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Icahn's latest offer -- for the 81 percent of Lions Gate he does not own -- values Lions Gate's equity at $825 million.

Analysts put the entire value of Lions Gate, including debt and equity, at about $1.3 billion.

Lions Gate in response to Icahn's latest bid on Thursday said it will review the offer and make its recommendation to shareholders promptly.

Separately, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that he now holds a 5.4 percent stake in Lions Gate.

It was unclear what Cuban's motivation in taking a stake in Lions Gate was, but Icahn back in 2008 enlisted the tech mogul, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and chairman of HDNet, to a proxy slate to run against Yahoo Inc's then current board to pave the way for a Microsoft-Yahoo merger.

The long-running battle with Yahoo ended in July 2008 when Icahn was given a seat on the board, but he never succeeded in getting the company sold to Microsoft.

Icahn was unavailable and Cuban declined comment.

Icahn has held Lions Gate shares since 2006 and has been frustrated with management and the stock's lackluster performance, which has fallen from a high of $12 in 2007. He said he intends to replace Lions Gate's board with his own slate of nominees. The offering period will expire on May 14.

Lions Gate shares rose more than 8 percent to $6.90 in after-hours trade after closing at $6.37 during the regular session on the New York Stock Exchange.

Analysts and investors said Icahn's new offer is likely to be taken more seriously than the earlier $6 bid, which was considered low by many. Still, some feel the latest bid is still not high enough for the diversified studio, home to films like "Precious," the "Saw" film franchise and TV series "Mad Men."

Analysts said Lions Gate could command a price more in the $8.50 to $9.00 a share range, with one suggesting the price for the studio could be worth $8 to $12 per share.

"This is definitely getting more interesting," said Piper Jaffray analyst James Marsh. "I'd imagine that Lions Gate thinks this bid is too low, but it's clear that Icahn needed to take this step," he said.

Investor Richard Dorfman said the new bid showed Icahn was not walking away. "I think this is further proof that Icahn is serious in his quest to have Lions Gate acquired either by himself or by another entity," said Dorfman, managing director for Richard Alan Inc, a media investment firm with a stake in Lions Gate.

Regarding Cuban, Dorfman said he believed the billionaire might be looking to profit from a sale of the studio.

"Cuban appears to be positioning himself to make a quick and nice profit on what looks to be an ever more likely acquisition of Lions Gate," he said.

Icahn took Lions Gate's management to task for seeking to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Walt Disney Co's Miramax in recent months. Lions Gate withdrew from the bidding for MGM and balked early on at the $650 million to $750 million price being sought by Disney for Miramax, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

In a letter to Lions Gate shareholders on Thursday, Icahn said he raised his offer price not because he believed $6 was inadequate but because he felt it was necessary to make every effort to protect his current investment in Lions Gate.

"We do not feel comfortable that existing management is the right team to guide Lions Gate through this difficult period," he said in the letter.

Lions Gate has also recently invested in the TV Guide Network and start-up online movie channel Epix.

Analysts like Marsh believe these investments will start to pay off and that Lions Gate's upcoming film "Kick-Ass," is poised to open strongly, which should help its hand.

"The timing is good to get people interested in Lions Gate, but it's also good to get Lions Gate to play hard to get," said Marsh.

(Editing by Bernard Orr)