Carolco Pictures

Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent motion picture production company that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco hit its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, with blockbuster successes including the first three films of the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Stargate. Nevertheless, the company was losing money overall, and required a corporate restructuring in 1992. The 1995 film Cutthroat Island, intended to be a comeback for the studio, instead lost $147 million and brought the company to an end.[1]

Carolco Pictures, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Entertainment
Fate	Bankruptcy, assets and name now owned by StudioCanal
Founded	1976
Founders	Mario Kassar Andrew G. Vajna
Defunct	1995
Headquarters	Boca Raton, Florida, United States
Key people	Mario Kassar (Chairman & CEO)
Products	Motion pictures
Divisions	Carolco Television Productions
Subsidiaries	Orbis Communications The IndieProd Company

History

Early years

The company was founded through the partnership of two film investors, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna. The two were hailed by Newsweek as some of the most successful independent producers.[2] By the age of 25, Vajna went from wig-maker to the owner of two Hong Kong theaters. Then, Vajna ventured into the production and distribution of feature films. One of Vajna's early productions was a 1973 martial-arts film entitled The Deadly China Doll which made $3.7 million worldwide from a $100,000 budget.

Their goal was to focus on film sales, with their first venture being The Sicilian Cross;[3] eventually it went into financing low-budget films. Their earliest films were produced by American International Pictures and ITC Entertainment with Carolco's financial support,[4] and co-produced with Canadian theater magnate Garth Drabinsky. The name "Carolco" was purchased from a defunct company based in Panama, and according to Kassar, "it has no meaning."[5]

Rise

Carolco's first major success was First Blood (1982), an adaptation of David Morrell's novel of the same name. Kassar and Vajna took a great risk buying the film rights to the novel (for $385,000) and used the help of European bank loans to cast Sylvester Stallone as the lead character, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo, after having worked with him on the John Huston film Escape to Victory (1981). The risk paid off after First Blood made $120 million worldwide, and placed Carolco among the major players in Hollywood.[6]

The sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), was timed for the 10th anniversary of the United States' exit from the Vietnam War; that event garnered publicity for the new film, which also became a hit.[6]

The release of the two Rambo films were so instrumental to Carolco's financial success that the studio focused more on big-budget action films, with major stars such as Stallone (who later signed a ten-picture deal with the studio) and Arnold Schwarzenegger attached. These films, aimed at appealing to a worldwide audience, were financed using a strategy known as "pre-sales," in which domestic and foreign distributors invested in these marketable films in exchange for local releasing rights.[7]

Also in 1985, Carolco began a distribution deal with then-fledgling studio TriStar Pictures with the film Rambo: First Blood Part II. TriStar released the majority of Carolco's films from that point on in the U.S. and some other countries until 1994.

Carolco entered home video distribution as well. Independent video distributor International Video Entertainment (IVE) was going through financial difficulties and was near bankruptcy. In 1986, Carolco purchased IVE in the hopes of "turning the company around." The deal was finalized a year later.[8] IVE merged with another distributor, Lieberman, and became LIVE Entertainment in 1988.[9]

On August 28, 1987, Carolco acquired television syndicator Orbis Communications for $15.4 million and initiated television production and distribution. They also purchased the former De Laurentiis Entertainment Group production facility in Wilmington, North Carolina,[10] and established Carolco Home Video, with LIVE Entertainment as output partner.

Vajna sold his share of Carolco in December 1989 for $106 million to Kassar[11] due to increasing disagreement with Kassar over the direction of the company. That November, Vajna formed Cinergi Pictures, with The Walt Disney Company as a distribution partner. Kassar's ownership of the company increased to 62%.[11]

1990–1994

In 1990, Carolco acquired from Hemdale Film Corporation the rights to make a sequel to The Terminator (the company already had the television rights to the original film courtesy of a television distribution deal with Hemdale). The company re-hired Terminator director James Cameron (who had worked as a screenwriter on Rambo II) and Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in a multi-million-dollar budgeted sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). It was the highest-grossing film of the year and the most successful film in Carolco's history.[12] Halfway through the year, Carolco entered into a joint venture with New Line Cinema to start Seven Arts, a distribution company which primarily released much of Carolco's low-budget output.[13]

Carolco struggled for some years to secure the rights to Spider-Man, a property that Cameron was keen to produce as a film. Plans fell through, though Columbia Pictures would eventually produce several Spider-Man films. Toward the end of shooting True Lies, Variety carried the announcement that Carolco had received a completed screenplay from Cameron.[14] This script bore the names of Cameron, John Brancato, Ted Newsom, Barry [sic] Cohen and "Joseph Goldmari," a typographical scrambling of Menahem Golan's pen name, "Joseph Goldman," with Marvel executive Joseph Calimari.[15] (Golan had previously, and unsuccessfully, tried to produce a Spider-Man film for his own studio, Cannon Films.) The script's text was identical to what Golan had submitted to Columbia the previous year, with the addition of a new 1993 date. Cameron stalwart Arnold Schwarzenegger was frequently linked to the project as the director's choice for Doctor Octopus.[16][17] As late as 1995, Internet industry sources such as Baseline Hollywood still listed both Neil Ruttenberg (author of one of the 1990 "Doc Ock" variations submitted to Columbia) and Cameron as co-writers.[18]

Carolco also attempted to make Bartholomew vs. Neff, a comedy film that was to have been written and directed by John Hughes and would have starred Sylvester Stallone and John Candy.[19]

Decline and collapse

Though Carolco made several successful films through the 1990s, including Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Basic Instinct, the studio was gradually losing money as the years went on. Carolco mixed blockbusters with small-budget arthouse films which were not profitable. In addition, the studio was criticized for overspending on films through reliance on star power and far-fetched deals (Schwarzenegger received then-unheard-of $10–14 million for his work on Total Recall and Terminator 2; Stallone also had similar treatment). Losses of partnerships also threatened the studio's stability and drove it towards bankruptcy.[20]

In 1992, Carolco went under a corporate restructuring, invested in by a partnership of Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera of Italy, Le Studio Canal+ of France, Pioneer Electric Corporation of Japan, and MGM. Each partner helped infuse up to $60 million into the studio's stock and another $50 million for co-financing deals. MGM also agreed to distribute Carolco product domestically after a previous deal with TriStar expired.[21] In 1993, Carolco was forced to sell its shares in LIVE Entertainment to a group of investors led by Pioneer;[22] it was later renamed Artisan Entertainment, which was bought by Lions Gate Entertainment.

Cutbacks at Carolco also forced the studio to make a deal with TriStar over the funding of the Stallone action film Cliffhanger: Carolco would have to sell full distribution rights in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and France to TriStar in exchange for half of the film's budget.[23] Although a major box-office success, Carolco saw little revenue from Cliffhanger since it ended up becoming a minority owner in the film.[24] Carolco's attempt to make more of its specialties proved to be more strenuous: the studio had to shelve Crusade, an upcoming Schwarzenegger vehicle based on a script by Walon Green and with Paul Verhoeven attached as director, in 1994 when the budget exceeded $100 million.[23] However, Carolco was able to complete a merger with The Vista Organization in late October 1993.[25]

Carolco attempted a comeback with the big-budget swashbuckler Cutthroat Island, with Michael Douglas in the lead. Douglas dropped out early in its production, and was replaced by the less-bankable Matthew Modine. Geena Davis, cast as the female lead through her ties with then-husband, the director Renny Harlin, was already an established A-lister but was coming off a string of flops. MGM hoped to advertise Cutthroat Island based on spectacle rather than cast. In an attempt to raise more financing for the projected $90–100 million film, Carolco sold off the rights to several films in production, including Last of the Dogmen, Stargate and Showgirls.[26][27][28][29][30] In November 1995, Carolco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cutthroat Island was released that Christmas and became a box-office disaster.[31] Carolco agreed to sell its assets to 20th Century Fox for $50 million.[32] But when Canal+ made a $58 million bid for the library in January 1996, Fox, which by then lowered their purchase price to $47.5 million, dropped their deal.[33]

A new partnership was formed between Carolco's owner (Mario Kassar) and Cinergi's owner (Andrew G. Vajna) in 1998. The duo formed C2 Pictures and produced Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Basic Instinct 2, among other films.

2015–2017: Resurrection of Carolco brand

Film producer Alex Bafer purchased the Carolco name and logo years later. On January 20, 2015, Bafer renamed his production company Carolco Pictures, formerly known as Brick Top Productions. Bafer then recruited Mario Kassar as the chief development executive of the new Carolco.[34][35] However, on April 7, 2016, it was announced that both Bafer and Kassar had left the company, Kassar taking with him one of Carolco's planned projects, a remake of the 1999 Japanese horror film Audition which he was producing. Investor Tarek Kirschen was then inducted as Carolco's CEO.[36] In 2017, StudioCanal and Carolco reached an agreement whereby StudioCanal would have sole control of the Carolco name and logo and the Carolco Pictures company would be renamed Recall Studios. That agreement settled a legal dispute over the Carolco mark brought by StudioCanal.[37][38] The arrangement took effect on November 29 of that year.

Carolco's library

After its bankruptcy, the assets of Carolco were sold off to other companies, most already sold during Carolco's existence. In March 1996, Canal+ purchased the library in bankruptcy court for a value of approximately $58 million.[39] The ancillary rights to Carolco's library (up to 1995) were held by French production company StudioCanal, since its parent company, Canal+ Group, owned a stake in Carolco, eventually buying out its partners.

On September 17, 1991, Multimedia Entertainment acquired selected assets of Carolco's television distribution unit Orbis Communications.[40]

In 1992, Carolco Pictures licensed television distribution rights to its library to Spelling Entertainment in order to pay off debt.[41] In North America, with certain exceptions, those rights were held by Paramount Television through Trifecta Entertainment & Media as the successor to Spelling Entertainment. All other rights in terms of home video were licensed to Lionsgate under an ongoing deal with StudioCanal. Lionsgate, in turn, licensed those rights in Canada to Entertainment One, although theatrical rights to most of the library were split between Sony Pictures and Rialto Pictures, the latter company acting on behalf of StudioCanal.

StudioCanal itself held full distribution rights in France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In other territories, StudioCanal licensed home video rights to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Filmography

1970s

Release Date	Title	Notes
March 30, 1976	The Sicilian Cross	financing; produced by Aetos Produzioni; distributed by Agora Cinematografica in Italy and American International Pictures in North America
July 9, 1976	A Small Town in Texas	financing; produced and distributed by American International Pictures
July 28, 1976	Futureworld	financing; produced and distributed by American International Pictures
October 8, 1976	The Cassandra Crossing	financing; produced by ITC Entertainment; distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
March 23, 1977	The Domino Principle	financing; produced by ITC Entertainment; distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
March 31, 1977	The Eagle Has Landed	financing; produced by ITC Entertainment; distributed by Columbia Pictures
August 5, 1977	March or Die	financing; produced by ITC Entertainment; distributed by Columbia Pictures
March 30, 1979	The Silent Partner	distributed by EMC
May 11, 1979	Winter Kills	financing; distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
May 30, 1979	The Fantastic Seven	financing; produced by Martin Poll
September 1979	The Sensuous Nurse	financing

1980s

Release Date	Title	Notes
March 28, 1980	The Changeling	distributed by Associated Film Distribution
August 15, 1980	The Kidnapping of the President	financing; distributed by Crown International Pictures
September 5, 1980	The Agency	financing; distributed by Jensen Farley Pictures
September 9, 1980	Suzanne	financing; distributed by 20th Century Fox
September 15, 1980	Shōgun	financing; distributed by Paramount Pictures
December 14, 1980	Tribute	financing; distributed by 20th Century Fox
February 1, 1981	Caboblanco	financing; distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
March 23, 1981	The High Country	financing; distributed by Crown International Pictures
April 1981	The Last Chase	financing; distributed by Crown International Pictures
July 30, 1981	Escape to Victory	with Lorimar; distributed by Paramount Pictures
September 25, 1981	Carbon Copy	financing; produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and RKO Pictures, distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
December 18, 1981	Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid	financing
February 12, 1982	The Amateur	produced in association with Tiberius Film Productions; distributed by 20th Century Fox
October 22, 1982	First Blood	distributed by Orion Pictures
January 1985	Superstition	with Panaria, distributed by Almi Pictures
May 22, 1985	Rambo: First Blood Part II	first film under distribution pact with TriStar Pictures
March 6, 1987	Angel Heart	distributed by TriStar Pictures
April 24, 1987	Extreme Prejudice	distributed by TriStar Pictures
October 23, 1987	Prince of Darkness	with Alive films, Larry Franco Productions and Haunted Machine Productions; distributed by Universal Pictures
March 18, 1988	Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw	with The Maltese Companies; distributed by TriStar Pictures
May 25, 1988	Rambo III[42]	distributed by TriStar Pictures
June 17, 1988	Red Heat	distributed by TriStar Pictures
November 4, 1988	They Live	with Alive films and Larry Franco Productions; distributed by Universal Pictures
November 11, 1988	Iron Eagle II	distributed by TriStar Pictures
December 2, 1988	Watchers	produced in association with Concorde Pictures; distributed by Universal Pictures
January 13, 1989	DeepStar Six	distributed by TriStar Pictures
April 7, 1989	Pathfinder	subtitled version of a film made in Norway
April 21, 1989	Field of Dreams	distributed by Universal Pictures[43]
May 19, 1989	Food of the Gods II	distributed by Concorde Pictures
August 4, 1989	Lock Up	distributed by TriStar Pictures
September 29, 1989	Johnny Handsome	distributed by TriStar Pictures
October 27, 1989	Shocker	with Universal Pictures
December 15, 1989	The Wizard	with Universal Pictures
December 22, 1989	Music Box	distributed by TriStar Pictures

1990s

Release Date	Title	Notes
February 23, 1990	Mountains of the Moon	distributed by TriStar Pictures
March 30, 1990	Opportunity Knocks	with Imagine Films Entertainment; distributed by Universal Pictures
June 1, 1990	Total Recall	distributed by TriStar Pictures
August 10, 1990	Air America	distributed by TriStar Pictures
September 21, 1990	Narrow Margin	distributed by TriStar Pictures
November 2, 1990	Jacob's Ladder	distributed by TriStar Pictures
December 19, 1990	Hamlet	Foreign distribution with Warner Bros., Icon Productions, and Nelson Entertainment
February 8, 1991	L.A. Story	distributed by TriStar Pictures
March 1, 1991	The Doors	with Bill Graham Films and Imagine Entertainment
March 29, 1991	Career Opportunities	with Hughes Entertainment; distributed by Universal Pictures
April 25, 1991	The Punisher	home media and television distribution[44] in North America only, distributed by New World Pictures internationally
July 3, 1991	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	with Lightstorm Entertainment and Le Studio Canal+; distributed by TriStar Pictures
March 20, 1992	Basic Instinct	with Le Studio Canal+; distributed by TriStar Pictures
June 26, 1992	Incident at Oglala	Miramax Films
July 10, 1992	Universal Soldier[45]	with Centropolis Entertainment; distributed by TriStar Pictures
August 21, 1992	Light Sleeper	New Line division Fine Line Features
December 25, 1992	Chaplin	distributed by TriStar Pictures
May 28, 1993	Cliffhanger	with Le Studio Canal+; distributed by TriStar Pictures
August 26, 1994	Wagons East	last Carolco film to be distributed by TriStar Pictures.
October 28, 1994	Stargate	with Le Studio Canal+, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
September 8, 1995	Last of the Dogmen	with Savoy Pictures
September 22, 1995	Showgirls	with United Artists and Chargeurs[46]
December 22, 1995	Cutthroat Island	distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Seven Arts Pictures

Release Date	Title	Notes
September 14, 1990	Repossessed	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts
September 28, 1990	King of New York	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts
February 1, 1991	Queens Logic	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts; with New Visions Pictures
May 10, 1991	Sweet Talker	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts; with New Visions Pictures
May 17, 1991	Dice Rules	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts
August 23, 1991	Defenseless	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts; with New Visions Pictures
September 20, 1991	Rambling Rose	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts
October 25, 1991	Get Back	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts; with Majestic Films and Allied Filmmakers
November 1991	The Dark Wind	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts; with Le Studio Canal+
June 21, 1992	Aces: Iron Eagle III	distributed by New Line/Seven Arts

References

Citations

1. Lambie, Ryan (March 11, 2014). "The rise and fall of Carolco". Den of Geek. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
2. Prince, p. 143.
3. "The Rise and Fall of Carolco | Den of Geek". Retrieved June 25, 2018.
4. "Variety Magazine (search term: "Carolco")". Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
5. Lambie, Ryan (March 10, 2014). The Rise and Fall of Carolco. Den of Geek!
6. Prince, p. 144.
7. Prince, pp. 144-145.
8. "History of Artisan Entertainment Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
9. Prince, pp. 145-146.
10. Hammer, Joshua (March 8, 1992). "Total Free Fall". Newsweek. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
11. Daniels, Bill (November 29, 1989). "Vajna to receive $106-mil from sale of his Carolco Pictures stake". Variety. p. 3.
12. Stevenson, Richard W. (June 26, 1991). "Carolco Flexes Its Muscle Overseas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
13. Carolco, New Line in Distribution Agreement
14. Moerk, Christian (September 1, 1993). "Cameron Delivers Spider-Man Script". Variety. p. 3. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
15. Barry Cohen; Ted Newson; James Cameron; Joseph Goldmari; James Cameron; John Brancato. "Spider-Man". Carolco. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
16. "Spider-Man". Sci-Fi Trivia Reel. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
17. David Wong. "10 Most Awesome Movies Hollywood Ever Killed". Cracked.com. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
18. "Spider-Man the Movie". Baseline/The New York Times. Archived from the original (Dead link) on August 12, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
19. "SHORT TAKES : Stallone in Line for Comedy Role". Los Angeles Times. July 30, 1990. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
20. Prince, pp. 147-148.
21. Bates, James (December 25, 1992). "Back in the Limelight : Carolco Pictures to Receive a $120-Million Bailout From Investors". Los Angeles Times.
22. History of Artisan Entertainment Inc., referenceforbusiness.com
23. Prince, pp. 148.
24. Bates, James (August 30, 1994). "COMPANY TOWN : SEC Filings Show Carolco Has Little to Sing About : Movies: The company expects to lose money this year and next, despite a major financial reorganization negotiated last year". Los Angeles Times.
25. Variety Staff (November 1, 1993). "Financial Briefs".
26. Prince, pp. 148-149.
27. "'RECALL' IN NEW DIMENSION". Variety. January 14, 1997. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
28. "Company Town : Carolco May Be Close to Restructuring". LA Times. February 14, 1995. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
29. "Kassar signs deal with Paramount". United Press International. January 3, 1996. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
30. "Carlco Pictures Contract". November 15, 1994. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
31. Sterngold, James (March 31, 1996). "Debacle on the High Seas". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
32. Business, Bloomberg (November 11, 1995). "COMPANY NEWS;CAROLCO PICTURES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION". New York Times.
33. Bates, James. "New Carolco Library Bid Sends Fox Running." Los Angeles Times (January 17, 1996)
34. Accesswire (January 21, 2015). "Carolco Pictures Label Returns for First Time in 20 Years." Yahoo! Finance.
35. Lambie, Ryan (January 26, 2015). "Exclusive: CEO Alex Bafer Tells Us About The Return of Carolco". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
36. Lambie, Ryan (April 4, 2016). "Carolco: studio co-founder Mario Kassar leaves company". Den of Geek. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
37. "Carolco Pictures Inc. Form 10-Q, August 21, 2017".
38. "Carolco Pictures, Inc. Form PRE 14C, September 28, 2017".
39. "Other News". Los Angeles Times. March 6, 1996.
40. "AP News Archive" Multimedia Buys Television Programming Assets apnewsarchive.com, Retrieved on October 19, 2013
41. Lippman, John (February 13, 1992). "Carolco Pictures Sells Some Film Rights to Raise Cash : Movies: Spelling Entertainment will air the productions on TV. The deal is for $64 million". Los Angeles Times.
42. Delugach, Al (May 31, 1987). "Carolco Seeks Life Beyond 'Rambo' Films". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
43. "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Carolco Deal On Europe TV". The New York Times. April 27, 1990. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
44. "Broadcasting Magazine, 17 June 1991: Syndication Marketplace" (PDF). June 17, 1991. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
45. Willman, David; Citron, Alan (July 10, 1992). "Carolco Pictures Pins Hopes for Rescue on Its 'Universal Soldier'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
46. Bates, James (October 4, 1994). "Carolco Aims to Sell 'Showgirls' in Bid for Cash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2010.

Further reading

• Prince, Stephen (2000) A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989. University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, California. ISBN 0-520-23266-6

External links

• Carolco Pictures at IMDb