Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Shift: Joe Drake Stepping Down As Chair, Hands Reins To Adam Fogelson

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake is exiting the company, and handing over executive duties and title to Motion Picture Group Vice Chair Adam Fogelson . This was a move initiated by Drake who’ll be working with Fogelson over the coming months to transition him to the Chair role. The corporate segue follows Lionsgate’s reboot of the Hunger Games franchise with the Q4 holiday prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which has grossed over $340M global box office to date.

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Other highlights during his current run of the Motion Picture Group include multi award winning Knives Out ($312M global B.O.), the last two John Wick movies ($766M+ global B.O.), and the latest installment in the Saw franchise ($111M global box). Last year, Lionsgate achieved its first billion dollar plus year at the worldwide box office ($1.08 billion) since 2019.

Drake and his team have also had success in expanding the Lionsgate Motion Picture slate across multiple platforms, including tripling the size of its ancillary business with titles like Shotgun Wedding , Silent Night , Sisu and the upcoming Simple Favor 2 . Let’s also not forget their footprint in the theatrical faith space with hits like Jesus Revolution .

“Joe has been a great partner and a respected team leader, a truly entrepreneurial executive with one of the best business minds in the industry,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer in a statement. “We are very fortunate to have Adam Fogelson, one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and innovative film executives, to succeed him.

Adam has the leadership experience at both the major studio and independent level as well as the strategic vision to keep our Motion Picture Group strong and vibrant in a fast changing environment.” “Despite unprecedented disruption over the last few years, we built a team that thrived throughout and achieved everything I could have imagined at Lionsgate,” added Drake.

“I am very proud we were able to reinvigorate our Hunger Games and Saw franchises, grow the John Wick Universe, and successfully expand every aspect of our motion picture business. When Jon and I engaged in succession planning, our goal was to build on the momentum and success we’d experienced over the last few years.

Having worked side by side with Adam for the past 18 months, he is the perfect choice to lead the motion picture group forward to even greater heights.” “I deeply appreciate the trust and confidence that Jon, Michael, Joe and the rest of the management team have placed in me and I look forward to embarking on this next chapter together,” said Fogelson.

“Lionsgate unifies the two primary threads of my career: the scale and talent relationships of a major studio with the renegade, resourceful spirit of a start up. I am dedicated to building and extending our extensive library of films and top tier franchises which, as the last year has proved, still have lots of room to grow.

I’m particularly grateful for the chance to continue working alongside this passionate and innovative team in a culture that is creatively audacious, entrepreneurial and supportive.” Lionsgate is the third studio Fogelson will lead after serving as Chairman of both Universal Pictures and the STX Motion Picture Group.

At STX, he oversaw such hits as Hustlers , the Bad Moms franchise, The Upside , Greenland , The Gift , Molly’s Game and The Gentlemen , among many others. Prior, Fogelson served as Chairman of Universal Pictures for four years, leading that studio to its highest grossing performances at the worldwide box office at that time with hits including Despicable Me 1 and 2 , Ted , Bridesmaids , Pitch Perfect , Contraband , Safe House , Dr.

Seuss’ The Lorax , Snow White and the Huntsman , Identity Thief , Mama , The Purge , and Les Misérables. At Uni, he oversaw global operations for the motion picture group, including its theatrical, home entertainment, partnerships & licensing, finance, human resources and communications divisions.

Fogelson joined Universal in 1998, beginning as VP Creative Advertising and rising to President of Marketing and Distribution in 2007. During his time in Universal’s marketing operations, Fogelson worked on all the films in the Meet the Parents, Bourne, American Pie and The Fast and the Furious franchises, along with other box office successes including Mamma Mia!, American Gangster, Knocked Up, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, The 40 Year Old Virgin, 8 Mile, The Break Up, Erin Brockovich, Notting Hill, Bring It On and Ray .

Fogelson also led the relaunch of the Jurassic universe with Jurassic World and greenlit other major hits including Lone Survivor , Ride Along , Non Stop , Neighbors , The Purge 2 , Fifty Shades of Grey , and Lucy . He also managed the marketing campaign for Universal’s Tony Award winning smash hit musical Wicked ..