shared fan engagement including movie trivia, movie-themed challenges and more. The event will be hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis, who will be joined by other special guest celebrities and ‘YouTube personalities’.
This event is intended to raise donations for the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, which is dedicated to helping film industry workers. The Foundation is currently providing financial assistance to theatre employees who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the wide-spread cancellation of many projects.
The line-up is as follows:
April 17 – The Hunger Games
April 24 – Dirty Dancing
May 1 – La La Land
May 8 – John Wick (age registration required)
While these classic titles will be live at 6pm PT and 9pm ET for U.S. audiences, Australian audiences will have to be up bright and early to tune in on the following Saturday morning if they want to join in the free event.
The president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners said: “Throughout the 125-year history of the cinema, this is the first time that movie theaters have been shut down across the country. Whether it was the Depression, wars, disasters, or local calamities, movie theaters have always been a gathering place where audiences can come together to laugh and be moved, reacting as one, to put their troubles behind them or forget about their hard week at work, and just get lost in the amazing stories on the big screen. Until we can gather again in our nation’s theaters, we’re grateful to Lionsgate for honoring the theatrical moviegoing experience and we are thrilled to join together with them over these next four Fridays, not only to see four classic movies for free, but also to allow fans and celebrities to share their own moviegoing memories. We love that so many people will be talking about what makes going to the movies so unique and memorable.”
Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Joe Drake, also added: “There’s nothing that will replace the magic of seeing a movie together with your fellow moviegoers in a theater on a big screen, but this is a chance for America to come together to recreate the experience. This is a great chance to show the country’s theatrical employees how much we miss going to their theaters and how much we support them. Jamie Lee Curtis – a woman who literally grew up with the movies and movie theaters – is one of the world’s biggest movie fans, so it’s a real thrill that she’ll be our host for this event. Let’s have some fun watching some classic movies together at home while celebrating moviegoing!”
