88-511: The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films , which produced films from 1967 to 1994. 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. Some of their best known films include Joe (1970), Runaway Train (1985) and Street Smart (1987), all of which were Oscar -nominated. Cannon Films
176-532: A Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film . Meanwhile, Otello , based on the opera of the same name , also received a Golden Globe nomination that year. Golan and Cannon Films tended to over-promote films that did not live up to expectations. For instance, Lifeforce (1985) was to be "the cinematic sci-fi event of the '80s " and Masters of the Universe (1987) was dubbed "the Star Wars of
264-524: A $ 10 million agreement with the BBC that August for the latter to broadcast both companies' films. By 1988, a cooling in the film market and a series of box office disappointments—including the multimillion-dollar production of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), whose original $ 36-million budget was slashed to $ 17 million—had once again put Cannon in financial woes. The company signed an agreement with Warner Bros. to handle part of their assets; however,
352-434: A 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews. On August 5, 2003, MGM Home Entertainment released Breakin' on DVD . On April 21, 2015, Shout! Factory released Breakin' , along with its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo , as a double feature Blu-ray . Several months before the film's release, Shabba Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp, Pop n' Taco, Popin' Pete, DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Lollipop were all featured in
440-514: A breakdancing event where she finds Ozone and Turbo in the midst of a dance battle that they eventually lose against rivals "Electro Rock." Adam convinces Ozone and Turbo to teach Kelly how to breakdance. After training for a while, the three defeat Electro Rock. Kelly convinces the troupe to enroll in a dance competition. Kelly's agent friend, James, sees what the group can do and agrees to back them. The competition requirements are traditional, socially respected styles of dance. The troupe walks before
528-587: A business model of buying bottom-barrel scripts and putting them into production. They produced such films in a variety of genres, although their biggest successes were with action films . They tapped into a ravenous market for B movies in the 1980s. After buying the rights to the 1974 film Death Wish , Cannon produced three sequels to it in the 1980s, all starring Charles Bronson . Despite negative reviews, these films were financially successful, especially Death Wish II (1982), which earned over $ 40 million on an $ 8 million budget. Other major hits for Cannon were
616-562: A deal which allowed Pathé to distribute Lambada , Midnight Ride and American Ninja 4 . Under Pearce, Cannon Pictures announced it will keep contracts with players Charles Bronson , Chuck Norris and Michael Dudikoff signed under Golan's management and revealed a slate of films in 1991, Fifty/Fifty now starring Peter Weller and Robert Hays , No Place to Hide with Kris Kristofferson and Drew Barrymore , The Hitman with Chuck Norris , The Human Shield and Rescue Me both with Michael Dudikoff . Richard Inouye joined
704-659: A documentary about Cannon Films, written and directed by Mark Hartley , and produced by Brett Ratner . That same year, the Israeli documentary The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films was launched at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival . As is noted at the end of Electric Boogaloo , Golan and Globus announced The Go-Go Boys shortly after they were approached to appear in Boogaloo , yet in true Cannon fashion, their movie beat Hartley's to release by 3 months. In 2015, Globus sold "Globus Max" and returned to Hollywood to launch
792-438: A domestic distribution deal with Warner Bros. for its theatrical product. Soon after announcing a new slate of films and the distribution deal with Warner Bros., Parretti made a $ 1.2 billion bid for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , backed by Crédit Lyonnais . The bid was accepted and Parretti merged Pathé Communications and MGM to create MGM-Pathé Communications . With the merger majority of the former Cannon Group library became part of
880-456: A drink in a nearby bar, where he hears factory worker Joe Curran ranting about how he hates hippies . Compton blurts out that he just killed one. Joe reacts favorably, but Compton says it was a joke. A few days later, Joe sees a news report about a drug dealer found slain a few blocks from the bar. He calls Compton and meets him. At first Compton is wary that Joe may be attempting blackmail , but Joe assures him that he admires Compton for killing
968-414: A few of the fairy tales. 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 1986 Dutch production The Assault won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and
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#17327728365101056-443: A group of investors for $ 14 million. The sale would include the office building at 8200 Wiltshire Blvd, where Cannon Pictures was based. Parretti tried to push the deal through quickly to release some capital for MGM-Pathé, However, the deal fell through less than two months later due to financing problems and MGM-Pathé Communications had been granted an easement on financial conditions that were placed upon it by its lenders as part of
1144-464: A lengthy period of litigation between Marvel, Sony and several other parties over the film rights. Cannon's films proved to be much more popular in the United Kingdom than in its native United States, which is why Cannon acquired several British cinema chains during the 1980s, and founded the mail-order video distribution service Videolog as a joint venture with Columbia House Europe, Ltd. in
1232-457: A light sentence. Before and after sentencing, Garland received hundreds of letters from parents across the country who expressed sympathy with him. It was also reported that during the first weeks after his sentencing, he received no letters expressing outrage or condemnation of his actions. Joe also featured an original soundtrack, introducing artists such as Exuma with the song "You Don't Know What's Going On", Dean Michaels' "Hey Joe" (not
1320-685: 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. The success of Joe brought more attention to the company. As the 1970s moved on, a string of unsuccessful films seriously drained Cannon's capital. This, along with changes to film-production tax laws, led to a drop in Cannon's stock price. By 1979, 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
1408-574: A melodramatic, surface fiasco." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "a landmark film because of the issues and social norms it justifies. It is a dramatic, if not always sophisticated, documentary of a growing portion of the national mentality." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it "an immensely sophisticated piece of film-making," adding, "The plot
1496-407: A new TV show called Sam Bolt: Texas Ranger , which would later become Walker, Texas Ranger . Shortly afterwards, they announced that Joe Lara had been signed to an exclusive 10-picture deal with the new company. Lara was currently in production on American Cyborg: Steel Warrior which would not be included in the overall deal, however no films were made from this deal. By mid-1992, the merger
1584-636: A new film production company, "Rebel Way Entertainment." The company seeks to reconnect young and web-crazy audiences with the traditional theatrical experience. As of February 2023, their only film is Deported (2020), directed by Tyler Spindel . Joe (1970 film) Joe is a 1970 American drama film written by Norman Wexler and directed by John G. Avildsen . It stars Peter Boyle , Dennis Patrick , and Susan Sarandon in her film debut. The film follows New York business executive Bill Compton as his life unravels into murderous chaos after he kills his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend and enters into
1672-718: A peculiar partnership with factory worker Joe, a veteran with racist fantasies of vigilante violence. Their search for Compton's missing daughter leads to a raid on a hippie commune that turns into mass murder where Compton mistakenly shoots his own daughter. The film's plot coincidentally resembled a real-life mass murder in Detroit , where the killer had killed his own daughter. The real-life killer gained publicity for his actions, and received letters of support from hundreds of parents. The film has received praise for its black comedy -style satire of social class . Advertising executive Bill Compton, his wife Joan, and daughter Melissa are
1760-583: A series of action movies starring Chuck Norris , including Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and The Delta Force (1986). Missing in Action was criticized heavily as being a preemptive cash-in on the Rambo franchise . James Cameron 's story treatment for Rambo: First Blood Part II was floating around Hollywood in 1983, which Golan and Globus reviewed and were " inspired " by. The writers of MIA even gave Cameron credit saying their film
1848-516: A university residence and killed his daughter, her boyfriend and two other students. During pre-trial deliberations, Judge Joseph A. Gillis saw Joe and strongly advised both the prosecution and defense teams to do the same. He then carefully screened each member of the jury pool and excluded any who had seen the movie. He also forbade any seated juror from watching the movie or discussing it with anyone who had seen it. Although he brought with him multiple weapons and extra ammunition, Garland received
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#17327728365101936-455: A version of the song made famous by Jimi Hendrix), and other original songs by Jerry Butler and Bobby Scott . Breakin%27 Breakin' (also known as Breakdance in the United Kingdom and Break Street '84 in other regions ) is a 1983 American breakdancing -themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a story by Parker, DeBevoise and Gerald Scaife. The film's setting
2024-479: A wealthy family in New York City 's Upper East Side . Melissa has been living with her drug-dealing boyfriend. After Melissa overdoses and is sent to a hospital, Compton goes to her boyfriend's apartment to get her belongings. He confronts and kills the boyfriend in a fit of rage. To disguise the act as a robbery, Compton takes a bag full of drugs with him and stashes it in his car. To calm his nerves, he has
2112-556: Is considered to be the final financially profitable film released by Cannon. Breakin' was released to theaters on May 4, 1984, and despite receiving negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success. A theatrical sequel entitled Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo was released later in the same year. Protagonist Kelly "Special K" Bennett is a young dancer training under instructor Franco in Venice, California. Through her friend Adam, Kelly meets two street dancers, Ozone and Turbo on
2200-461: Is laced with implausibilities and the movie full of scenes which are heavily contrived but which play well because they are swept along by the plausibility of Joe himself." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "a fascinating, tendentious picture—a topical murder melodrama and social parable, done in that vivid, loaded, paranoid style which seems to have become a tradition in record time but which remains exciting to watch, even if you question
2288-598: The 13th highest-grossing film of 1970 . On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , it holds an 82% "Fresh" score based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. Norman Wexler 's screenplay received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay . Quentin Tarantino wrote in his book Cinema Speculation that Joe is "a kettle- black comedy about class in America, bordering on satire", and said that although contemporary viewers may find it controversial to call
2376-512: The 3-D Treasure of the Four Crowns , King Solomon's Mines , and the vigilante thriller sequel Exterminator 2 . The Cannon Group's biggest financial success was with the 1986 action film Cobra , which starred Sylvester Stallone ; not a low-budget film, it earned $ 160 million on a $ 25 million budget. Cannon produced musical and comedy films such as Breakin' , Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo , The Last American Virgin , and
2464-492: The Cannes Film Festival each year. Substantial pre-sales of the next years' films were made based on the strong salesmanship skills of Globus. 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. Slavenburg's bank [ nl ] in
2552-602: The Superman property) for a 1987 release. Cannon also further expanded their French assets, with the aim of becoming the largest film distributor in France. By 1986, output reached an apex with 43 films in one year. Golan remained chairman of the board, while Globus served as president. In 1986, Cannon attempted to produce film adaptations of the stage plays Zorba and American Buffalo , but these films never materialized. Another film project that ultimately never materialized
2640-571: The '80s." Diversifying from film production, Cannon had begun purchasing film distributors and movie theaters . The purchases ranged from European companies ( Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment , Tuschinski Theatres, a 49-screen theater chain in the Netherlands , and the 53-screen Cannon Cinema Italia ) to the sixth-largest chain in the United States , the 425-screen "marginally profitable" Commonwealth Theaters . Additionally, Cannon owned
2728-601: 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 prosecutors 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 Cannon Group, Inc. - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-639: The Ice Cave with Michael Moriarty and Sally Kellerman and A Man Called Sarge . The new slate of pictures was expected to cost $ 50 million The company managed to post a small operating profit before the end of the year. JAM was rebranded as Lambada to cash in on the craze and released in 1990. After the MGM-Pathé Communications merger, Parretti agreed to sell Pathé's 60% majority stake in Cannon Pictures to Assonitis and
2904-744: The Jewel of the East with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone returning to their roles, Return of the Delta Force and American Ninja Apprentice with Michael Dudikoff , David Bradley and Steve James' daughter Debbi, alongside new original projects The Sniper with Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis and The Golem with Al Pacino and Nastassja Kinski , but Golan died before any were produced. In 2014, there were two documentary films released about Cannon Films. RatPac Entertainment released Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films ,
2992-579: The MGM buyout. At the same board meeting, Assonitis and Cannon Pictures vice-chairman William J. Immerman were fired and replaced by Danny Dimbort. Cannon's marketing and casting operations were shut down by Pathé. All of Cannon Pictures' marketing was placed under Pathé's existing operations. Former Cannon Group production head Christopher Pearce was named as Assonitis' replacement and in November 1990, he bought Pathé's stake in Cannon Pictures for $ 14 million with
3080-649: The MGM library (certain rights for other media and select films during the Thorn EMI merger now lie with other entities). As MGM-Pathé Communications had a distribution deal with Warner Bros. (and who had part financed Parretti's takeover bid), Parretti axed the MGM/UA Home Video department as one of his first acts in charge, resulting in the loss of eighty jobs. Crédit Lyonnais foreclosed on Parretti in July 1991 after he defaulted on loan payments and sued for
3168-559: The Netherlands (which had provided Cannon's start-up capital in 1979) and their principal loan officer, Frans Afman, provided bridge financing until the pre-sales amounts were collected; this role was inherited by Credit Lyonnais after their purchase of Slavenburg's in 1983. In 1982, The Cannon Group, Inc. entered into a relationship with MGM/UA Entertainment Co. with the latter company serving as Cannon's distributor for North American theatrical and video releases; this would not be
3256-697: The Tokyo Film Festival. A judge blocked all sales made at Tokyo and blocked any further sales that were due to take place at MIFED 1994. To prevent any fraudulent deals at MIFED, a warning appeared in Screen International and other publications stating all business must be done with the court appointed trustee and not with Pearce. The United States bankruptcy court set a deadline of January 11, 1995 for creditors of Cannon Pictures to submit their claim and evidence of debt. Cannon Pictures, its library of 135 films, as well as 112 films from
3344-596: The U.S. release of The Apple ; erotic period drama pictures such as Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981), Bolero , and Mata Hari (1985); science fiction and fantasy films such as Hercules , Lifeforce , and The Barbarians ; and serious pictures such as John Cassavetes ' Love Streams , Franco Zeffirelli 's Otello (a film version of the Verdi opera ), Norman Mailer 's Tough Guys Don't Dance , and Andrei Konchalovsky 's Runaway Train and Shy People . During these years, Cannon prominently advertised at
3432-439: The boardwalk at Venice Beach . Kelly is enamored with their dancing, and all three become friends. This leads to their becoming their own dance troupe. Franco tells Kelly that breakdancing is low-class and not a real art. He is disrespectful to Ozone and Turbo, and makes inappropriate advances on Kelly. She quits training with Franco. Later, Kelly attends a dance audition and is shut down by harsh directors. Kelly then wanders to
3520-453: The coming of Citizen Joe : The times have changed but the man has not...He's back. The film never materialized. Norman Wexler was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 43rd Academy Awards . Ten weeks before Joe was released in the United States, a real-life mass murder with similarities to the movie's climactic scenes occurred in Detroit , Michigan . On May 7, 1970, a railroad worker named Arville Douglas Garland entered
3608-415: The commune, with Joe bringing rifles. In a confrontation at the commune, Joe starts shooting the hippies and urges Compton to join him. When Compton finally does so, he unwittingly kills his own daughter. The film has garnered both critical acclaim and box office success. Produced on a budget of only $ 106,000, it was a sleeper hit and grossed over $ 19.3 million in the United States and Canada, making it
The Cannon Group, Inc. - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-508: The company and two investment bankers, Robert Blake and Runa Alam, by the Independent Artists Picture Corp. The lawsuit claimed interference and breach of contract in connection with IAPCs plans to buy Cannon Pictures stock in a takeover bid, which would have seen Blake purchase Christopher Pearce's stock and Blake and Alam would then take control of the day-to-day operations of the company. During this time, Pearce
3784-675: The company announced and impressive line-up several new productions and releases, Fifty/Fifty , Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection and TOP KICK with Chuck Norris , WINGS with Michael Dudikoff , American Ninja 4 with Dudikoff and David Bradley , JAM to be directed by Joel Silberg , Dusted (later released as Death Warrant with Jean-Claude Van Damme ), Keaton's Cop with Lee Majors , Midnight Ride with Michael Dudikoff and Mark Hamill , an untitled film starring Charles Bronson , Crack House with Richard Roundtree and Jim Brown , Rockula , The Rose Garden with Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann , The Secret of
3872-956: The company in February 1991 as vice-president and CFO. American Ninja V and the unmade Ants of God were added to the slate at the AFM in 1991 and Warner Home Video signed an agreement to distribute Cannon Pictures' output in North America, UK, Japan, Italy and Australia for ten years. Cannon Pictures greatly expanded its slate in time for the Cannes Film Festival in 1991 with a total of 18 films, in addition to those already announced, there was; American Kickboxer 1 , Black Cat Run with Michael Dudikoff , The Borrower , Deep End from Boaz Davidson , Delta Force 3: The Killing Game , Dream Lover from Boaz Davidson , Ninja: The American Samurai , Solemn Oath and Terminal Bliss . When Crédit Lyonnais foreclosed on Parretti in July 1991,
3960-418: The company's previous incarnation, 21st Century Film Distribution officially went up for sale on August 14, 1997 with the auction taking place on September 15. The property was sold to Imperial Entertainment. In February 1998, a judge ruled that Ovidio G. Assonitis had been wrongfully terminated from the company by Parretti and Pathé. The judge awarded Assonitis $ 2.9 million in damages, but by this time, Pathé
4048-550: The company, but shortly after the takeover, a group of creditors including Charles Bronson and Everyvision Inc. sued Cannon Pictures to force it into bankruptcy. The creditors succeeded in pushing the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy . Soon afterwards, it was discovered Christopher Pearce was selling disputed Cannon titles, including Twin Sitters , Delta Force 3 , American Samurai , Street Knight , Tobe Hooper's Night Terrors and American Cyborg: Steel Warrior at
4136-524: The court 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. In 1989, Parretti reorganized Cannon Pictures, Inc. as the low-budget distribution arm of Pathé led by veteran Italian film producer Ovidio G. Assonitis . That year at MIFED,
4224-662: The creation of other tough, working class characters in 70s films and TV shows, including the character of Archie Bunker on the TV show All in the Family . In the 1980s, there were rumors that Peter Boyle might appear in a sequel to Joe . Citizen Joe , the sequel, would follow Joe as he tried to rebuild his life after spending 10 years in prison and would also deal with his grown up kids who held more liberal beliefs. Cannon Films periodically took out ads for unmade sequels to Joe . In 1980, Cannon promised Joe II then, in 1985, announced
4312-481: The drift and outcome of the parable." Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker wrote, "In the end, 'Joe' sells us short. It shows us clashing archetypes, promises us something of large mind, and then stammers platitudes that lead theatrically every which way." When Peter Boyle saw audience members cheering the violence in Joe , he refused to appear in any other film or television show that glorified violence. This included
4400-518: The drug dealer. As the men drink together, they find a rapport despite Compton's initial unease. A few days later, Compton and his wife have an awkward dinner at Joe's house with his wife, and Joe shows Compton his gun collection. Melissa escapes from the hospital and returns to the family apartment, where she overhears her parents discussing the murder. She confronts her father saying, "What are you gonna do, kill me too?" Compton tries to restrain her, but she breaks away. Joe and Compton search for her in
4488-415: The film a black comedy, he recalled that the audience he saw the film with in 1970, in a double feature with Carl Reiner 's Where's Poppa? , watched the first section of Joe in silence, only to begin laughing "once Dennis Patrick enters the tavern, and Peter Boyle's Joe enters the movie", having gone from "repulsed repose to outright hilarity". Tarantino says that "Boyle's comedic performance alleviates
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#17327728365104576-413: The film also features the previously released songs "Boogie Down" by Al Jarreau , " Tour de France " by Kraftwerk , " Beat Box " by Art of Noise and "Tibetan Jam" by Chris "The Glove" Taylor. Breakin' opened in 1,069 venues on May 4, 1984 and outgrossed Sixteen Candles , which had more screens (1,240). The film ranked number one in the box office, earning $ 6,047,686. By the end of its run,
4664-477: The film grossed $ 38,682,707 in the domestic box office, making it the eighteenth top-grossing film of 1984. Roger Ebert , who reviewed the film while it was in theatres, gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, stating that the movie was "a stiff and awkward story, interrupted by dance sequences of astonishing grace and power." Ebert praised the dancing and the chemistry of the stars but slammed the movie's screenplay and supporting characters. Breakin' currently holds
4752-431: The film rights to Spider-Man , and planned to make a Spider-Man film 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. Marvel and Sony would eventually complete a film in 2002 directed by Sam Raimi after the rights had been re-secured, following
4840-626: The final films produced by Golan and Globus that received a wide release under the Cannon Films banner was the 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 . 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
4928-664: The financial loss was staggering. Following the purchase of the Thorn EMI assets, Cannon Films was severely stretched, and faced bankruptcy ; in May 1987, Cannon sold its 2,000-title Thorn-EMI library for $ 85 million to Weintraub Entertainment Group . Shortly afterwards, Cannon dropped out of the HBO/Cannon Video joint venture with HBO due to Cannon's ongoing financial problems. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into Cannon's financial reports, suspecting that Cannon had fraudulently misstated them. On
5016-551: The four films he had made for Cannon. Cannon Pictures posted a net profit of $ 1.3 million for the nine months ending September 1992 and secured a new $ 15 million line of credit from the ING Bank in Amsterdam after Crédit Lyonnais refused to lend more until their loans were fully repaid, which wasn't due for another four years. In February 1993, Cannon ran out of money to continue production of Walker, Texas Ranger , due to
5104-738: The hits " Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us " by Ollie & Jerry , "Freakshow on the Dance Floor" by The Bar-Kays and the UK Top 20 hit "Body Work" by Hot Streak. Breakin' was one of the final Cannon film productions released by MGM/UA . After release, MGM and Cannon dissolved their distribution deal, reportedly over the potentially X-rated content in John Derek 's film Bolero and MGM's then-policy of not theatrically releasing X-rated material, forcing Cannon to become an in-house distribution company once again. Because of this, Breakin'
5192-406: The indictments of funding partner Banca Nazionale del Lavoro , then embroiled in a scandal over unauthorized loans to Iraq , and producers were desperately trying to raise more money to complete the miniseries . CBS Productions later stepped in with additional funds to complete the production. In August 1993, Cannon reported a net profit of $ 1 million for its second quarter, double the same period
5280-453: The judges and win the competition. The troupe's popularity skyrockets, and all three members continue dancing professionally and in the community. In a mid-credits scene, Special K, Ozone, and Turbo meet James some time after the competition, who informs them about a new phenomenon known as "the electric boogaloo ." According to the 2014 documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films , Menahem Golan of Cannon Films
5368-399: The judges in tuxedos, top hats and white gloves to give the impression of traditional dancers. Just before the audition starts, they rip off the sleeves of their shirts and show their true style. The judges are initially shocked and disapproving, yet within two minutes of their audition, the judges recognize the troupe's talent and allow them to continue. The troupe earns a standing ovation from
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#17327728365105456-487: The last time Cannon dealt with MGM. In 1984, Cannon expanded further into Europe, signing with UGC for French distribution, and acquiring Kenneth Rive's Gala Films, which was absorbed into Cannon Group's U.K. distribution arm. On June 25, 1985, Cannon bought the rights to produce future films based on the comic book character Superman from the Salkinds , and struck a distribution assignment with Warner Bros. (owners of
5544-465: The mid-1980s. Cannon Cinemas were a familiar sight in the United Kingdom until the late 1990s, when MGM Cannon cinemas were sold to Virgin who retained the multi screen sites and sold the traditional sites to a new ABC Cinemas . Cannon purchased the Thorn EMI film assets from businessman Alan Bond in April 1986 for £175 million; Cannon Screen Entertainment and archrival The Rank Organization jointly signed
5632-412: The music video for Chaka Khan 's remake of the 1979 Prince song " I Feel for You ". Ice-T, who had a small role in both Breakin' and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and was featured on the soundtrack to both films (helping introduce his music to a worldwide audience), was quoted as saying he considers the film and his own performance in it to be "wack". Breakin' and its sequel have had
5720-402: The now standard 16:9. Erik Abbey was the choreographer for the breakdancing scenes. The soundtrack of the film was released by Polydor Records in 1984. The album contains the first performance on an album by rapper Ice-T (who had previously released some 12" singles), produced by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor & David Storrs. Despite not being included on the official soundtrack,
5808-435: The picture's one-note ugliness". Variety wrote, "It sounds like heavy stuff, but scripter Norman Wexler has fleshed his serious skeleton with both melodrama plotting that sustains interest and the grittiest, most obscene dialog yet to boom from the silver screen. It works." Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote, "The sad, disappointing thing about 'Joe' is that a devastating, original idea cynically slopes into
5896-558: The previous year, due to the success of Walker, Texas Ranger . Cannon Pictures was sued for $ 14 million in December 1993 by Pictor Insurance Co. and the Peter Miller Corp. for breach of contract over Cannon pulling out of a financing agreement with the two companies. With this additional pressure, Christopher Pearce began exploring selling his stock in Cannon Pictures, but this resulted in another lawsuit being filed against
5984-558: The publicly traded Cannon Pictures into one single entity called the Cannon Entertainment Group. The merger was announced alongside a slate of pictures including Chicago Loop with James Spader , Cold to the Touch with Chuck Norris , Teen Angel from Boaz Davidson, Ivory to be directed by Aaron Norris , Delta Force IV: The Deadly Dozen directed by Brian Hutton and White Sun with Michael Dudikoff , as well as
6072-434: The removal of Paretti, his wife Maria Cecconi, his daughter Valentina Parretti, Yoram Globus , Florio Fiorini, Danny Dimbort, Antonio Pares-Neira and Lewis Horowitz from the board of directors. Parretti was pushed out of management control of MGM-Pathé Communications and the board and countersued Crédit Lyonnais , claiming they destroyed his ability to make money at MGM-Pathé, in an attempt to wrestle control back. Parretti
6160-528: The role of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (1971). The role would earn Gene Hackman the Oscar for Best Actor . Boyle nevertheless played a ruthless gangster in 1973's The Friends of Eddie Coyle and in 1974's Crazy Joe (not a sequel) and a not-so-ruthless gangster in the comedy Johnny Dangerously . He also appeared in the violent drama Taxi Driver . Joe inspired
6248-467: The sale of Cannon Pictures was questioned by the bank because Christopher Pearce was a board member of MGM-Pathé Communications at the time of the sale and the disclosure of interest of Pearce was not stated in documentation. Crédit Lyonnais' legal filings against Parretti also name Danny Dimbort, a member of the board of both companies, for receiving $ 140,000 "for services rendered, although Mr Dimbort did not perform any services to justify payments". Globus
6336-461: The streets and meet a group of hippies at a bar in downtown Manhattan . When Compton tells the hippies he has drugs, they are invited to the hippies' apartment, where they all take drugs and the girls have sex with Compton and Joe. The boys then abscond with Compton's bag of drugs as well as Joe's and Compton's wallets. Joe beats one of the girls until she tells him that their boyfriends often spend time in an upstate commune . Joe and Compton drive to
6424-625: 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 Crédit Lyonnais , already involved with Cannon for years, Pathé Communications' takeover of Cannon immediately began a corporate restructuring and refinancing of $ 250 million to pay off Cannon's 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
6512-525: Was a live-action film based on Barbie , with planned plotline concerning the doll showing her owner that her dreams could come true. A live-action movie based on the property wouldn't emerge until 2023. Other areas of interest included plans for television adaptation of Cannon properties., and following up their adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin with a total of 12 fairy tale films as the Cannon Movie Tales series; Cannon wound up releasing only
6600-401: Was a middle-management reshuffle at Cannon Pictures with an aim to maximise revenue from Cannon's releases. The Hitman proved to be an early success for the new team. Cannon later sued Vision International and its chairman Mark Damon for $ 15 million over Chuck Norris' involvement in the film, Sidekicks . Cannon Pictures retained Chuck Norris under an "exclusive services" contract that
6688-467: Was also exploring a sale to Panda Pictures, but this deal collapsed in another lawsuit with Panda claiming $ 20 million in damages from Cannon Pictures after Pearce reportedly lied about the company's financial condition. In 1994, Cannon Pictures released its last film, Hellbound in select theatres in Los Angeles. Shortly afterwards, Christopher Pearce sold controlling interest in Cannon Pictures to VMI Acquisitions Inc. The new owners settled some debts at
6776-483: Was bankrupt and had been foreclosed on by Credit Lyonnais. New Cannon, Inc. was formed by Menahem Golan in 2001 and he hired Evgeny Afineevsky to act as the company's president. Afineevsky would be based in Los Angeles, while Golan would be based in Tel Aviv. Crime and Punishment , which was originally shot in 1993 under Golan's 21st Century Film Corporation but was not released before 21st Century's bankruptcy,
6864-472: Was cancelled after the backers couldn't come to an arrangement with Crédit Lyonnais . Cannon continued with development of Walker, Texas Ranger after CBS picked the series up for 13 episodes. Cash flow problems began to have a serious impact on the company. In October 1992, James Spader sued Cannon Pictures over his $ 1 million fee for his Chicago Loop pay-or-play deal; and a suit from Michael Dudikoff followed in December, stating he had not been paid from
6952-817: Was cast in the lead role. Following Golan's departure from Cannon, he became the head of 21st Century Film Corporation , an independent company. The Cannon Group was renamed and restructured by Parretti with Globus being made co-president of Pathé Communications and chairman of Cannon International and Alan Ladd Jr. was brought in as chairman of Pathé Entertainment. In 1989, Pathé greenlit three films, The Russia House with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer , Quigley Down Under starring Tom Selleck and Fires Within with Jimmy Smits . They also announced Shattered directed by Wolfgang Petersen , Not Without My Daughter with Sally Field , Company Business starring Gene Hackman and Mikhail Baryshnikov as well as Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise . They signed
7040-539: Was eventually dismissed from the Crédit Lyonnais suits and set up foreign sales company, Melrose Entertainment, which handled much of Cannon Pictures' sales, alongside that of Global Pictures, another company run by Pearce. In the wake of the Crédit Lyonnais foreclosure on MGM-Pathé Communications , Pearce stepped down as president of Global Pictures, being replaced by Avi Lerner. In early 1992, there
7128-407: Was incorporated on October 23, 1967. It was formed by Dennis Friedland and Chris Dewey while they were in their early 20s. They had immediate success producing English-language versions of Swedish soft porn films directed by Joseph W. Sarno : Inga (1968), aka Jag––en oskuld and To Ingrid, My Love, Lisa (1968), aka Kvinnolek . By 1970, they had produced films on a larger production scale than
7216-534: Was inspired by a 1983 documentary titled Breakin' 'n' Enterin' , set in the multi-racial hip hop club Radio-Tron, based out of MacArthur Park in Los Angeles . Many of the artists and dancers from said documentary, including Ice-T (who makes his film debut as a club MC), and Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers , went straight from Breakin' 'n' Enterin' to star in Breakin' . The film's soundtrack featured
7304-481: Was inspired by his script treatment. The Cannon Group ignited a worldwide ninja craze with "The Ninja Trilogy", a film series which consisted of Enter the Ninja (1981), Revenge of the Ninja (1983), and Ninja III: The Domination (1984), all starring Sho Kosugi , as well as American Ninja (1985) and its sequel American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987). Other action/adventure films they produced included
7392-486: Was inspired to create this film after his daughter saw a breakdancer perform in Venice Beach, California . Golan pressured the production crew to complete the film before Orion Pictures released their breakdancing film Beat Street . Interesting trivia: Although the movie is released for home entertainment it is always only in the full screen version missing the full effect of the many dance moves and beach scenes of
7480-457: Was later convicted of perjury and evidence tampering in a Delaware court for statements he made in a 1991 civil case, brought by Credit Lyonnais 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,
7568-526: Was made in the 1980s by Menahem Golan . Cannon Pictures loaned Norris to the makers of Sidekicks for a cameo role under the agreement that he would not appear in more than 30% of the movie and Cannon objected to Norris receiving "above the title billing" for the film. At the Cannes Film Festival in 1992, Pearce and Yoram Globus announced they were merging Globus' privately held Melrose Entertainment, Pearce's privately owned Global Pictures and
7656-966: Was taken over by Vision Films later that year and Afineevsky went on to form New Generation Films to produce Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! from a script by Golan. He went on to make documentaries, Cries from Syria and Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom , which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Primetime Emmy Award in the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking category. Golan continued to produce and direct films after New Cannon, including Children of Wax with Armand Assante and Udo Kier , A Dangerous Dance and Marriage Agreement . In 2013, Golan announced sequels to several films he had produced The Cannon Group, Inc. in partnership with MGM including Allan Quatermain and
7744-616: Was their first offering alongside a slate of new films including Death Game , a remake of Fritz Lang's M , Kumite (later made as Final Combat but never released) and Open Heart (released in 2002 as Return from India ). By the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, New Cannon had completed Death Game and Return from India and announced a new project, Beauty and the Beast to be directed by Pharaoh Phillips alongside sales for previously released films Train to Hell and In Search of A Woman , an unreleased title from PM Entertainment . The company
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