Carolco Pictures

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The classic 1988 Carolco Pictures logo.

Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an independent production company, that within a decade went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the Rambo series to being made bankrupt by bombs such as Cutthroat Island and Showgirls.

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

The company was founded by two film investors, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, as Anabasis Investments. Their goal was to make their new studio a major independent production company producing A-movie product. Their earliest films were co-produced with Canadian theater magnate Garth Drabinsky.

Jose Menendez was a member of the Board of Directors of Carolco in August 1989, when he and his wife were murdered by their sons Lyle and Erik Menendez.

[edit] First Blood/Rambo films

One of the first Anabasis/Carolco films was First Blood (1982), followed by the sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) (released the year it was renamed Carolco) with Sylvester Stallone (who later signed a ten-picture deal with the studio). The release of [[Rambo: First Blood Part II]] was so instrumental to Carolco's financial success that from then on, the music of the company's logo utilizes the first stanza of its famous score, written by Jerry Goldsmith.

[edit] The Terminator franchise

With this success, Carolco went on to acquire the rights to the Terminator franchise from Hemdale Film Corporation. The company re-hired Terminator director James Cameron (who had also worked as a screenwriter on Rambo), and Arnold Schwarzenegger to star, in a multi-million-dollar budgeted sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (released in 1991). It was the highest-grossing film of its year, and as it turned out, the most successful film in Carolco's history.

[edit] Cinergi Pictures Entertainment

After selling his partnership with Kassar, Vajna created a sister studio to Carolco, Cinergi Pictures. Cinergi started to release films from The Walt Disney Company through Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone Pictures.

[edit] Orbis Communications, the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and Carolco's home video division

In later years, Carolco acquired television syndicator Orbis Communications and initiated television production and distribution. They also purchased the former De Laurentiis Entertainment Group production facility in North Carolina (where the television series Matlock was partially filmed), and established a home video division (with Live Entertainment, later Artisan Entertainment and Lions Gate Home Entertainment, as output partner).

[edit] Struggle to secure the rights to produce a Spider-Man film

Carolco struggled for some years to secure the rights to Spider-Man, a property that James Cameron was keen to produce as a film. Plans fell through, although it would eventually be made as a Sam Raimi film for Columbia Pictures.

[edit] Bankruptcy

As budgets for their feature films grew, the box-office intake fell. Following the disastrous releases of Cutthroat Island and Showgirls, Carolco went bankrupt and the company closed soon after.

The assets of Carolco were later sold off to other companies, most already sold during Carolco's existence. Today, the ancillary rights to a majority of Carolco's library are held by French production company StudioCanal, while CBS Paramount Television (through CBS Television Distribution) holds the television rights (inherited from Spelling Entertainment's Worldvision Enterprises), except for Cliffhanger, which Sony Pictures Television distributes.

[edit] Current North American home video rights

Lionsgate continues to hold the U.S./Canadian home video rights (via a new output deal with StudioCanal), while the international home video rights are held by a different company for each country. For example, the UK rights are with Momentum Pictures (a subsidiary of Alliance Atlantis) and the Australian rights rest with Universal Studios. Also, Lionsgate spun off its Canadian distribution arm as Maple Pictures in 2005, hence the Canadian video rights rest with Maple.

The only Carolco films not included in the deal are Cliffhanger, Aces: Iron Eagle III, Last of the Dogmen, and Showgirls; the rights to these have been retained by their original theatrical distributors (TriStar Pictures, New Line Cinema, Savoy Pictures/HBO, and United Artists, respectively). However, Lionsgate does own some ancillary rights to the original Stargate, and full rights to Wagons East.