Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. plans to cut about 15 per cent of the staff in its motion-picture group as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on Hollywood.

The virus, which closed movie sets across the world in March and ravaged the theater business, spurred the independent studio to “accelerate changes to our own operations and strategic plan,” according to an internal memo from division chairman Joe Drake that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Those changes include a reorganization that consolidates jobs.

“This means that individuals across the motion-picture group will be impacted as groups are being combined, and new roles have been defined or eliminated as part of this process,” Drake wrote. The layoffs were reported earlier in trade publications.

Lions Gate is scheduled to report quarterly results later Thursday, with analysts predicting revenue will drop from last year because of the pandemic. The Santa Monica, California-based studio, which has scored hits such as the “Hunger Games” and “John Wick,” normally relies on a big box-office showing to generate cash. However, theaters across the U.S. closed in March, and remain shut in the major moviegoing markets of New York City and Los Angeles.

The company has experimented with new models to ease some of the COVID-related pain. It released the horror film, “Antebellum,” for US$20 online in September, scrapping a plan to debut it in cinemas. The studio may reveal more details on how the film fared in a call with analysts following the release of quarterly results.

Struggles in the motion-picture group should be somewhat offset by Lions Gate’s subscription cable service Starz. Subscriptions have jumped during the pandemic, and the company said earlier this year it expects customer count to climb until at least early in 2021. Media networks are the company’s largest business, followed by films and TV production.

Shares of Lion Gate gained as much as 3.5 per cent to US$7.11 in New York, the most since mid-September. They were down 36 per cent through Wednesday’s close.

The company had 1,443 full-time employees at the end of 2019, according to filings. The motion-picture group employs about 450.