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73-514: Grosse Pointe Blank was released by Buena Vista Pictures , receiving generally positive reviews from critics and grossing $ 31 million. As Los Angeles -based professional assassin Martin Blank prepares for a job, his assistant, Marcella, informs him that he has received an invitation to his ten-year high school reunion. A rival assassin, Grocer, approaches him about joining his fledgling union, which Martin refuses, preferring to work alone. On

146-487: A 25 picture distribution deal with Cinergi. The Gaumont Film Company and Disney formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, a joint venture in French distribution, in 1993. In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute Studio Ghibli animated films and provide 10% of the production cost of the studio's current in-production film, Spirited Away . Disney would go on to produce

219-770: A deal directly with Buena Vista International at the time. Prior to this, Warner Bros. originally handled said MENA markets except in Israel where Buena Vista handled theatrical distribution by themselves. In Taiwan , MGM first handled Disney's distribution, with 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. later taking over. A local distributor called Era Communications took over distribution from 1992 to 1995. At that time, Buena Vista began its Taiwanese operations. Columbia ended its joint distribution unit with Fox and switched to Buena Vista in 1999. Rights to Disney's films in West Germany were originally released by MGM (under CIC in

292-584: A distribution deal with MegaStar Joint Venture Company Limited in April 2006 for the Vietnam market. On April 25, 2007, Disney discontinued the usage of the Buena Vista brand in its distribution branding. In early 2009, Disney entered a distribution agreement with a reorganized DreamWorks ; the deal called for an estimated 30 films over a five-year period from DreamWorks and they would be released through

365-774: A good time with it. Only the aerial footage of Lakeshore Road was actually shot in Grosse Pointe. The city of Grosse Pointe Farms did not allow the filmmakers to use any shots of Grosse Pointe South High School for the movie due to the presence of alcohol in the reunion scenes. The majority of the film was shot in Monrovia, California . In a 1997 interview, actor John Cusack, who shares the film's screenwriting credit along with Jankiewicz, Steve Pink , and D. V. DeVincentis , said he would have liked to film on location in Grosse Pointe, but they were unable to move production to Michigan due to budget constraints. The scene where Martin

438-488: A home video distribution deal in Europe and Australia in which Warner Home Video distributed select Disney material on DVD from 1999 to 2002, when Disney opted to self-distribute DVDs in these aforementioned territories. Italia Film, a Lebanese film distribution and production company, is Disney's exclusive theatrical film distribution partner for various Middle East and North Africa ( MENA ) markets since 1993, after making

511-600: A job in Miami , Martin's attempt to make the target appear to have died of natural causes goes awry, and he is forced to shoot the target. His client firm demands that he make amends by killing a Federal witness in Detroit, Michigan , close to his hometown of Grosse Pointe , where the reunion is taking place. In Grosse Pointe, Martin discovers his childhood home has been replaced by an Ultimart convenience store, while his widowed estranged mother, to whom he had been sending money,

584-420: A large bore-to-sight distance will require more compensatory sight adjustment when shifting between shooting at different targets at close ranges (due to foreshortening ). On the other hand, a firearm with a short bore-to-sight distance will need less sight adjustment when changing between targets at close ranges. At longer ranges the bore-to-sight distance will be of less importance, since gravity has affected

657-445: A lower bore axis does typically yield reduced felt recoil and muzzle flip, shooters intent on reducing these features as much as possible (such as competitive sport shooters) will typically seek out handguns with heavy steel frames, as increasing the weight of the gun's non-reciprocating mass (the frame) yields greater reductions in felt recoil and muzzle flip than any difference in bore axis height can typically achieve. Handguns such as

730-563: A picatinny rail, the distance from the bore to the optical axis can be divided into distance from bore axis to top of rail, and distance from top of rail to center of the optical axis. For example on an AR-type rifle, the mil-spec distance from center of bore to top of rail is 1.211 inches, or approximately 31 mm (1.2 in). The mount height itself, that is the distance from the top of rail to center of scope, varies, but typically lies around 36–38 mm (1.4–1.5 in) (higher and lower mounts are also readily available). In total, this gives

803-402: A positive review. Travers praised the writing as "smart, not smartass", praised director George Armitage for smashing action scenes that reveal character, praised Aykroyd and the talented cast in smaller supporting roles, and ultimately said the film "flies on Cusack’s seductive malevolence," and called him a marvel. Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4. He praised the chemistry between

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876-506: A rating of 81%, based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A high-concept high school reunion movie with an adroitly cast John Cusack and armed with a script of incisive wit." Metacritic gave the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine wrote

949-525: A theatrical distribution agreement with Warner Bros. International for the release of Disney and Touchstone films in many overseas markets except in Australia and New Zealand , where distribution went through Roadshow Distributors instead (due to Roadshow also theatrically distributing Warner films as well during this period), with Disney retaining full control of all distribution and marketing decisions on their product (one notable practice in this policy

1022-409: A typical scoped AR-style rifle a height over bore of around 67–69 mm (2.6–2.7 in). The recoil from a fired cartridge (and the action movement) exerts a rearward impulse along the bore axis, which is commonly above the center of mass of the gun. Meanwhile, the gripped areas of the gun, where the user will exert a reactional forward push countering the recoil, is almost always below

1095-722: Is a ballistics term of reference to the distance a bullet travels before dropping from the firearm's bore axis . Jankiewicz simultaneously worked as a substitute teacher and a cashier at a Big Lots in Upland, California , to make ends meet before his script was picked up for production. Jankiewicz, who was raised in Sterling Heights, based several of the film's characters on his real-life friends from Bishop Foley Catholic High School in Madison Heights, Michigan . For example, Jeremy Piven 's character, Paul Spericki,

1168-719: Is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company . It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing and promotion for films produced and released by the Walt Disney Studios , including Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , 20th Century Studios , and internationally Searchlight Pictures ; which operates its own autonomous theatrical distribution and marketing unit in

1241-505: Is attacked by LaPoubelle while exploring the halls of his old high school was filmed at Reseda High School in the San Fernando Valley . Armitage later recalled: With Grosse Pointe Blank I shot three movies simultaneously. We shot the script as written, we shot a mildly understated version, and we shot a completely over-the-top version, which usually was what was used. We cast that movie—and I've cast most movies—by having

1314-661: Is living in a nursing home, suffering from dementia. Martin reconnects with his childhood friend Paul and high school sweetheart Debi Newberry, now a radio DJ, whom Martin had abandoned on prom night to enlist in the Army . Martin is stalked by Felix LaPoubelle, another hitman, who attempts to kill Martin, including by blowing up the Ultimart. He is also followed by two National Security Agency agents who were tipped off to Martin's contract by Grocer. Martin remains distracted by his desire to reconcile with Debi and procrastinates in opening

1387-500: Is obscuring Warner references in posters and it is credited only in very small text with the exception of some UK posters where sometimes the full logo is shown). Warner previously had an overseas distribution partnership with Columbia Pictures , but it was dissolved in 1988. In 1992, Disney opted to end their joint venture with Warner Bros. to start autonomously distributing their films in these aforementioned overseas markets beginning with Aladdin , inspiring Warner Bros. to establish

1460-459: Is the only studio that has achieved this eight times, in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2024. 2016 included four $ 1 billion releases, and 2019 included seven $ 1 billion releases, both records for any studio. Disney has released seven of the top ten highest-grossing animated films , the highest-grossing G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated films of all time, and sixteen of the twenty highest-grossing G-rated films. In addition, four of

1533-458: Is too stunned by the killing spree to respond, though Debi's father, shaken by the day's events, gives him his blessing. Debi and Martin leave Grosse Pointe together. Martin is visibly cheerful, and Debi confesses on her prerecorded radio show that she's decided to give love another chance. Screenwriter Tom Jankiewicz wrote the initial script for Grosse Pointe Blank in 1991 after receiving an invitation to his 10th high school reunion. He picked

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1606-673: The True-Life Adventures series, led Walt and his older brother Roy O. Disney to form its wholly owned subsidiary, the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company, Inc. (BVDC), to handle North American distribution of their own products. RKO refused to distribute the film. The name "Buena Vista" came from the eponymous street in Burbank, California, where the Walt Disney Studios was located (and remains to this day). Buena Vista's first release

1679-475: The CZ-75 , which combine a heavy steel frame with a low bore axis (relative to other hammer-fired guns) achieve twofold reductions to felt recoil and muzzle flip, and are popular choices in many competitive shooting disciplines. Striker-fired handgun designs are typically able to achieve a lower bore axis than their hammer-fired counterparts since strikers travel straight forward, rather than up and forward like

1752-580: The Crest by 1989. The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19, 1991. In 1992, Buena Vista made production loans totaling $ 5.6 million to Cinergi Pictures for its film Medicine Man and its 1994 films Renaissance Man and Color of Night and were distributing Cinergi's films. The corporation purchased a 12.8% share in Cinergi with its initial public offering in 1994. Soon, BVPD signed

1825-629: The Family Entertainment label to self-distribute family-friendly films under the Warner umbrella at the same period. In those territories from 1993 to 2007, Disney reactivated the Buena Vista International name, and also sent distribution under it in countries that did not have any current arrangements with other companies. Disney would then continue its overseas film distribution relationship with Warner Bros. through

1898-630: The Hollywood Masonic Temple —adjacent to the El Capitan Theatre—for Totally Toy Story , a multimedia funhouse and a promotional event for the movie. On July 17, 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the Hollywood Masonic Temple building to continue using it as a promotional venue. By 1997, BVPD's share in Cinergi dropped to 5%. After nine films were delivered under the agreement, Cinergi sold on November 22, 1997 all of its 12-film library with

1971-514: The $ 1 billion mark in worldwide grosses—the most of any major Hollywood studios —with thirteen of the twenty highest-grossing films of all time being distributed by Disney; including the highest-grossing films in North America ( Star Wars: The Force Awakens ) and worldwide ( Avatar ). Of those thirteen films, six of them have crossed the $ 2 billion mark in worldwide grosses, the most for any studio. Disney has directly released three of

2044-455: The '80s music, but which were released in time for the 10-year reunion in 1996. The post-graduation/pre-reunion songs include: The soundtrack album reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 chart, prompting the release of a second volume of songs from the film. Many songs from the film do not appear on the soundtracks. Songs that appear in the film (in order of film appearance): Songs in

2117-576: The Brazilian branch of Buena Vista International was also renamed Star Distribution following the dropping of the Buena Vista brand in the Latin American region on February 11, 2022. However, the Buena Vista International name is still used on Latin American and Brazilian prints of 20th Century/Searchlight titles. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has released 31 films that have crossed

2190-606: The Buena Vista International banner. The Australian-produced film Subdivision was released in the Australian and New Zealand theaters on August 20, 2009, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under the Buena Vista International label in Australia with Lightning Entertainment handling the international distribution. On October 3, 2017, it was announced that Disney would be handling international distribution of M. Night Shyamalan 's Glass , released in early 2019, through

2263-427: The Buena Vista International banner. The film is a sequel to his earlier films Unbreakable (distributed by Disney through Touchstone) and Split (distributed by Universal Pictures ). Through an arrangement made with Disney, Universal retained domestic rights to the film, while Disney distributed in international territories under the label. The UK-produced film Patrick was also released in 2018 by Disney under

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2336-707: The Buena Vista International label in the UK. Missing Link was also released by Disney under Buena Vista International in Latin America, Russia and some countries in Asia. On February 11, 2022, the Latin American branch of Buena Vista International was renamed Star Distribution , as the Star branding replaced the Buena Vista brand company-wide in the Latin American region by Disney Latin America . On November 3, 2022,

2409-842: The Clash, the tracks featured in the film are largely a mix of popular and alternative 1980s punk rock , ska , and new wave from such bands as Violent Femmes , Echo & the Bunnymen , the Specials , the Jam , Siouxsie and the Banshees and A-ha . While most songs played throughout the film (especially at the reunion) had been recorded by the time of the students' graduation in 1986, several songs were recorded later. Joe Strummer's scoring captured music that aired before their graduation in 1986 as well as newer songs that were thematically in line with

2482-704: The Czech Republic respectively. Disney and Sony Pictures formed in 1997 a film distribution joint venture in Southeast Asia. By December 2006, 14 joint distribution ventures with Sony Pictures Releasing International were formed and exist in countries including Brazil , Mexico , Singapore , Thailand and the Philippines . In January 2007, their fifteenth such partnership began operations in Russia and CIS . In February 2017, Sony starting leaving

2555-528: The Disney studios and was acquired from an independent studio, making The Black Hole the first PG-rated Disney film. In July 1987, Buena Vista changed its name to Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. (BVPD). Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a controlling stake in one of Pacific Theatres ' chains leading to Disney's Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate the El Capitan Theatre and

2628-588: The English dubs and distribute 15 of Ghibli's films, through the Walt Disney Pictures , Buena Vista Home Video , Miramax and Touchstone Pictures banners. In September 1996, following Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC , Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. was merged into ABC, Inc., the parent company of that group. For the November 1995 premiere of Toy Story , Disney rented

2701-484: The NSA agents descend upon the house. During the siege, Martin tells Debi that he left her on prom night to protect her from his homicidal urges; however, having fallen in love with her again, he has developed a newfound respect for life. Martin kills Grocer's henchmen, and they both shoot the NSA agents when they burst onto the scene. Out of ammunition, Martin takes out Grocer with a TV set. Martin proposes marriage to Debi, who

2774-950: The Southeast Asia venture with the Philippines. On August 14, 2017, Sony terminated the joint venture agreement for their own operations. On January 31, 2019, in anticipation of the then-pending acquisition of the most 21st Century Fox assets (which includes 20th Century Fox), Disney agreed to sell its stake in the Mexican joint venture named Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing de México to Sony Pictures Releasing . In Greece and Cyprus , Disney's movies are distributed through local distributor Feelgood Entertainment, which also distributes Sony Pictures films in those territories. In Japan, to adapt Japan's theatrical and home media distribution model, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Japan and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Japan were merged as Walt Disney Studios Japan on March 1, 2010,

2847-743: The Touchstone banner. In 2011, GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights of the Ghibli films, with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment retaining the home video rights until July 2017 when Shout! Factory took over the home video rights. However, Disney only handles home video distribution of the company's films in Japan and formerly Taiwan and China. Disney's distribution deal with DreamWorks expired in August 2016, after

2920-611: The United States, while Searchlight continued to operate their autonomous distribution unit. In late 2020 and early 2021, Disney reorganized the studio, placing it under the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution unit which also oversees distribution to Disney+ . Under this structure, the Theatrical Distribution unit oversaw the domestic and international films produced by all the studios within

2993-465: The United States. The company was originally established by Walt Disney in 1953 as Buena Vista Film Distribution Company Inc. (later renamed Buena Vista Distribution Inc. and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Inc. ). It took on its current name in late 2007. Before in 1953, Disney's productions were previously distributed by: A dispute with RKO Pictures in 1953 over the distribution of The Living Desert , Disney's first full-length film in

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3066-1085: The Walt Disney Studios umbrella. In February 2023, returning CEO Bob Iger reversed this decision and reorganized the studio again, returning it as a division under the purview of The Walt Disney Studios . Walt Disney Studios has produced or distributed 35 films that have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture : fifteen from its former Miramax division, six from Touchstone Pictures , five from Searchlight Pictures , four from Walt Disney Pictures , three from 20th Century Studios , two from Hollywood Pictures , and one from Marvel Studios . Of those nominated films, five films—Miramax's The English Patient , Shakespeare in Love , Chicago , No Country for Old Men , and Searchlight's Nomadland —have won Best Picture. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures currently distributes films from across all units of Walt Disney Studios with

3139-474: The Warner Bros. joint venture. In Italy and Brazil , Disney's movies were distributed by Cinema International Corporation and United International Pictures before the Warner Bros. joint venture. In Australia and New Zealand , Disney's movies were distributed initially by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , before distribution switched to British Empire Films (later Greater Union Film Distributors ) following

3212-606: The actors come in and read, then throwing the script out and saying: "Okay, let's improvise." That's what I was comfortable with. I say to the actors: "You are creating the character. This is written, these are the parameters, this is the outline. Now you take this, make it your own, and bring me, bring me, bring me."... I'm very fond of Grosse Pointe Blank because of that, the insanity of it was trying to keep things working with three different registers to choose from. Armitage says he shot several endings: I'm usually rather rough on studio heads in terms of creative help, but after seeing

3285-479: The audience so angry at Alec Baldwin dying in Miami Blues , I decided that on Grosse Pointe Blank , this time, dealing with another psychopath , another sociopath , John's character—I just wanted him to survive, and we shot so many different endings. They were so generous at Disney, we had Michael Ovitz and Joe Roth running the place, they were really great with us. We shot two or three different endings,

3358-413: The barrel. Boresighting is a process of placing one's line of sight down along the bore axis. The distance between the bore axis and the sight axis (the optical axis of a sighting device ), also known as the sight height , is an important factor to consider due to parallax principles. It is normally desirable to keep the sights of a firearm as close to the bore as possible, since a firearm with

3431-407: The box office. It went on to earn $ 28,084,357 in the United States, and a total of $ 31,070,412 worldwide. In the United States, it was released the same month as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion , another 1980s-themed high school reunion film that Disney was involved with. Grosse Pointe Blank received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film

3504-400: The degree of muzzle rise. A lower bore axis will align more of the recoil directly into the hand, creating less couple torque and thus less muzzle rise. Among other things that affect muzzle rise and felt recoil is the weight of the pistol frame and tuning of recoil springs. The presence of a buttstock in a long gun will also help negate the effect of muzzle rise by shifting the pivot of

3577-552: The distribution unit was renamed Walt Disney Japan on November 22, 2016. In China , due to its regulated policies on international film distribution, all of Disney's films in China are distributed by China Film Co., Ltd. and/or Huaxia Film Distribution , but Disney still hold all promotional rights of their films unless it's sold to third-party companies. Disney distributed the 2008 Indian Tamil film Dasavathaaram in Canada under

3650-593: The dossier on his target. At a restaurant, Grocer tells Martin that LaPoubelle was hired by a wealthy dog owner whose prize retriever was killed on one of Martin's previous assignments. Martin replies that he knows Grocer put the agents on his trail and again refuses to join the union. Debi is conflicted about her feelings for Martin, but he persuades her to attend the reunion with him. At the reunion, Martin and Debi rekindle their relationship as they dance together intimately, and sneak off to have sex. Martin runs into LaPoubelle, whom he kills in self-defense. Debi stumbles upon

3723-547: The early 1970s) and later to 20th Century Fox , and then to United International Pictures before the Warner Bros. joint venture. In September 2004, Buena Vista International announced they would begin to start theatrically distributing certain films from Universum Film in Germany and Austria beginning in February 2005, replacing a previous deal with United International Pictures . The deal ended in late 2019 after Universum

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3796-479: The exception of Die Hard with a Vengeance to Disney, plus $ 20 million in exchange for Disney's Cinergi share holdings, production advances of $ 35.4 million and other loans. In 2002, Disney signed a four animated film deal with Vanguard Animation ; however, only one film was released under that negotiation. In 2004, BVI and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International. Buena Vista International agreed to

3869-400: The exception of Searchlight Pictures , which maintains its own autonomous distribution and marketing operations for releases in the United States and select markets. Other Disney film units and some third-party studios including: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International was formed in 1961 as Buena Vista International . On May 4, 1987, despite being industry rivals, Disney signed

3942-481: The final film in that distribution deal, was also the last film released under Touchstone. On December 14, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox , which included 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures . On March 20, 2019, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox was completed. Following the reorganization and renaming of the acquired film units, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing 20th Century Studios films in

4015-419: The gun's center of mass. This force couple creates a rotational torque around the mass center and make the gun pitch upwards after each shot — a phenomenon known as muzzle rise . This is more prominent in shorter-barreled weapons such as handguns due to less frontal weight available to counter the upward lifting of the muzzle , and how high the bore axis sits above the gripping hand will also affect

4088-457: The lead actors and enjoyed the dialogue, but considered it a "near-miss", wishing for a wittier, more articulate ending rather than an action sequence. The score for Grosse Pointe Blank was composed by Joe Strummer , formerly of the Clash , and the soundtrack includes two songs by the Clash: " Rudie Can't Fail " and their cover version of Willi Williams ' " Armagideon Time ". In addition to

4161-778: The merger of the Australian MGM cinema chains until the latter merged with Village Roadshow in 1987 and Roadshow Films took over distribution. The company begin distributing films in Australia and New Zealand in 1999 after its own distribution deal with Roadshow expired in 1998. In some other countries in Europe, such as Poland , Hungary and the Czech Republic , Disney's movies were instead released through local distributors, such as Filmoteka Narodowa in Poland, InterCom Zrt. in Hungary and Guild Film Distribution in

4234-402: The muzzle rise back towards the butt end, thus utilizing the entire gun's weight with a longer lever to counter the rise. Handguns lack a buttstock to aid in recoil control, so design elements that reduce felt recoil or muzzle flip are considered highly desirable and numerous manufacturers claim their handgun design has a low bore axis, although few offer measurements to prove this claim. While

4307-436: The phone, provides Marcella with a generous severance , and finally opens the dossier detailing the contract that brought him to Grosse Pointe. He discovers the target is Debi's father, Bart, who is scheduled to testify against Martin's client. Grocer decides to kill Bart himself to impress Martin's client and eliminate Martin as a competitor. Martin abandons the contract and saves Bart, taking him home. Grocer, his cohorts, and

4380-411: The projectile so much that the height difference between the bore axis and the sight axis has far less impact compared to the bullet drop. Traditional bolt hunting rifles usually have had the optical center of about 38 mm (1.5 in) above the bore, while AR-type rifles and modern bolt-action rifles usually have their optical center about 68 mm (2.7 in) above the bore. On firearms with

4453-413: The same year, Disney broke the previous records by making an unprecedented $ 13.2 billion at the global box office. —Includes theatrical reissue(s) Bore axis The bore axis of a firearm is the longitudinal axis through the geometric center of the gun barrel . In a rifled barrel, the projectile ( bullet / ball , pellet or slug ) will spin around the bore axis as it goes through

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4526-689: The scene and flees the reunion in shock. Debi confronts Martin in his hotel room. He explains that, when he joined the Army, his psychological profile indicated a "moral flexibility" that prompted the Central Intelligence Agency to recruit him as an assassin, after which he decided to freelance. Martin assures Debi that he accepts only contracts on corrupt individuals. His efforts to rationalize his work anger Debi, who rejects his attempts at reconciliation. Martin decides to retire from contract killing. He fires his psychiatrist, Oatman, over

4599-434: The title while substitute teaching for an English class at Upland High School , writing the title on the classroom's whiteboard to see how it would look on a movie-theater marquee. Jankiewicz decided to use Grosse Pointe , an upscale suburb of Detroit , Michigan, rather than his working-class hometown of Sterling Heights, Michigan , due to the contrast between the two towns. There is also the wordplay ("point blank"), which

4672-412: The top five opening weekends were Disney releases. In 2015, Disney achieved its largest yearly box-office gross worldwide and in North America. In 2016, Disney surpassed $ 7 billion in worldwide yearly box-office gross—the first of any major studio—surpassing the previous 2015 record. In 2019, Disney became the first studio ever to have seven releases cross $ 1 billion each in a single year. In

4745-441: The top five highest-grossing films in history ( Avengers: Endgame , Avatar: The Way of Water , and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ) and has owned the rights to the other two films ( Avatar and Titanic ) since their release. In addition, Disney is the first of only three studios that have released at least two billion-dollar films in the same year (the others being Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures ). Furthermore, Disney

4818-543: The trailer but not in the film: The film was released on VHS and DVD in 1998 in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand. According to Joan Cusack, the 2008 film War, Inc. is an informal sequel . Both films are similar in style and theme, and both star John as an assassin and his sister Joan as his assistant, with Dan Aykroyd in a supporting role. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

4891-410: The two of them getting together, talking about things, and everything didn't work. And Joe Roth said at one of the screenings: "When the father says 'You've got my blessing' in the bathtub at the end, after the shoot-out, just cut to the two of them leaving." I thought, "Let's give it a shot," and it worked beautifully. The film earned an estimated $ 6,870,397 in its opening weekend, ranking number four at

4964-535: The two studios decided to not renew their agreement on December 16, 2015, with Universal Pictures replacing Disney as DreamWorks' distributor. By the end of the deal, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks's original 30-picture agreement; thirteen through Touchstone and one through Walt Disney Pictures . Disney took complete ownership rights of those 14 DreamWorks films from Amblin Partners in exchange for loans made to that company. The Light Between Oceans ,

5037-434: The writers, was 132 pages. I said: "Look, I'm not doing anything over 100 pages." They said, "Okay," and they did a rewrite, and it came back 150 pages. So I said "Okay, you guys are fired," and I spent most of preproduction rewriting the screenplay, getting it down to 102 pages. Then we would improvise, and I noticed that some of the stuff I'd cut out was in the improvs, they were bringing back stuff that I'd cut out, but we had

5110-455: Was originally named after Jankiewicz's best friend during high school, although the name was changed during filming. The film's script was based on an urban legend about a student who became a professional hitman. Joan Cusack 's character, Marcella, was named for Jankiewicz's manager at Big Lots. George Armitage later said, "I did as much as anyone did in terms of writing", but did not seek credit. The script, when I met with John [Cusack] and

5183-596: Was sold by the RTL Group to Tele München Group , who began to self-distribute releases afterwards under the Leonine Distribution name. In Spain , Filmayer S.A. originally released Disney's movies, with Warner Española S.A. later taking over. In the United Kingdom , Disney's movies were released through a collaboration of Disney and 20th Century Fox known as UK Film Distributors Ltd. before

5256-459: Was sold to Disney Productions and British Commonwealth Film Corporation. In allocating the foreign film licenses to the company, Disney would use 5 and Commonwealth 8. In April 1960, the company dropped "Film" from its name. In 1961, Disney incorporated Buena Vista International (BVI), distributing its first PG-rated film, Take Down , in January 1979. The low-budget movie was not produced by

5329-929: Was the Academy Award -winning live-action feature The Living Desert on November 10, 1953, along with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom , Buena Vista's first animated release. Notable subsequent releases included the Austrian film Victoria in Dover , the Japanese Daiei film Princess Yang Kwei Fei ( Most Noble Lady ), released in US theaters in September 1956, The Missouri Traveler in March 1958, and The Big Fisherman in July 1959 (the first third-party production financed by Disney). By July 5, 1957, RKO Japan, Ltd.

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