Hollywood Pictures

Not to be confused with the overall film industry known as "Hollywood", Cinema of the United States.
Hollywood Pictures Company
Hollywood Pictures
Company typeLabel
IndustryFilm
FoundedFebruary 1, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-02-01)
FounderMichael Eisner
Jeffrey Katzenberg
DefunctApril 27, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-04-27)
FateDefunct
Headquarters500 South Buena Vista Street,
Burbank, California
,
U.S.
ProductsMotion pictures
ParentWalt Disney Studios
DivisionsHollywood Pictures Home Entertainment

Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was founded to increase the film output of the Walt Disney Studios, and release films similar to those of Touchstone Pictures. These films, featuring more mature themes, were targeted at adult audiences unlike the family-oriented productions of the studio's flagship Walt Disney Pictures division. After years of hiatus, the label was closed in 2007. The studio's most commercially successful film was M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, which grossed over $670 million worldwide upon its release in 1999.[1]

History

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Hollywood Pictures Corporation was incorporated on March 30, 1984,[2] and was activated on February 1, 1989. Ricardo Mestres was appointed the division's first president, moving from Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The division was formed to create opportunities for up-and-coming executives and to double Disney's feature-film output in order to fill the gap left by the contraction in the industry, which included the closure of MGM/UA's United Artists and financial problems at Lorimar-Telepictures and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. With Touchstone aligned with Hollywood Pictures, the two Disney production divisions would share the same marketing and distribution staffs.[3] Hollywood Pictures was expected to be producing 12 films a year by 1991 and to share funding from the Silver Screen Partners IV.[4] The company's first release was Arachnophobia on July 18, 1990.[1]

On October 23, 1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners to supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source.[5]

After the collapse of their then-recently renewed deal at Paramount Pictures, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer moved their production company to Hollywood Pictures on January 18, 1991.[6]

The division issued primarily inexpensive comedies for the first six years with a few box office flops, amongst them Holy Matrimony, Aspen Extreme, Super Mario Bros.,[7] Swing Kids, Blame It on the Bellboy, Born Yesterday and Guilty as Sin. The division only had one box office success, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and one critical success, The Joy Luck Club, which did not outweigh the general anemic box office record of the division. On April 26, 1994, Mestres was forced to resign after the lackluster performance of the division. Mestres moved to long term production deal with the studio.[8]

On June 27, 1994, Michael Lynton was appointed as new division president after moving from the Disney Publishing Group, where he was senior vice president and oversaw domestic publishing units including Hyperion Books.[9] Mestres left Lynton a few potential hits: Robert Redford's Quiz Show, the Sarah Jessica Parker-Antonio Banderas comedy Miami Rhapsody, and Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer.[7] In 1997, Lynton left for a position at Penguin Group.[10] By 2001, Hollywood Pictures had produced 80 films, but its operation had been phased out and its management was merged with that of the flagship Walt Disney Pictures studio.[1]

After being dormant for five years, the brand was reactivated for low-budget genre films.[1] Films released by the repurposed Hollywood Pictures were two horror films: Stay Alive (released on March 24, 2006), [1]and Primeval (released on January 12, 2007), and one thriller, The Invisible (released on April 27, 2007). After the latter release, Disney stopped producing and distributing under the label as it announced a focus on the company's core brands of Disney, Touchstone, ABC, ESPN, and Pixar.[11]

Filmography

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1990s

[edit]
US Release date Title Notes
July 18, 1990 Arachnophobia co-production with Amblin Entertainment
August 17, 1990 Taking Care of Business co-production with Silver Screen Partners IV
February 1, 1991 Run
April 5, 1991 The Marrying Man
May 3, 1991 One Good Cop
July 26, 1991 V.I. Warshawski
January 10, 1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle co-production with Interscope Communications and Nomura Babcock & Brown
February 7, 1992 Medicine Man co-production with Cinergi Pictures; US and German distribution
March 6, 1992 Blame It on the Bellboy co-production with Silver Screen Partners IV
April 3, 1992 Straight Talk co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I
April 24, 1992 Passed Away
May 22, 1992 Encino Man
July 17, 1992 A Stranger Among Us co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I, Propaganda Films and Sandollar Productions
September 18, 1992 Sarafina! co-production with Miramax Films, Distant Horizon, Vanguard Films and BBC; distribution only
October 16, 1992 Consenting Adults co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I
December 4, 1992 The Distinguished Gentleman
January 22, 1993 Aspen Extreme
March 5, 1993 Swing Kids
March 26, 1993 Born Yesterday
April 16, 1993 Blood In Blood Out
May 28, 1993 Super Mario Bros. produced by Lightmotive and Allied Filmmakers; North American distribution with Cinergi Pictures only
June 4, 1993 Guilty as Sin
July 2, 1993 Son in Law
August 27, 1993 Father Hood
September 8, 1993 The Joy Luck Club Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2020
September 10, 1993 Money for Nothing
December 25, 1993 Tombstone co-production with Cinergi Pictures; US distribution only
January 7, 1994 The Air Up There co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Nomura Babcock & Brown
March 4, 1994 Angie co-production with Caravan Pictures
April 8, 1994 Holy Matrimony co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
August 12, 1994 In the Army Now
August 19, 1994 Color of Night co-production with Cinergi Pictures
August 26, 1994 Camp Nowhere
September 14, 1994 Quiz Show
September 23, 1994 Terminal Velocity co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Nomura Babcock & Brown
October 21, 1994 The Puppet Masters
November 11, 1994 The Santa Clause co-production with Walt Disney Pictures and Outlaw Productions
November 23, 1994 A Low Down Dirty Shame co-production with Caravan Pictures
January 6, 1995 Houseguest
January 27, 1995 Miami Rhapsody co-production with Cantaloupe Production
March 3, 1995 Roommates co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Nomura Babcock & Brown
March 31, 1995 Funny Bones
April 21, 1995 While You Were Sleeping co-production with Caravan Pictures
April 28, 1995 A Pyromaniac's Love Story
May 12, 1995 Crimson Tide co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
June 30, 1995 Judge Dredd co-production with Cinergi Pictures; North and Latin American distribution only
August 11, 1995 Dangerous Minds co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Via Rosa Productions
September 8, 1995 The Tie That Binds co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
September 8, 1995 Unstrung Heroes
October 4, 1995 Dead Presidents co-production with Caravan Pictures
October 13, 1995 The Scarlet Letter co-production with Cinergi Pictures
October 27, 1995 Powder co-production with Caravan Pictures
December 22, 1995 Nixon co-production with Cinergi Pictures; distribution in North and Latin America, German-speaking territories and Japan only
December 29, 1995 Mr. Holland's Opus co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment; US distribution only
February 2, 1996 White Squall co-production with Largo Entertainment and Scott Free Productions; US distribution only
February 23, 1996 Before and After co-production with Caravan Pictures
April 19, 1996 Celtic Pride
May 24, 1996 Spy Hard
May 31, 1996 Eddie co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Island Pictures
June 7, 1996 The Rock co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
August 9, 1996 Jack co-production with American Zoetrope
September 13, 1996 The Rich Man's Wife co-production with Caravan Pictures
October 25, 1996 The Associate co-production with Interscope Communications and Polygram Filmed Entertainment
December 25, 1996 Evita co-production with Cinergi Pictures; North and Latin American and Spanish distribution only
January 24, 1997 Prefontaine
January 31, 1997 Shadow Conspiracy co-production with Cinergi Pictures; US distribution only
April 11, 1997 Grosse Pointe Blank co-production with Caravan Pictures and Roger Birnbaum Productions
May 30, 1997 Gone Fishin' co-production with Caravan Pictures
August 1, 1997 The Wrong Guy direct-to-video; US distribution only
August 22, 1997 G.I. Jane co-production with Caravan Pictures, Largo Entertainment, Scott Free Productions and Roger Birnbaum Productions; distribution in North America, France, Germany, Spain, the Benelux, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan only
October 17, 1997 Washington Square co-production with Caravan Pictures, Roger Birnbaum Productions and Alchemy Filmworks
December 25, 1997 An American Werewolf in Paris co-production with Cometstone Pictures; distribution only
January 30, 1998 Deep Rising co-production with Cinergi Pictures
February 27, 1998 An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
September 4, 1998 Firelight co-production with Carnival Films, Wind Dancer Productions and Miramax Films
September 11, 1998 Simon Birch co-production with Caravan Pictures and Roger Birnbaum Productions
August 6, 1999 The Sixth Sense co-production with Spyglass Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
September 17, 1999 Breakfast of Champions co-production with Summit Entertainment
October 1, 1999 Mystery, Alaska

2000s

[edit]
US Release date Title Notes
February 4, 2000 Gun Shy co-production with Fortis Films
September 15, 2000 Duets co-production with Seven Arts Pictures and Beacon Pictures
April 6, 2001 Just Visiting co-production with Gaumont Film Company; US distribution only
March 24, 2006 Stay Alive co-production with Spyglass Entertainment and Endgame Entertainment; US distribution only (distributed by Universal Pictures in UK)
January 12, 2007 Primeval co-production with Pariah Entertainment
April 27, 2007 The Invisible co-production with Spyglass Entertainment

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Breman, Phil. "Film/TV Companies: Hollywood Pictures". About.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  2. ^ Russel, Irwin E. "Articles of Incorporation of Hollywood Pictures Corporation". Business Entity Search. California Secretary of State. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  3. ^ Harmetz, Aljean (1988-12-02). "COMPANY NEWS; Disney Expansion Set; Film Output to Double". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  4. ^ Cieply, Michael (December 2, 1988). "Disney Forms New Film Unit in Plan to Double Output". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  5. ^ "Disney, Japan Investors Join in Partnership : Movies: Group will become main source of finance for all live-action films at the company's three studios". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. October 23, 1990. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  6. ^ Masters, Kim; Pond, Steve (January 18, 1991). "'Top Gun' Team at Disney". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Eller, Claudia (August 17, 1994). "A Stranger in a Strange Land Is Hollywood Pictures' New Player". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (April 27, 1994). "Mestres Out as President of Disney Unit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  9. ^ "Company Town : Hollywood Pictures Gets New President". Los Angeles Times. June 14, 1994. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  10. ^ "AOL Taps Lynton". Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. January 6, 2000. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  11. ^ Fixmer, Fixmer (April 25, 2007). "Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say (Update1)". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
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