Golan-Globus
Encyclopedia
The Cannon Group Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced a distinctive line of low-to-medium budget films from 1967 to 1993. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries.
, they had produced films on a larger production scale than a lot of major distributors, such as Joe
, starring Peter Boyle
. They managed this by tightly limiting their budgets to $300,000 per picture—or less, in some cases. However, as the 1970s moved on, a string of unsuccessful movies seriously drained Cannon’s capital. This, along with changes to film-production tax laws, led to a drop in Cannon's stock price. 1978 saw the German release of the science-fiction musical The Apple under the title Star Rock. Other notable films co-produced by Friedland and Dewey included Blood on Satan's Claw
and Michael Reeves
' The Sorcerers.
, Cannon had hit serious financial difficulties, and Friedland and Dewey sold Cannon to Israeli cousins Menahem Golan
(who had directed The Apple) and Yoram Globus
for $500,000. The two cousins forged a business model of buying bottom-barrel scripts and putting them into production.
They tapped into a ravenous market for action films in the 1980s. Although they are most remembered for the Death Wish
sequels and Chuck Norris
action pictures such as The Delta Force
and Invasion U.S.A.
, and even the vigilante thriller Exterminator 2
(the sequel to 1980
’s The Exterminator
), Cannon’s output was actually far more varied, with musical and comedy films like Breakin’
, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo
, The Last American Virgin
, and the U.S. release of The Apple; period romance pictures like Lady Chatterley's Lover
(1981), Bolero
, and Mata Hari
(1985); science fiction and fantasy films like Hercules
, Lifeforce
and The Barbarians
; as well as serious pictures like John Cassavetes
’ Love Streams
, Zeffirelli
’s Otello
(a film version of the Verdi opera
), Norman Mailer
’s Tough Guys Don’t Dance
, Andrei Konchalovsky
’s Runaway Train
, and Shy People
; and action/adventure films such as the 3-D
Treasure of the Four Crowns
, King Solomon’s Mines
, Cobra and American Ninja
.
One of Cannon’s biggest hits was the Vietnam action picture Missing in Action
, with Chuck Norris. But Cannon had first put into production the movie later known as Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
. Only after the two movies were finished did the company realize that the planned second movie was vastly superior to the first movie. So, the first movie filmed became an awkward prequel.
During these years, Cannon worked with entertainment-advertising company Design Projects, Inc. for most of the one-sheet posters, trade advertising, and large billboards prominently displayed at the Cannes Film Festival
each year. Substantial pre-sales of the next years' films were made based on the strong salesmanship skills of Golan, Danny Dimbort, and the advertising created by Design Projects. The deposits made from these sales financed production of the first film in the production line-up, which—when completed and delivered to theatre owners around the world—generated enough money to make the next film in the line-up. Slavenberg Bank in the Netherlands provided bridge financing
until the pre-sales amounts were collected.
, when company earnings reached their apex with 43 films in one year, Cannon Films shares had soared a hundredfold. Golan remained Chairman of the Board, while Globus served as President.
During this year, Cannon Films released Robotech: The Movie
(also called Robotech: The Untold Story) for a limited run in Mesquite, Texas
. (A suburb of Dallas.) Cannon was reportedly unsatisfied with Carl Macek
’s first version of the movie, which was almost a straight adaptation of the anime Megazone 23
. It was at their insistence that footage from The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross
(the series adapted as the Robotech Masters segment of the Robotech TV series) and Megazone 23 be spliced together to produce a more action-oriented movie. Macek recalls that although he was unhappy with this revised version, Menahem Golan, after viewing it, happily said: "Now that’s a Cannon movie!" Nevertheless, Robotech: The Movie was unsuccessful in its brief Texas run and saw no further release. Carl Macek has gone on record as disowning it.
Film critic Roger Ebert
said of Golan-Globus in 1987
, "no other production organization in the world today—certainly not any of the seven Hollywood "majors"—has taken more chances with serious, marginal films than Cannon."
That year, Cannon gained its greatest artistic success: its Dutch production The Assault
won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
Golan and Cannon Films were famous for making huge announcements and over-promoting movies that did not live up to expectations—or even exist. For instance, Lifeforce
(1985) was to be "the cinematic sci-fi event of the '80s" and Masters of the Universe
(1987) "the Star Wars
of the '80s."
, and planned to make a Spider-Man movie
in the mid-1980s.
Golan and Globus agreed to pay Marvel Comics
$225,000 over the five-year option period, plus a percentage of the film’s revenues. The rights would revert to Marvel if a film was not made by April 1990.
(1987), whose original $36-million budget was halved ($17 million) by Cannon, failed at the box office. Cannon signed an agreement with Warner Bros.
to handle part of Cannon’s assets; however, the financial loss was staggering. Having purchased Thorn EMI
, Cannon Films was severely stretched, and faced bankruptcy
. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into Cannon's financial reports, suspecting that Cannon had fraudulently misstated them.
On the verge of failure, Cannon Films was taken over by Pathé Communications, a holding company controlled by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti
. Financed by the French bank Credit Lyonnais
, Pathé Communications' takeover of Cannon immediately began a corporate restructuring and refinancing of $250 million to pay off Cannon debt. By 1989, Golan, citing differences with both Parretti and Globus, resigned from his position and left Cannon to start 21st Century Film Corporation, while Globus remained with Pathé.
One of the final movies produced by the team of Golan and Globus that received a wide release under the Cannon Films banner was the Jean-Claude Van Damme
post-apocalyptic action film Cyborg
. This film was conceived to use both the costumes and sets built for an intended sequel to Masters of the Universe and the ill-fated live-action version of Spider-Man. Both projects were planned to shoot simultaneously under the direction of Albert Pyun
. After Cannon Films had to cancel deals with both Mattel
and Marvel Entertainment
because of their financial troubles, they needed to recoup the money spent on both projects.
As part of his severance package from Pathé, Golan took the rights to Marvel
’s characters Spider-Man
and Captain America
. (Golan was able to put Captain America into production, and released it directly to video through his 21st Century Film Corporation.) Not to let that pre-production work go to waste, Pyun wrote Cyborg
, with Chuck Norris
in mind, suggesting it to Cannon Films. Jean-Claude Van Damme
was cast in the lead role. Some television stations still give the film’s title as Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg.
. Globus continued working with Parretti at Pathé.
When Pathé took over control of MGM
/UA
in 1990 as part of the MGM-Pathe merger, the Cannon Films library became part of the MGM library. During Parretti's tenure at MGM
, he appointed Globus as president of the studio for a brief period of time.
In 1990, Parretti reorganized Cannon Pictures, Inc. as the low-budget distribution arm of Pathé. Veteran Italian film producer Ovidio G. Assonitis
served as Chairman and CEO of the new Cannon Pictures from 1990 to 1991. After the MGM-Pathe merger, Cannon Pictures spun off from Pathé, and was later run by former Cannon Group production head Christopher Pearce, who served as Chairman and CEO from 1991 to 1994. Cannon Pictures continued to release films, including A Man Called Sarge
, American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
and No Place to Hide
.
Parretti was pushed out of management control of MGM
in 1991 by Credit Lyonnais
, after he defaulted on loan payments. Parretti was later convicted of perjury and evidence tampering in a Delaware
court for statements he made in a 1991 civil case, brought by Credit Lyonnaise to validate their removal of Parretti, to the effect that a document he claimed allowed him to retain control of MGM was authentic;
he fled the country for Italy before he could be sentenced or extradited to France, where he was wanted on criminal charges related to his use of MGM's French assets.
In 1997, the California Superior Court in Los Angeles entered a final judgement in a separate civil suit against Parretti, ordering him to pay $1.48 billion to Credit Lyonnais. After Federal prosecuters unsealed an indictment against Parretti and Florio Fiorini accusing them of fraud in 1999, Italian authorities arrested both men and held them for extradition to the United States.
Parretti was released by the cort of appeal in Perugia
shortly thereafter, ordered to remain in his home town of Orvieto
and report to the police three times a week, even though authorities in Rome had requested he be held pending a decision on the extradition.
The 1993 Golan-Globus film Alien from L.A.
, starring model Kathy Ireland
, was used as the basis of episode #516 of the movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
. In 1993, Cannon Pictures released its last film Street Knight
before it closed down. Yoram Globus
and Christopher Pearce later joined 21st Century Film Corporation
until 1996.
Golan is still producing and directing films. Globus is the president of Globus Max, which has interests in film production and distribution and runs a 140-screen cinema chain in Israel.
In late 2011 it was revealed that Australian director Mark Hartley is working on a documentary about Cannon Films called "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films".
Later, Golan and Globus had a falling out with MGM, supposedly over the erotic unrated film Bolero
with Bo Derek
, which ended up being released under the U.S.A. Home Video
label. Their movies were then released on home video for a short time by Media Home Entertainment
, with some of the larger films, like Masters of the Universe
and Over the Top, distributed by either or Warner Bros.
or TriStar Pictures
. When Cannon merged with Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment
, they inherited EMI's home video label, which was then a partnership with HBO; however, they soon withdrew from the partnership to start their own video label with underwriting from WB, which lasted into the 1990s.
Today, the worldwide theatrical and home-video rights (as well as international TV rights) to the majority of Cannon's library are owned by MGM, with the following exceptions:
In all cases except worldwide television rights to Lifeforce, Trifecta Entertainment & Media
handles the United States television rights to the Cannon pictures produced by Golan and Globus from 1979 onward; these rights were previously owned by Viacom Enterprises
, Paramount Domestic Television
, CBS Paramount Domestic Television
, and CBS Television Distribution
. CTD and its ancestor companies owned the TV rights to Superman IV until 2006, after which Warner Bros. Television
took over the rights for three years, which went in 2009 to Paramount through television licensee Trifecta. Paramount Pictures
owns the rights to distribute the Cannon library (except Lifeforce
) on digital platforms. MGM retains television and digital platform rights to earlier Cannon films released before the company's purchase by Golan and Globus in 1979, such as Joe
.
1967–1979: Beginnings
Cannon Films was incorporated on October 23, 1967. It was formed by Dennis Friedland and Chris Dewey while they were in their early 20s. By 19701970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
, they had produced films on a larger production scale than a lot of major distributors, such as Joe
Joe (film)
Joe is a 1970 drama film starring Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, and Susan Sarandon in her film debut. The film was directed by John G. Avildsen.-Plot:...
, starring Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
. They managed this by tightly limiting their budgets to $300,000 per picture—or less, in some cases. However, as the 1970s moved on, a string of unsuccessful movies seriously drained Cannon’s capital. This, along with changes to film-production tax laws, led to a drop in Cannon's stock price. 1978 saw the German release of the science-fiction musical The Apple under the title Star Rock. Other notable films co-produced by Friedland and Dewey included Blood on Satan's Claw
Blood on Satan's Claw
Blood on Satan's Claw is a 1970 British horror film made by Tigon British Film Productions and directed by Piers Haggard. The film was written by Robert Wynne-Simmons, with additions by Piers Haggard, and stars Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden and Barry Andrews...
and Michael Reeves
Michael Reeves
Michael Reeves was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the 1968 American International Pictures/Tigon motion picture Witchfinder General...
' The Sorcerers.
1979–1985: Golan Globus era
By 19791979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
, Cannon had hit serious financial difficulties, and Friedland and Dewey sold Cannon to Israeli cousins Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan is an Israeli director and producer. He has produced movies for such stars as Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Charles Bronson, and was known for a period as a producer of comic book-style movies like Masters of the Universe, Superman IV:...
(who had directed The Apple) and Yoram Globus
Yoram Globus
Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus (born 21 October 1941 in Tiberias, Israel, is an Israeli director and producer who is most famous for his association with Cannon Films Inc., a company he ran with his cousin Menahem Golan....
for $500,000. The two cousins forged a business model of buying bottom-barrel scripts and putting them into production.
They tapped into a ravenous market for action films in the 1980s. Although they are most remembered for the Death Wish
Death Wish (film)
Death Wish is a 1974 crime thriller film loosely based on the novel Death Wish by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted by muggers.The film was...
sequels and Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
action pictures such as The Delta Force
The Delta Force (film)
The Delta Force is a 1986 American action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as leaders of an elite squad of Special Forces troops based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit. It was directed by Menahem Golan and featured Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert...
and Invasion U.S.A.
Invasion U.S.A. (1985 film)
Invasion U.S.A. is a 1985 action film made by Cannon Films and starring Chuck Norris. It was directed by Joseph Zito. Both Chuck Norris and his brother, Aaron, were involved in the writing. It was made in Fort Pierce, Florida. Miami landmarks, such as Dadeland Mall and Miracle Mile, can also be...
, and even the vigilante thriller Exterminator 2
Exterminator 2
Exterminator 2 is a 1984 action film written and directed by Mark Buntzman, starring Robert Ginty and Mario Van Peebles, with cameos by Arye Gross in his debut role, and John Turturro in his second role...
(the sequel to 1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
’s The Exterminator
The Exterminator
The Exterminator is a 1980 action film written, produced and directed by James Glickenhaus and starring Robert Ginty as Vietnam veteran vigilante John Eastland, also known as "The Exterminator", who takes out the street punks and those involved in organized crime when the law fails to do justice.-...
), Cannon’s output was actually far more varied, with musical and comedy films like Breakin’
Breakin'
Breakin', released as Breakdance: The Movie in some countries, is a 1984 breakdancing-themed film directed by Joel Silberg. The film setting was inspired by a German documentary entitled Breakin' and Enterin set in the Los Angeles multi-racial hip hop club Radiotron, based out of Macarthur Park in...
, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is the 1984 sequel to the breakdancing film Breakin. It was first released in the same year as its predecessor by TriStar Pictures, and by Cannon Films the year after...
, The Last American Virgin
The Last American Virgin
The Last American Virgin is a 1982 American coming-of-age film, a remake of the Israeli film Eskimo Limon .After the success of the original and several sequels, writer/director Boaz Davidson re-teamed with producers Golan-Globus to attempt to re-create the same success in the United States....
, and the U.S. release of The Apple; period romance pictures like Lady Chatterley's Lover
Lady Chatterley's Lover (film)
Lady Chatterley's Lover is a 1981 film directed by Just Jaeckin, and starring Sylvia Kristel and Nicholas Clay.-Cast:*Sylvia Kristel as Lady Constance Chatterley*Shane Briant as Sir Clifford Chatterley*Nicholas Clay as Oliver Mellors...
(1981), Bolero
Bolero (1984 film)
Bolero is a 1984 film starring Bo Derek, and written and directed by her husband John Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity....
, and Mata Hari
Mata Hari (1985 film)
Mata Hari is a 1985 film produced by Golan-Globus featuring Sylvia Kristel in the title role of exotic dancer Mata Hari, executed for espionage during World War I...
(1985); science fiction and fantasy films like Hercules
Hercules (1983 film)
Hercules is a 1983 Italian adventure film written and directed by Luigi Cozzi. The film follows the exploits of Hercules.Part of the adventure finds Hercules battling giant robots brought to life by stop motion animation. The musical score was provided by Pino Donaggio.Despite not being a critical...
, Lifeforce
Lifeforce (film)
Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:...
and The Barbarians
The Barbarians (film)
The Barbarians is a 1987 American-Italian sword and sorcery film, starring the Barbarian Brothers Peter and David Paul.-Plot:The film is set in a medieval-like heroic fantasy world. A tribe of peaceful travelling entertainers is attacked by the evil tyrant Kadar, who takes their queen Canary...
; as well as serious pictures like John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
’ Love Streams
Love Streams
Love Streams is an 1984 American film directed by John Cassavetes that tells the story of a middle-aged brother and sister who find themselves caring for one another after the other loves in their lives abandon them. The visual style of the film is decidedly different from Cassavetes' other works,...
, Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
’s Otello
Otello (1986 film)
Otello is a 1986 film based on the Giuseppe Verdi opera of the same name based on the Shakespeare play Othello. The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starred Plácido Domingo in the title role, Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona and Justino Díaz as Iago...
(a film version of the Verdi opera
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
), Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
’s Tough Guys Don’t Dance
Tough Guys Don't Dance (film)
Tough Guys Don't Dance is a 1987 film written and directed by Norman Mailer based on his novel of the same name. It is a murder mystery/film noir piece that was scorned by audiences and critics alike. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.The script had revisions done...
, Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet-American and Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter....
’s Runaway Train
Runaway Train (film)
Runaway Train is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. It stars Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim, Eric Roberts as Buck, John P. Ryan as Associate Warden Ranken and Rebecca De Mornay as Sara...
, and Shy People
Shy People
Shy People is a critically acclaimed 1987 American drama about two branches of a family that reunite with tragic results, starring Barbara Hershey, Jill Clayburgh, and Martha Plimpton. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, written by Konchalovsky, Marjorie David and Gerard Brach, and features...
; and action/adventure films such as the 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
Treasure of the Four Crowns
Treasure of the Four Crowns
Treasure of the Four Crowns is an action adventure film, featuring Tony Anthony, Ana Obregón, Gene Quintano and Francisco Rabal and directed by Ferdinando Baldi...
, King Solomon’s Mines
King Solomon's Mines (1985 film)
King Solomon's Mines is a 1985 action and adventure film loosely based on the novel King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard. It stars Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, Herbert Lom and John Rhys-Davies. It was adapted by Gene Quintano and James R. Silke and directed by J. Lee Thompson...
, Cobra and American Ninja
American Ninja
American Ninja is a 1985 ninja action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's Cannon Films. Directed by Sam Firstenberg, who specialized in this genre in the 1980s, the film stars Michael Dudikoff in the title role, with Steve James as his side-kick. Domestic box office grosses for the...
.
One of Cannon’s biggest hits was the Vietnam action picture Missing in Action
Missing in Action (film)
Missing in Action is a 1984 action B-movie directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing...
, with Chuck Norris. But Cannon had first put into production the movie later known as Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning is a 1985 action/adventure film, and a prequel to Missing in Action, both of which star Chuck Norris...
. Only after the two movies were finished did the company realize that the planned second movie was vastly superior to the first movie. So, the first movie filmed became an awkward prequel.
During these years, Cannon worked with entertainment-advertising company Design Projects, Inc. for most of the one-sheet posters, trade advertising, and large billboards prominently displayed at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
each year. Substantial pre-sales of the next years' films were made based on the strong salesmanship skills of Golan, Danny Dimbort, and the advertising created by Design Projects. The deposits made from these sales financed production of the first film in the production line-up, which—when completed and delivered to theatre owners around the world—generated enough money to make the next film in the line-up. Slavenberg Bank in the Netherlands provided bridge financing
Bridge financing
Bridge financing is a method of financing, used to maintain liquidity while waiting for an anticipated and reasonably expected inflow of cash. Bridge financing is commonly used when the cash flow from a sale of an asset is expected after the cash outlay for the purchase of an asset...
until the pre-sales amounts were collected.
1986–1989: Later years
By 19861986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
, when company earnings reached their apex with 43 films in one year, Cannon Films shares had soared a hundredfold. Golan remained Chairman of the Board, while Globus served as President.
During this year, Cannon Films released Robotech: The Movie
Robotech: The Movie
Robotech: The Movie is a 1986 American-Japanese science fiction animated film based on the Robotech TV series and Robotech franchise created by Harmony Gold USA...
(also called Robotech: The Untold Story) for a limited run in Mesquite, Texas
Mesquite, Texas
Mesquite is a city located within the Dallas/Ft.Worth area of Texas. As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 139,824.-History:The city was founded May 22, 1873, by a Texas & Pacific Railway engineer who purchased land along the Texas & Pacific line outside of Dallas...
. (A suburb of Dallas.) Cannon was reportedly unsatisfied with Carl Macek
Carl Macek
Carl F. Macek was an American writer and controversial anime pioneer and producer of the 1980s and 1990s.-Robotech and Harmony Gold USA:...
’s first version of the movie, which was almost a straight adaptation of the anime Megazone 23
Megazone 23
is a four-part original video animation created by AIC, written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, and directed by Noboru Ishiguro, Ichiro Itano, Kenichi Yatagai and Shinji Aramaki. The series was originally titled but the title was changed just before release....
. It was at their insistence that footage from The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross
The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross
was the third Japanese animated series released under the "Super Dimension" moniker by the sponsor Big West. This 1984 science fiction robotic mecha series followed Super Dimension Fortress Macross created by Studio Nue with Artland and produced by Tatsunoko, and Super Dimension Century Orguss ,...
(the series adapted as the Robotech Masters segment of the Robotech TV series) and Megazone 23 be spliced together to produce a more action-oriented movie. Macek recalls that although he was unhappy with this revised version, Menahem Golan, after viewing it, happily said: "Now that’s a Cannon movie!" Nevertheless, Robotech: The Movie was unsuccessful in its brief Texas run and saw no further release. Carl Macek has gone on record as disowning it.
Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
said of Golan-Globus in 1987
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
, "no other production organization in the world today—certainly not any of the seven Hollywood "majors"—has taken more chances with serious, marginal films than Cannon."
That year, Cannon gained its greatest artistic success: its Dutch production The Assault
The Assault (film)
The Assault is a 1986 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Harry Mulisch. The film was directed and produced by Fons Rademakers...
won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
.
Golan and Cannon Films were famous for making huge announcements and over-promoting movies that did not live up to expectations—or even exist. For instance, Lifeforce
Lifeforce (film)
Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:...
(1985) was to be "the cinematic sci-fi event of the '80s" and Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe (film)
Masters of the Universe is a 1987 science-fiction fantasy film based on the toy line by the same name. The movie stars Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor...
(1987) "the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
of the '80s."
Spider-Man
Additionally, Cannon owned the film rights to Spider-ManSpider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, and planned to make a Spider-Man movie
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
in the mid-1980s.
Golan and Globus agreed to pay Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
$225,000 over the five-year option period, plus a percentage of the film’s revenues. The rights would revert to Marvel if a film was not made by April 1990.
Purchase by Pathé
By 1988, a cooling of the film market and a string of box office flops had drained Cannon’s capital. The multi-million dollar production of Superman IV: The Quest for PeaceSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie. It is the fourth film in the Superman film series and the last installment to star Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. It is the first film in the series not to be produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, but...
(1987), whose original $36-million budget was halved ($17 million) by Cannon, failed at the box office. Cannon signed an agreement with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
to handle part of Cannon’s assets; however, the financial loss was staggering. Having purchased Thorn EMI
Thorn EMI
Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in...
, Cannon Films was severely stretched, and faced bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into Cannon's financial reports, suspecting that Cannon had fraudulently misstated them.
On the verge of failure, Cannon Films was taken over by Pathé Communications, a holding company controlled by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti
Giancarlo Parretti
Giancarlo Parretti is an Italian financier.In 1989, he took over Cannon Film Group Inc. from Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. Almost immediately, he made plans to take over the storied French studio Pathé, and changed Cannon's name to Pathé Communications...
. Financed by the French bank Credit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
, Pathé Communications' takeover of Cannon immediately began a corporate restructuring and refinancing of $250 million to pay off Cannon debt. By 1989, Golan, citing differences with both Parretti and Globus, resigned from his position and left Cannon to start 21st Century Film Corporation, while Globus remained with Pathé.
One of the final movies produced by the team of Golan and Globus that received a wide release under the Cannon Films banner was the Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
post-apocalyptic action film Cyborg
Cyborg (film)
Cyborg is a 1989 American martial-arts science fiction film directed by Albert Pyun. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Gibson Rickenbacker, a mercenary who battles a group of murderous marauders led by Fender Tremolo along the East coast of the United States in a post-apocalyptic future.-Plot:A...
. This film was conceived to use both the costumes and sets built for an intended sequel to Masters of the Universe and the ill-fated live-action version of Spider-Man. Both projects were planned to shoot simultaneously under the direction of Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun is an American film director best known for having made many low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. He frequently blends kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs...
. After Cannon Films had to cancel deals with both Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
and Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....
because of their financial troubles, they needed to recoup the money spent on both projects.
As part of his severance package from Pathé, Golan took the rights to Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
’s characters Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
. (Golan was able to put Captain America into production, and released it directly to video through his 21st Century Film Corporation.) Not to let that pre-production work go to waste, Pyun wrote Cyborg
Cyborg (film)
Cyborg is a 1989 American martial-arts science fiction film directed by Albert Pyun. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Gibson Rickenbacker, a mercenary who battles a group of murderous marauders led by Fender Tremolo along the East coast of the United States in a post-apocalyptic future.-Plot:A...
, with Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
in mind, suggesting it to Cannon Films. Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
was cast in the lead role. Some television stations still give the film’s title as Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg.
1990–1993: Relaunch & demise
Following Golan’s departure from Cannon Films, he became the head of 21st Century Film Corporation21st Century Film Corporation
Not to be confused with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation21st Century Film Corporation was a small-scale theatrical distribution company formed sometime in the early 1970s as a production company and distributor.-History:...
. Globus continued working with Parretti at Pathé.
When Pathé took over control of MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
/UA
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
in 1990 as part of the MGM-Pathe merger, the Cannon Films library became part of the MGM library. During Parretti's tenure at MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, he appointed Globus as president of the studio for a brief period of time.
In 1990, Parretti reorganized Cannon Pictures, Inc. as the low-budget distribution arm of Pathé. Veteran Italian film producer Ovidio G. Assonitis
Ovidio G. Assonitis
Ovidio Assonitis is an independent film producer and businessman with over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry.- Biography :...
served as Chairman and CEO of the new Cannon Pictures from 1990 to 1991. After the MGM-Pathe merger, Cannon Pictures spun off from Pathé, and was later run by former Cannon Group production head Christopher Pearce, who served as Chairman and CEO from 1991 to 1994. Cannon Pictures continued to release films, including A Man Called Sarge
A Man Called Sarge
A Man Called Sarge is a 1990 American parody film, written and directed by Stuart Gillard, starring Gary Kroeger, Marc Singer, Gretchen German and introducing a young Natasha Lyonne...
, American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation is a 1990 action/martial arts film starring Michael Dudikoff, David Bradley, and James Booth. It was the fourth film in the American Ninja series and was directed by Cedric Sundstrom. The film marked Michael Dudikoff's final appearance in the American Ninja film...
and No Place to Hide
No Place to Hide (film)
No Place to Hide, a.k.a. Rebel, is a 1970 film starring Sylvester Stallone. The film is about New York in the late 1960s; a politically motivated group of students plans bombings of company offices who do business with dictators in Middle American countries. But when they contact a known terrorist...
.
Parretti was pushed out of management control of MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in 1991 by Credit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
, after he defaulted on loan payments. Parretti was later convicted of perjury and evidence tampering in a Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
court for statements he made in a 1991 civil case, brought by Credit Lyonnaise to validate their removal of Parretti, to the effect that a document he claimed allowed him to retain control of MGM was authentic;
he fled the country for Italy before he could be sentenced or extradited to France, where he was wanted on criminal charges related to his use of MGM's French assets.
In 1997, the California Superior Court in Los Angeles entered a final judgement in a separate civil suit against Parretti, ordering him to pay $1.48 billion to Credit Lyonnais. After Federal prosecuters unsealed an indictment against Parretti and Florio Fiorini accusing them of fraud in 1999, Italian authorities arrested both men and held them for extradition to the United States.
Parretti was released by the cort of appeal in Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
shortly thereafter, ordered to remain in his home town of Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
and report to the police three times a week, even though authorities in Rome had requested he be held pending a decision on the extradition.
The 1993 Golan-Globus film Alien from L.A.
Alien from L.A.
Alien From L.A. is a 1988 science fiction film that stars Kathy Ireland as a young woman who visits the underground civilization of Atlantis. The film was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
, starring model Kathy Ireland
Kathy Ireland
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Ireland is an American former model, actress, and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and designer of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.-Life and career:...
, was used as the basis of episode #516 of the movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. In 1993, Cannon Pictures released its last film Street Knight
Street Knight
Street Knight is a 1993 American action film starring Jeff Speakman. It was last film released by Cannon Films.The film currently holds a 4.5/10 user rating on the Internet Movie Database.-Plot:...
before it closed down. Yoram Globus
Yoram Globus
Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus (born 21 October 1941 in Tiberias, Israel, is an Israeli director and producer who is most famous for his association with Cannon Films Inc., a company he ran with his cousin Menahem Golan....
and Christopher Pearce later joined 21st Century Film Corporation
21st Century Film Corporation
Not to be confused with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation21st Century Film Corporation was a small-scale theatrical distribution company formed sometime in the early 1970s as a production company and distributor.-History:...
until 1996.
Golan is still producing and directing films. Globus is the president of Globus Max, which has interests in film production and distribution and runs a 140-screen cinema chain in Israel.
In late 2011 it was revealed that Australian director Mark Hartley is working on a documentary about Cannon Films called "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films".
Distribution
The Cannon Group's first films in the United States were distributed independently and released on home video on the small Paragon Video label. Cannon then made a deal with MGM, and their movies were distributed for home video (and later some films theatrically) by MGM, appearing in the gray MGM Video "big boxes".Later, Golan and Globus had a falling out with MGM, supposedly over the erotic unrated film Bolero
Bolero (1984 film)
Bolero is a 1984 film starring Bo Derek, and written and directed by her husband John Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity....
with Bo Derek
Bo Derek
Mary Cathleen Collins , better known as Bo Derek, is an American film and television actress, model, and sex symbol, known for her role as Jenny Hanley in the 1979 comedy film 10. However, Derek's film career soon faltered; her later films, including, Bolero and Ghosts Can't Do It , were poorly...
, which ended up being released under the U.S.A. Home Video
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
label. Their movies were then released on home video for a short time by Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band....
, with some of the larger films, like Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe (film)
Masters of the Universe is a 1987 science-fiction fantasy film based on the toy line by the same name. The movie stars Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor...
and Over the Top, distributed by either or Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
or TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
. When Cannon merged with Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment
EMI Films
EMI Films was a British film and television production company and distributor. The company was formed after the takeover of Associated British Picture Corporation in 1968 by EMI....
, they inherited EMI's home video label, which was then a partnership with HBO; however, they soon withdrew from the partnership to start their own video label with underwriting from WB, which lasted into the 1990s.
Today, the worldwide theatrical and home-video rights (as well as international TV rights) to the majority of Cannon's library are owned by MGM, with the following exceptions:
- Certain Cannon films distributed by Warner Bros. in most territories (including certain territorial home-video rights to Superman IV: The Quest for PeaceSuperman IV: The Quest for PeaceSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie. It is the fourth film in the Superman film series and the last installment to star Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. It is the first film in the series not to be produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, but...
) are now owned by WB themselves. Worldwide theatrical and all other rights in other European territories for Superman IV are now with Warner Bros.. - MGM owns the theatrical and home-video rights to LifeforceLifeforce (film)Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:...
. The television rights, however, belong to Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, due to Sony-owned production/distribution company TriStar Pictures distributing the film in the United States. Sony also holds some digital rights, as it was formerly seen on Sony-owned website CrackleCrackleCrackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
. (Since then, MGM posted it on Hulu.) For a short time, Sony co-distributed most of the MGM library on TV. - Theatrical and home video rights to most Cannon films made after 1987 are now with Warner Bros., including Masters of the Universe and Little DorritLittle Dorrit (film)Little Dorrit is a 1988 film adaptation of the novel Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. It was written and directed by Christine Edzard, and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin. The music, by Giuseppe Verdi, was arranged by Michael Sanvoisin.The film stars Derek Jacobi as Arthur...
. - Selected Cannon films inherited through its merger with Thorn EMI Screen EntertainmentEMI FilmsEMI Films was a British film and television production company and distributor. The company was formed after the takeover of Associated British Picture Corporation in 1968 by EMI....
, such as LinkLink (film)Link is a 1986 British horror film starring Elisabeth Shue and Terence Stamp. The title character, "Link", is a super-intelligent orangutan who lashes out against his masters when they try to have him put to sleep...
, are now with EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
successor StudioCanalStudioCanalStudioCanal is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world...
; Anchor Bay EntertainmentAnchor Bay EntertainmentAnchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
handled the US home-video rights until 2010, when StudioCanalStudioCanalStudioCanal is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world...
made a new deal with Lionsgate. - MGM does not own the home-video rights to The Company of WolvesThe Company of WolvesThe Company of Wolves is a 1984 gothic fantasy-horror film directed by Neil Jordan, and starring Sarah Patterson and Angela Lansbury.The film is based on the werewolf story of the same name in Angela Carter's short story collection The Bloody Chamber...
, a Palace Pictures/ITC EntertainmentITC EntertainmentThe Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
co-production that was released on DVD by Hen's Tooth, under license from international rights holder ITV Global Entertainment Ltd.
In all cases except worldwide television rights to Lifeforce, Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Trifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exchange for syndication deals with local television...
handles the United States television rights to the Cannon pictures produced by Golan and Globus from 1979 onward; these rights were previously owned by Viacom Enterprises
Viacom Enterprises
Viacom Enterprises was a television distribution company formed in 1971 as the successor to CBS Enterprises, and spun off in 1973 due to now-repealed FCC bylaws prohibiting networks from syndicating their own shows....
, Paramount Domestic Television
Paramount Domestic Television
Paramount Domestic Television was the television distribution arm of American television production company Paramount Television, once the TV arm of Paramount Pictures...
, CBS Paramount Domestic Television
CBS Paramount Domestic Television
CBS Paramount Domestic Television was an American television distribution company/production that was formed on January 17, 2006 and owned by CBS Corporation...
, and CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
. CTD and its ancestor companies owned the TV rights to Superman IV until 2006, after which Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
took over the rights for three years, which went in 2009 to Paramount through television licensee Trifecta. Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
owns the rights to distribute the Cannon library (except Lifeforce
Lifeforce (film)
Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:...
) on digital platforms. MGM retains television and digital platform rights to earlier Cannon films released before the company's purchase by Golan and Globus in 1979, such as Joe
Joe (film)
Joe is a 1970 drama film starring Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, and Susan Sarandon in her film debut. The film was directed by John G. Avildsen.-Plot:...
.