Roger Corman’s New Horizons Library Bought by Shout!, China’s Ace Film

Shout! Factory and China-based Ace Film have teamed to buy the New Horizons Pictures library, encompassing 270 Roger Corman films and an action sci-fi TV series, from Roger and Julie Corman for an undisclosed price.

This deal grants Shout! Factory all rights to the New Horizons library in North America, Europe, Australia, and Russia. ACE secured all rights for China, Asia, Africa, and South America.

Titles include “Rock‘N’Roll High School,” “Battle Beyond the Stars,” “Piranha,” “Galaxy of Terror,” “Bloodfist,” “Black Scorpion,” “Eat My Dust!,” “Humanoids from the Deep,” “Slumber Party Massacre” and “Forbidden World.”

The announcement was made Thursday by Shout! Factory’s founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos, and Ace Film CEO Henry Luk and chief operating officer Adam Yuchen Ren.

The companies said they plan to support the 270 titles with a long-term growth strategy that entails new content development, remakes, merchandise licensing programs, digital media initiatives, and content syndication (streaming, TV, EST, and VOD) to domestic and international territories.

“We’ve been huge fans of the Cormans,” said the Shout! execs. “Their great ingenuity and independent spirit have inspired us throughout our careers. We’ve loved working with them over the last eight years and are thrilled to now be the custodians of these beloved films, making sure that film buffs and fans everywhere discover them like we did.”

Shout! has handled home entertainment and digital distribution for Roger Corman’s Cult Classics branded content since 2010.

Corman produced his first feature, “The Monster From the Ocean Floor,” in 1954, followed by the racing car thriller, “The Fast and the Furious,” directed by its star, John Ireland. Corman has produced and directed over 500 films in a variety of genres. Other notable credits include “The Wild Angels,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and “Death Race 2000.”

In 1970, Corman founded New World Pictures, which became the largest independent motion picture distribution company in the United States. In addition to distributing his own productions, New World Pictures was one of the first American distributors to bring foreign cinema to the United States by distributing the films of Akira Kurosawa, Francois Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Werner Herzog.

Corman also discovered and fostered new talent, including Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Fonda, Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Talia Shire, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd, and James Cameron. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary Academy Award for “for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers.”

The deal was negotiated by Shout!’s Bob Emmer and Bruce David Eisen of Media Advisory Services for Shout! Factory, Henry Luk for Ace, and Alan Schwartz and Robert Sherman of Greenberg Traurig, LLP on behalf of Roger and Julie Corman.

ACE Film HK Co. Ltd was formed in 2017 with majority ownership by Haining Newtiming Hongkong Ltd.