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Atlantic Entertainment Group

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Atlantic Entertainment Group
Founded1974; 52 years ago (1974) in Anchorage, Alaska, United States
FounderTom Coleman
Michael Rosenblatt
Defunct1989; 37 years ago (1989)
FateMerged with Island Pictures
SuccessorStudio:
Island Pictures (1989–1998)
Library:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(through Orion Pictures)
Headquarters
Santa Monica, California
,
United States
ParentMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1974–1989)
SubsidiariesClubhouse Pictures

Atlantic Entertainment Group (also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation) was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974.

History

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Their initial releases were mostly geared to arthouse audiences, with an especially large number of Australian productions, as well as two Brazilian productions, Eu Te Amo (1981) and Lady on the Bus (1978), that introduced American audiences to actress Sonia Braga. They shifted their focus to small-budgeted independent films in the early 1980s, beginning with the surprise success of Valley Girl (1983), directed by Martha Coolidge. Night of the Comet, released in 1984, would be their first film to open on over 1000 screens.

By 1984, the company had signed an agreement with CBS/Fox Video, whereas a "conceptual partnership" that launched the Atlantic Video label, and among of the launch titles set up by Atlantic Video were Alphabet City, Roadhouse 66, Night of the Comet and Vamping. Atlantic International was also launched and license overseas rights to various films territory by territory.[1]

In 1985, they began a relationship with Paramount Pictures whereby the studio provided them money for larger-scale theatrical releases in exchange for home video and television rights to their films.[2] The company made its big break with the success of Teen Wolf, which then spawned a franchise that year.[3] In 1985, Atlantic Releasing Corporation started the Clubhouse Pictures label, which was designed to release films for a family audience, which set up the Clubhouse Pictures Family Network of theaters.[4]

On July 30, 1986, Jonathan Dana was hired by Atlantic Entertainment Group to supervise all Atlantic activities, via divisions Atlantic Releasing Corporation, Atlantic Television, Clubhouse Pictures and Atlantic International, and decided to "systemize" the top management to accommodate its growth to be a mini-major film studio.[5]

In November 1987, Atlantic Entertainment teamed up with Zenith Productions for a $20 million, three-picture agreement, following the success of Wish You Were Here, which the two companies ever formed a relationship that the relationship was more subtle than a 50/50 agreement, but essentially was an equal partnership, and the two companies would hold proportionate equity in all three pictures worldwide and the first wave of pictures was a production called Patty, as well as For Queen and Country and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, a co-production between the Czech and the U.S., and Atlantic would handle worldwide rights for the former, and had North American rights to the latter two, and foreign sales would be handled by Zenith's Sales Company.[6]

In January 1989, Atlantic made a new deal with Kartes Video Communications for home video rights to the movies previously covered in the Paramount deal. The library was bought by Island Pictures, which took over soliciting the films to home video. Island themselves suffered financial losses soon after and was absorbed into PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1998.[7] That same year, when PolyGram themselves were acquired by Seagram (parent company of Universal Studios, Seagram sold PolyGram's pre-1996 library to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in October 1998.[8]

For a number of years, Paramount Pictures had television and video distribution rights to Atlantic's library, some from their previous deal with the company, and others inherited when Viacom, who had purchased television rights to many earlier Atlantic releases, merged with Paramount. MGM now owns most of the library as a result of purchasing the pre-1996 portion of PolyGram's library.[9][10]

Atlantic Releasing Corporation

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Release date Title
January 29, 1975 He Is My Brother
April 1, 1976 Caddie
1976 In Search of Bigfoot
September 9, 1976 Max Havelaar
February 1, 1976 Something to Hide
July 18, 1977 The Murri Affair
September 7, 1977 Bonjour Amour
1977 The Day the Music Died
November 2, 1977 Madame Rosa
April 17, 1978 Lady on the Bus
August 24, 1978 Boarding School
September 20, 1978 The Getting of Wisdom
July 21, 1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles
March 22, 1978 The Irishman
September 1978 The Odd Job
November 9, 1978 Once in Paris...
1979 Bahia
November 14, 1979 Boardwalk
August 29, 1979 Womanlight
1980 The Attic
October 1980 Below the Belt
April 30, 1980 I Sent a Letter to My Love
March 1980 Rude Boy
April 1981 Eu Te Amo
September 11, 1981 Montenegro
December 25, 1981 Peter-No-Tail
July 7, 1982 Aphrodite
1982 Breach of Contract
May 1982 By Design
September 1982 The Loveless
September 30, 1982 Norman Loves Rose
April 1982 Smash Palace
October 1982 Waltz Across Texas
April 29, 1983 Valley Girl
November 25, 1983 The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
1984 Kamla
1984 Talk to Me
May 4, 1984 Alphabet City
May 1984 Vamping
October 10, 1984 1984
September 1, 1985 City Limits
November 16, 1984 Night of the Comet
1985 Roadhouse 66
March 22, 1985 He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword
May 24, 1985 Here Come the Littles
November 22, 1985 Starchaser: The Legend of Orin
August 23, 1985 Teen Wolf
January 11, 1985 Water
December 14, 1985 Peter-No-Tail in Americat
April 1986 Echo Park
August 22, 1986 Extremities
August 1986 The Fringe Dwellers
September 1986 The Men's Club
December 5, 1986 Modern Girls
March 7, 1986 Nomads
November 26, 1986 Nutcracker: The Motion Picture
1986 Stephen King's World of Horror
June 1986 Stoogemania
April 17, 1987 Wild Thing
May 8, 1987 Steele Justice
May 14, 1987 The Umbrella Woman
May 29, 1987 Summer Heat
July 24, 1987 Wish You Were Here
August 21, 1987 The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
November 20, 1987 Teen Wolf Too
December 4, 1987 Home Is Where the Hart Is
January 8, 1988 Cop
February 12, 1988 A Tiger's Tale
March 18, 1988 Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
April 22, 1988 Stormy Monday
June 17, 1988 A World Apart
August 11, 1988 A Summer Story
September 23, 1988 Patty Hearst
November 18, 1988 1969
May 19, 1989 For Queen and Country
July 9, 1989 A Soldier's Tale

Clubhouse Pictures

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The company also had a division called Clubhouse Pictures to release family films; theaters screening these titles participated in the "Clubhouse Family Network". The first films shown under this division were released on January 17, 1986.[11][12] Films and television series released under this label include:[13]

Release date Title
January 17, 1986 The Adventures of Mark Twain
January 17, 1986 Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
January 17, 1986 Heathcliff: The Movie
January 17, 1986 The Adventures of the American Rabbit
March 21, 1986 GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords
September 13, 1986 – December 6, 1986 Teen Wolf

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ Bierbaum, Tom (1984-04-11). "Atlantic Home Video Label Formed Via 'Partnership' With CBS/Fox". Variety. p. 32.
  2. ↑ "...newsline..." (PDF). Billboard. 1985-05-04. p. 30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  3. ↑ Variety. 1985-08-28. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Cohn, Lawrence (1985-11-13). "Atlantic corralling kidpic exhib web". Variety. p. 3.
  5. ↑ Bierbaum, Tom (1986-07-30). "Atlantic Taps Dana To Head Up New Pic, TV Division". Variety. p. 5.
  6. ↑ "Atlantic Entertainment Cements 3-Pic, $20-Mil Zenith Coventure". Variety. 1987-11-04. p. 27.
  7. ↑ "Polygram shutters Island Pictures". Variety. 9 December 1997. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  8. ↑ "MGM Agrees to Acquire PolyGram Movie Library". Los Angeles Times. 23 October 1998. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  9. ↑ Eller, Claudia (23 October 1998). "MGM Agrees to Acquire PolyGram Movie Library". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Kroon, Richard W. (2014). A/V A to Z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms. McFarland. ISBN 9780786457403.
  11. ↑ Lyman, Rick (1986-01-17). "At Last, Movies for the Whole Family". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E.16. ProQuest 1829456292. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  12. ↑ Greenberg, James (January 22, 1986). "'Iron Eagle' Nests In Top Spot At Natl B.O.; Overall Action Up". Variety. p. 5.
  13. ↑ Bohar, Jay; Sentinel Movie Critic (1986-01-17). "A Rally For G Ratings Clubhouse Gets Bandwagon Rolling for Family Entertainment". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
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