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98-607: The sequel was produced by Cannon Films , which had purchased the rights to the Death Wish concept from Dino De Laurentiis . Cannon executive Menahem Golan planned to direct the film, but Winner returned on Bronson's insistence. The soundtrack was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page . Death Wish II was released in the United States in February 1982 by Filmways Pictures . Like the original, Columbia Pictures handled

196-532: 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

294-525: 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,

392-402: A bit part, or happened to be passing by during a shooting. Among them were drug addicts, a drag queen , Hare Krishnas , and bikers. All were included by the director in an attempt to get an authentic feel of the streets of Los Angeles. Winner tried to keep the mood on the set lighthearted. "Just because a film is terrifying, that doesn't mean the people making it have to be grim", he said. All of

490-588: 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

588-511: A couple being assaulted in a parking garage by four muggers, which includes Jiver. Paul kills two rapists and wounds Jiver. Paul then follows Jiver's blood trail into an abandoned warehouse and kills him. The LAPD suspect that the murders are the work of a vigilante and ask the NYPD for guidance. NYPD Detective Frank Ochoa suspects it may be Paul again, and is sent to assist with the case. Ochoa understands that Paul, when caught, will reveal that he

686-472: A day in order to complete it before a Screen Actors Guild strike. The film was shot on location and depicted actual "sleazy" areas of the city. Twenty off-duty men of the LAPD were hired to protect the film cast and crew from potential trouble. A scene involving the abandoned and crumpling Hollywood Hotel was shot in an abandoned hotel months before it was demolished. Several film extras were locals hired to play

784-564: 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

882-661: 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

980-440: 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

1078-416: 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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1176-446: 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

1274-467: 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

1372-688: 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

1470-409: 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

1568-492: 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 . Brian Garfield Brian Francis Wynne Garfield (January 26, 1939 – December 29, 2018) was an Edgar Award -winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at

1666-400: A pair of magician's gloves and waved his knife like a wand, while Kevyn Major Howard waxed his eyebrows and shaved the front of his head to make himself look like a snake. He even developed mannerisms like his insane laugh, slapping his head and twirling a baton from seeing a live drummer in a punk band. Among the final revisions of the script was a change in location. The original script set

1764-446: A plate-glass window, falls onto an iron fence, and dies. Paul later refuses to help the police identify the muggers. After Carol's funeral, he takes his handgun to a low-rent inner-city hotel as a base of operations. The next evening, he sees Stomper and follows him into an abandoned building as a drug deal is about to be made. Paul shoots a dealer and orders the others out before killing Stomper. The following night, he hears screams from

1862-685: A portrait artist and friend of Georgia O'Keeffe . O'Keeffe had introduced the pair. He was the nephew of chorus dancer and stage manager Chester O'Brien , and a distant relative of Mark Twain. In the 1950s Garfield toured with the Palisades, who released a single on the Calico label . He attended the University of Arizona and served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves from 1957 to 1965. His first novel, Range Justice , written when he

1960-412: A presentation of his building design for the radio station. The owner invites him to a launch party, but questions why Paul always seems to be unavailable in the evenings and never takes any phone calls. When Paul accepts the invitation he answers, "What else would I be doing?" Paul returns to the streets at night and continues his killing spree. Brian Garfield , author of the original Death Wish novel,

2058-588: 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

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2156-469: A victim of crime as the thugs he leaves dead in his wake". Bronson was offered $ 1.5 million to reprise the role. Jill Ireland was cast in the film because Bronson, her husband, insisted on it. She serves as both the love interest to Paul and the voice of opposition to the death penalty . She had been offered a role in the film's predecessor, Death Wish (1974), but Charles Bronson refused because he didn't want his wife humiliated and messed around with by

2254-403: A vigilante rely on his use of weapons. In the sequel, he is able to beat up men who are considerably younger than himself. While casting the actors for the roles of the villains, Winner gave the actors playing the thugs a lot of creative leeway. They bought their own costumes, designed their own makeup and tested them out on passers-by to see how intimidating they'd look. Laurence Fishburne bought

2352-414: A vigilante. In the original film, Paul would shoot and kill every criminal in his vicinity. In the sequel, he is after five specific criminals who are responsible for the death of his daughter. His single-minded pursuit extends to ignoring other potential targets. He is seen to ignore most thieves, drug dealers, and one violent pimp. Another change involves his abilities. In the first film, his activities as

2450-476: Is a close friend who owns a radio station for whom he is designing a new building and he is dating one of its reporters, Geri Nichols. They go to pick up Paul's daughter, Carol, from the mental hospital. They spend the afternoon at a fairground, where Paul's wallet is stolen by a gang, consisting of Nirvana, Punkcut, Stomper, Cutter, and Jiver. The gang splits up when Paul chases them. He pursues Jiver, whom he corners in an alley. When Jiver says that he does not have

2548-440: Is just a series of dumb killings." Variety called it "every bit as revolting as... the original". On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 33% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 3.58/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 11 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The movie was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture. The film

2646-487: Is sent to a mental institution. Geri is writing a story about the case and capital punishment and takes Paul to the hospital to meet the doctor treating Nirvana. While there, Paul steals another doctor's coat and identification card and uses it to enter the asylum and confront Nirvana. After repeatedly stabbing Paul with a shiv , Nirvana ends up plunging his arm into a high-voltage panel. Paul turns it on, fatally electrocuting him. Donald Kay, an orderly, recognizes Paul from

2744-461: Is underway. A sniper scouts Paul and attempts to kill him. Ochoa warns Paul and fatally shoots the sniper. Ochoa is mortally wounded by Nirvana, and Paul wounds Punkcut and kills Cutter and another dealer. The arms dealer tries to get away, but Paul shoots and causes his car to drive off a cliff and explode. Nirvana escapes. Ochoa tells Paul to avenge him and dies. Paul escapes, and Punkcut dies from his injuries after giving information about Nirvana to

2842-512: 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

2940-492: 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

3038-605: 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

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3136-571: 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

3234-540: 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

3332-518: The Christmas of 1981. Filmways decided to postpone release until February 1982 to face a weaker competition for an audience. The film became the top-grossing film of its opening week. The film was first released on VHS and then on DVD . It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in the U.S. in May 2022 by Vinegar Syndrome. The film grossed $ 29 million in United States theaters, a rare box-office hit for

3430-643: 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

3528-745: 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 ,

3626-583: 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

3724-651: 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

3822-560: 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

3920-700: 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

4018-596: 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

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4116-427: The United States and Canada were purchased by Filmways . The company had recently acquired American International Pictures , known for its exploitation films , and the film fit in with their library of genre films. Columbia Pictures purchased the international distribution rights. Paramount Pictures purchased the television broadcast rights for the domestic market. The film was originally intended for release around

4214-749: The action in San Francisco, but the revision moved the setting to Los Angeles. Winner said the film was "the same, but different", from the original. "That's what sequels are – Rocky II , Rocky III – you don't see Sylvester Stallone move to the Congo and become a nurse. Here the look of LA is what's different. Besides – rape doesn't date!" Principal photography began on May 4 , 1981, in Downtown Los Angeles and concluded on July 1, 1981, in San Pedro . Filming often lasted twelve hours

4312-407: The actors who played muggers. After she was hired for this film, Bronson wanted her character not to get raped or killed by the villains of the film. Cannon initially asked Golan to direct, but Bronson insisted on recruiting Michael Winner , the director of the original. Winner had suffered a downturn in his career since the mid-1970s, with no box-office hit since Death Wish . He agreed to return to

4410-537: The age of 79. His wife said the cause was complications of Parkinson's disease. John Grisham credited Garfield’s article "Ten Rules for Suspense Fiction" with "giving him the tools" to write his thrillers. When he died, Lawrence Block tweeted, “RIP Brian Garfield. Fine writer, friend for years”. In 2015, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center in Santa Fe announced that Brian Garfield and his wife had given

4508-487: The age of eighteen. Garfield went on to author more than seventy books across a variety of genres, selling more than twenty million copies worldwide. Nineteen were made into films or TV shows. He is best known for Death Wish (1972), which launched a lucrative franchise when it was adapted into the 1974 film of the same title . Garfield was born in New York City, the son of George Garfield and Frances O'Brien,

4606-402: The ailing Filmways. The company still ended 1982 with losses of $ 52.7 million. It was subsequently purchased by Orion Pictures . Another account says it made $ 10 million in rentals. It made a $ 2 million profit for Cannon Films and made an extra $ 29 million worldwide. It has since earned further money at home and abroad through release for the video market. A poll for HBO noted Death Wish II

4704-509: 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

4802-675: 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

4900-903: 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,

4998-421: 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

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5096-553: 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

5194-526: 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,

5292-493: The deteriorating state of our criminal justice system. The actions of the Bronson character are dictated by the inability of the police to prevent crime, the preoccupation of the courts with technical rather than real justice, and the cancerous climate of fear in which we find ourselves today. Paul Kersey is no hero. In his pursuit of vengeance he loses the only emotional relationship of his life and by story's end has become as much

5390-434: 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

5488-487: The filming happened in Los Angeles, California . Places like San Pedro , Ladera Heights and Hollywood were included. Silvana Gallardo said the rape scene was "grueling" and took about six days to film. To prepare for the role, she talked to an actual rape victim. Isaac Hayes was recommended by the producers of the film to compose the score. Michael Winner chose former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page , who

5586-626: 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

5684-619: 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

5782-553: 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

5880-403: The franchise and took the initiative in revising Engelbach's script. Winner recalled that De Laurentiis was having second thoughts about letting someone else produce the sequel and offered to hire him to do the film for his own production company. Winner refused, and De Laurentiis did not renege on his deal with Cannon. The producer, however, started work on a " clone " of the film. The final result

5978-408: 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

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6076-401: The international release. Paramount Pictures , via Trifecta Entertainment & Media , handles the television rights. It earned $ 29 million during its domestic theatrical run. Roughly eight years since the events of the first film , Paul Kersey has managed to recover from his shattered life and moved on and is now living in Los Angeles and working as a freelance architect. One of his clients

6174-491: 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

6272-466: 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

6370-428: The newspaper coverage of Carol's murder, and gives him three minutes to escape before he rings the alarm. Geri goes to Paul's house and finds out that he made a fake doctor's ID. Upon hearing a news report of Nirvana's death on the radio, she realizes that Paul really is the vigilante that Ochoa claimed him to be. She takes off her engagement ring and leaves Paul, who arrives home moments later. Months later, Paul attends

6468-447: The police characters, and Jill Ireland's unconvincing performance. Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, noting that he reserves this rating solely for those very few films that are both "artistically inept and morally repugnant." Citing the lethargic tone of the acting and directing, the lack of plot, the lifeless dialogue, and the weak action sequences, he concluded, "while the first film convinced me of Bronson's need for vengeance, this one

6566-427: The police. Paul learns from one of Geri's colleagues that the police are preparing a tactical unit to capture Nirvana. He obtains a police scanner and, by monitoring police radio traffic, finds out when and where the arrest is going to take place. He drives to the location to kill Nirvana, who, under the influence of PCP , slashes his arm and stabs officers while trying to escape. Tried and found criminally insane , he

6664-560: 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

6762-559: 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

6860-436: 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

6958-413: The rights to the first film from De Laurentiis they purchased the rights to the characters of the novels from Garfield, meaning they could make a sequel without adapting the original novels. "We think our story is a better film story", said Golan. "You cannot call a film exploitative just because it touches on disturbing issues", said Globus. "Both Death Wish films are a valid comment on American society...

7056-625: The rights to the franchise. Dino De Laurentiis, co-producer of the original film, threatened them with a lawsuit unless they properly purchased the rights. He negotiated payments for himself, co-producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts , and original author Brian Garfield. The agreement included future payments for each prospective sequel. In 1980, Cannon briefly hired Garfield to write an adaptation of his sequel to Death Wish , Death Sentence , in 1980. However, Golam and Globus did not want to use Garfield's book, preferring an original story by David Engelbach, Golan, and Hal Landers. After they purchased

7154-468: 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

7252-557: The theme of street violence getting out of control is sadly more of a fact of life than it was seven years ago." Garfield later approved a separate adaptation without the character of Paul Kersey directed by James Wan in 2007. David Engelbach was then asked to write the screenplay. After he saw the final product, he was "somewhat appalled" how the film differed from his original script. His script didn't include any rape scenes, but those were included by Michael Winner to "get his rocks off". Engelbach argued that "serious issues - namely,

7350-625: 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

7448-502: The wallet, Paul lets him go. The gang find Paul's home address in his wallet and break into his house. They restrain Rosario, Paul's housekeeper, and begin taking turns raping her. When Paul arrives home with his daughter, he is beaten unconscious. Rosario tries to call the police, but Nirvana kills her with his crowbar. They kidnap Carol and take her to their hideout, where a gang member rapes her. Carol attempts to escape by running through

7546-491: Was Fighting Back (1982). Winner said the sequel was pertinent because "mugging is now a bigger issue in America. It's spread to towns where it was not a problem before. In Beverly Hills, instead of talking about other people's failed movies – thank God, something has stopped them at last – they talk about their muggings." The film introduced significant changes for the character of Paul. One involved his modus operandi as

7644-445: Was Winner's neighbor at the time. The opening credits bear Page's signature guitar tone, along with the heavy reverb-laden drum sound that he used with Led Zeppelin. The film's soundtrack was released in February 1982. Portions of the score were sampled by Twiztid in the song "Spiderwebs" from their album Heartbroken & Homicidal . Cannon Films was able to sell distribution rights to several interested buyers. Theatrical rights in

7742-877: Was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History for The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians . His last book, published in 2007, was a critical biography of the controversial British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen . He and his wife Bina divided their time between their homes in Pasadena, California , and Santa Fe, New Mexico . They were supporters of Wildlife WayStation , an animal sanctuary in Southern California. Garfield died at home in Pasadena in December 2018 at

7840-527: 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

7938-402: 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

8036-469: 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

8134-485: 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,

8232-475: 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

8330-819: 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

8428-549: Was directly involved only in the original movie. He wrote a sequel, Death Sentence (1975), which was very loosely adapted into the 2007 film of the same name . While the film had a different storyline, it adopted the novel's critical perspective on vigilantism. Hopscotch , also published in 1975, won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Garfield wrote the screenplay for the 1980 film adaptation starring Walter Matthau , Glenda Jackson and Sam Waterston . In 1970, Garfield

8526-410: Was eighteen, was published in 1960. By the end of the following decade, he had published sixty novels. Once he turned fifty, Garfield continued to publish, but at a less prolific rate. In 1972 he published Death Wish , which was adapted into the film of the same title . Four movie sequels followed, all starring Charles Bronson in the lead role. Bruce Willis starred in a 2018 remake . Garfield

8624-541: 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

8722-425: Was in higher demand by paying viewers than Chariots of Fire (1981). Vincent Canby of The New York Times said it was "even more foolish, more tacky, and more self-righteously inhumane than the 1974 melodrama off which it has been spun" and "so lethargic that it fails even to provoke outrage." He particularly criticized the way the film essentially repeats the plot of the original, the contrived incompetence of

8820-407: 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

8918-482: 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

9016-461: 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,

9114-527: 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

9212-602: Was nominated for a Razzie Awards for Worst Musical Score. Cannon Films 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

9310-455: Was released without being charged for killing the ten muggers in New York City. Ochoa enters Geri's apartment and tells her about Paul's previous vigilante killing spree in New York. After Paul returns to his house, Geri confronts him, but he denies everything. Ochoa follows Paul, who is tailing the three remaining gang members. He follows them to an abandoned park, where an arms and drug deal

9408-406: Was so unhappy with the film version that he wrote his own sequel, Death Sentence . "They'd made a hero out of him", said Garfield. "I thought I'd shown that he'd become a very sick man." The idea to produce a sequel to Death Wish (1974) originated with producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus , owners of Cannon Films . They reportedly announced their plans to do so prior to actually securing

9506-969: 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

9604-618: 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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