Lionsgate and Fifth Journey get tight with movie-based mobile games

Hollywood and games haven’t always gotten along. Consider the fact that Disney just pulled the plug on its toy-game Infinity series. Getting a movie-based game right isn’t easy, and that’s why movie studio Lionsgate is trying to partner closely with a new mobile game startup called Fifth Journey.

Hong Kong-based Fifth Journey has won backing from film studios Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, and MGM Studios to create movie-based mobile games for Asian markets such as China. Eric Tan, a former Gameloft executive, cofounded Fifth Journey with Craig Derrick, a LucasArts veteran and the company’s chief creative officer. We talked with both Lionsgate and Fifth Journey about this partnership and how the two companies hope to make the movie-game marriage work. So far, Fifth Journey is working on a mobile game based on The Expendables, an action franchise starring Sylvester Stallone that has grossed more than $800 million in worldwide box office, and another game based on comedian Kevin Hart.