CBS ORDERS "CANDY CRUSH," A NEW ONE-HOUR, LIVE ACTION GAME SHOW SERIES BASED ON THE GLOBALLY RENOWNED MOBILE GAME FRANCHISE

CBS, Lionsgate Television and King Join Together on New Format Created by Matt Kunitz for Broadcast on the CBS Television Network and Distribution Internationally by Lionsgate

LOS ANGELES, and SANTA MONICA, Calif., and LONDON, Oct. 18, 2016 /CNW/ -- CBS has ordered CANDY CRUSH, a new one-hour, live action game show series based on the globally renowned mobile game franchise. CBS, Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) and King will join together on the new format created and executive produced by Matt Kunitz that will be distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and internationally by Lionsgate. 

In the game Candy Crush Saga, players match colorful candies in combinations of three or more to win points, defeat obstacles and progress through more than 2,000 levels. Candy Crush Saga and its sister title, Candy Crush Soda Saga, are two of the top 10 grossing mobile games in the U.S. On average, 18 billion game rounds are played every month around the world.*

In the series, the game that has become a worldwide phenomenon comes to life as teams of two people use their wits and physical agility to compete on enormous, interactive game boards featuring next generation technology to conquer CANDY CRUSH and be crowned the champions. A host will be announced at a later date.

"We are huge fans of Candy Crush and, like so many others, we know the 'rush' of advancing to the next level of the game," said Glenn Geller, President, CBS Entertainment.  "We're excited to work with Lionsgate and King to adapt one of the world's most popular and entertaining game franchises for television and make it available to its massive, passionate fan base who can watch and play along at home."

"The Candy Crush franchise is a world-renowned property, so when the head of our interactive and games division, Peter Levin, brought this IP to Lionsgate, we instantly knew it would make an incredibly visual, physical and fun TV program," said Kevin Beggs, Chairman, Lionsgate Television Group. "CBS is a leader in unscripted television, which makes it the ideal home for CANDY CRUSH, and we're very happy to have Matt shepherding the production as we partner with the team at King on this series with the tremendous second-screen potential."

"We have a very entrepreneurial culture at Lionsgate, so we look for awesome worldwide IP like Candy Crush and work together across divisions to bring it to fans on every platform possible. Everyone who has played it knows that Candy Crush is an exciting, visual switcher game with great characters, and Matt and our alternative television team are working closely with Sebastian Knutsson and his creative team at King to bring it to life on CBS," said Peter Levin, President, Interactive Ventures and Games for Lionsgate, and executive producer on the series. Levin worked with Striker Entertainment's Russell Binder, King's licensing agent in the U.S., to facilitate licensing Candy Crush IP for this television show.

"The Candy Crush franchise lends itself perfectly to the kind of larger-than-life, physical game shows that I love to produce and CBS is the perfect home for it," said executive producer Matt Kunitz ("Wipeout," "Fear Factor"). "As a Candy Crush Saga player myself, I am excited to amp up the action and visuals in our huge Candy Crush Arena."

"The Candy Crush franchise has been loved by players around the world on mobile so it's very exciting to be working with Matt and the team to bring the fun and challenge of the Candy Crush games to television. We hope our players will be entertained by what is set to be a high-energy, challenging game show," said Sebastian Knutsson, Chief Creative Officer, King, and executive producer of CANDY CRUSH.

CANDY CRUSH will be produced by Pulse Creative in association with Lionsgate Television, King Ltd. and CBS Television Studios. Matt Kunitz, Peter Levin, Russell Binder, Nicki Sheard, VP Brand at King, and Sebastian Knutsson will serve as executive producers.  Knutsson is King's Chief Creative Officer and is one of the founders of the company.  He created Candy Crush Saga.

*Candy Crush Saga average monthly game rounds as of Sept. 2016.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company that creates and distributes industry-leading content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. The Company has businesses with origins that date back to the dawn of the broadcasting age as well as new ventures that operate on the leading edge of media. CBS owns the most-watched television network in the U.S. and one of the world's largest libraries of entertainment content, making its brand — "the Eye" — one of the most recognized in business. The Company's operations span virtually every field of media and entertainment, including cable, publishing, radio, local TV, film, and interactive and socially responsible media. CBS's businesses include CBS Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS Interactive, CBS Films, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, Pop (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate), Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. For more information, go to www.cbscorporation.com.

About Lionsgate
Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment.  The Company has nearly 80 television shows on 40 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses. These include the ground-breaking hit series Orange is the New Black, the fan favorite series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show, the hit drama series The Royals, the Golden Globe-nominated dramedy Casual and the breakout success Greenleaf.

The Company's feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me and John Wick series, Nerve, CBS Films/Lionsgate's Hell or High Water, Sicario, Roadside Attractions' Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes, Codeblack Films' Addicted and breakout concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films' Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com

About King
King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world. It had 409 million monthly active users as of second quarter 2016 across web, social and mobile platforms, and has developed more than 200 exclusive games that are enjoyed all around the world through its king.com and royalgames.com websites, Facebook, and mobile distribution platforms such as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Microsoft Windows App Store and Amazon Appstore. King was acquired by Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) in February 2016. King has game studios in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Singapore, and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Bucharest.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves King's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements with respect to CANDY CRUSH are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause King's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to King and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither King nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of King or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/LA83194LOGO

SOURCE Lionsgate