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Interscope Communications

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Interscope Communications, Inc.
IndustryFilm studio
Founded1979; 45 years ago (1979)
Defunct2000 (2000)
FateFilm unit became Radar Pictures.
Successor
HeadquartersUnited States
Key people
Ted Field
Robert W. Cort
Scott Kroopf
ParentPolyGram Filmed Entertainment (1994–1998)
Universal Studios (1998–1999)
USA Films (1999–2000)
SubsidiariesInterscope Records (1990–1996)

Interscope Communications, Inc. (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1979 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

In 1999, after Seagram merged PolyGram into Universal Pictures, Interscope Communications was sold to USA Networks and merged into the recently formed USA Films.[1] In 2000, the company was morphed into Radar Pictures.[2][3][4]

History

Interscope Communications (the studio shared its name for a former racing team, "Interscope Racing") was founded in 1979 by media mogul Ted Field, who aimed to create films with mass appeal.[5] Field then hired Peter Samuelson, who was partner with Field for four years as head of film production.[6] Field acted as a producer or executive producer on a number of films in Interscope's filmography. The company's first film, Revenge of the Nerds, was released in 1984 and was a box office success.[7] That same year, Robert W. Cort, a former executive of 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures, joined Interscope and became the president of the company. Cort also co-produced a number of films.[8]

On November 13, 1984, the company received an agreement with The Walt Disney Studios for a two-year term, to become the company's first independent supplier within the studio.[9]

On December 10, 1986, Interscope Communications inked a three-picture domestic feature pact with United Artists Pictures, whereas production would be jointly financed by UA and Interscope, and that Interaccess Film Distribution and Vestron Inc. would participate in Interscope's share of financing, and domestic videocassette rights to Interscope's features going to Vestron Video, and foreign theatrical, TV and home video distribution of Interscope's films going to Interaccess Film Distribution.[10]

On May 20, 1987, Interscope Communications rises into the rank as a film supplier, in order to set films from different major film studios, mostly MPAA members, which included five of the films that were donated by Interscope to the major motion picture studios, such as Touchstone Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Warner Bros., Orion Pictures, 20th Century Fox and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, as well as his involvement with a $1 million in-house development kitty.[11]

In early July 1987, Interscope Communications decided to accelerate its TV production phase from four productions from its first four years of existence to a slate of 13 new projects for the next eighteen months, and which include two movies-of-the week, a miniseries and a conventional series for NBC, and Patricia Clifford runs the company's television operations for Interscope's television division, acknowledged a markedly pronounced greater receptivity than in previous years to telefilms dealing with black experience in the U.S., and offered a series of failed pilots and television movies on the air.[12]

In 1990, Nomura Babcock & Brown (NBB) invested $250 million in a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company and Interscope Communications. The deal called for NBB to co-produce and finance[5] films for Interscope and Disney for four years. The joint venture produced five films between 1992 and 1995, all of which were marketed and released under two of Disney's production banners, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures.[13] The most successful film co-produced by Interscope and NBB was The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), while other films produced by the joint venture were critical and commercial failures.[8]

Also that year, it purchased Marble Arch Productions from ITC, and decided that ITC Entertainment would co-finance the projects for U.S. and foreign distribution.[14]

PolyGram

In 1992, PolyGram bought a controlling interest in Interscope Communications' film unit. Production and marketing budgets were to be paid by PolyGram.[5] In 1993, Adam Leipzig joined the company as a production executive.[15] Robert W. Cort, president of Interscope, left the company at the end of 1995 believing that PolyGram "took on much more of a corporate environment than it had before and that consequently his role had become more like an executive's than a producer's." Field purchased Cort's 12% stake in the corporation.[8]

Beginning in 1996, Interscope began using PFE's PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution for distribution.[16] In 1997, Chris Van Allsburg, the author of Jumanji had signed a deal with the studio to produce films.[17] Also that year, BallPark Productions, a company owned by Michael Schiffer, set up a deal with the studio.[18]

USA Films merger and shut down

In 1998, after PolyGram was bought by Universal Studios,[19] Interscope's film unit was retained as a subsidiary of Universal until in 1999, it was sold off to Barry Diller's USA Networks, which later merged Interscope Communications with October Films and Gramercy Pictures to become USA Films. In 2000, members of the company formed its successor Radar Pictures, that took the existing Interscope library in the company's development slate, thus rendering Interscope as inactive.[2] Remaining films that were intended to be produced under the Interscope Communications name, including The Last Samurai, Le Divorce,[20] The Heartbreak Kid,[21] and the scrapped Peter Berg film Truck 44 were drafted to Radar Pictures.[2][22]

Interscope Records, however, still exists as part of the Interscope Geffen A&M faction of Universal Music Group (whose predecessor, MCA, purchased Atlantic's stake in the label in 1995).

Filmography

Interscope Communications has produced 68 films. Of the 68 films produced, only 20 are direct-to-video or made-for-television productions. Currently, all of the films that Interscope produced for Orion Pictures, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group between 1989 and 1991, as well as PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Gramercy Pictures before March 31, 1996, are owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which acquired the studios in separate transactions.[23] Films produced for PolyGram or Gramercy after April 1, 1996, are now owned by Universal Studios or its division Focus Features. Note that in all cases the distributor or distributors are also co-producers. The box office column reflects the worldwide gross for the theatrical release of the films in United States dollars.

Year Title Director Co-production company(s) Distributor(s) Box office Ref.
1984 Revenge of the Nerds Jeff Kanew SLM Production Group 20th Century Fox $40,874,452 [7]
1985 Turk 182 Bob Clark SLM Production Group 20th Century Fox $3,594,997 [24]
1985 American Geisha 2 Lee Phillips Stonehenge Productions CBS —
1987 Critical Condition Michael Apted Paramount Pictures $20,240,752 [25]
1987 Outrageous Fortune Arthur Hiller Silver Screen Partners II Touchstone Pictures $52,864,741 [26]
1987 Stillwatch 2 Rod Holcomb Zev Braun Productions CBS —
1987 Murder Ordained 2 Mike Robe Zev Braun Productions CBS —
1987 Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Joe Roth Amercent Films/
American Entertainment Partners, L.P. 		20th Century Fox $30,063,289 [27]
1987 Three Men and a Baby Leonard Nimoy Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $167,780,960 [28]
1987 The Father Clements Story 2 Edwin Sherin Zev Braun Productions NBC —
1988 The Seventh Sign Carl Schultz ML Delphi Premier Productions TriStar Pictures $18,875,011 [29]
1988 Cocktail Roger Donaldson Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $171,504,781 [30]
1988 Crossing the Mob 2 Steven Hilliard Stern Bateman Company NBC —
1989 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Stephen Herek Nelson Entertainment/
Soisson-Murphey Productions/
DEG 		Orion Pictures $40,485,039 [31]
1989 Collision Course 1 Lewis Teague DEG —
1989 Renegades Jack Sholder Morgan Creek Productions Universal Pictures $9,015,164 [32]
1989 Blind Fury Phillip Noyce TriStar Pictures $2,692,037 [33]
1989 My Boyfriend's Back 2 Paul Schneider NBC —
1989 An Innocent Man Peter Yates Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $20,047,604 [34]
1989 A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story 2 John Patterson Walt Disney Television NBC — [35]
1989 Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure 2 Mel Damski Dick Berg-Stonehenge Productions/
Campbell Soup Company 		ABC —
1990 The First Power Robert Resnikoff Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $22,424,195
1990 Bird on a Wire John Badham The Badham-Cohen Group Universal Pictures $138,697,012 [36]
1990 A Gnome Named Gnorm 1 Stan Winston Lightning Pictures Vestron Pictures —
1990 Arachnophobia Frank Marshall Amblin Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $53,208,180 [37][38]
1990 The Secret Life of Archie's Wife 2 James Frawley Consolidated Entertainment CBS —
1990 Three Men and a Little Lady Emile Ardolino Silver Screen Partners IV Touchstone Pictures $71,609,321 [39]
1990 Eve of Destruction Duncan Gibbins Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $5,451,119 [40]
1991 The Last to Go 2 John Erman ITC Entertainment Group ABC —
1991 Aftermath 2 Glenn Jordan ITC Entertainment Group CBS — [35]
1991 Class Action Michael Apted 20th Century Fox $28,277,918 [41]
1991 Shoot First: A Cop's Vengeance 2 Mel Damski Harvey Kahn Productions/
ITC Entertainment Group 		NBC —
1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Peter Hewitt Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $38,037,513 [42]
1991 Paradise Mary Agnes Donahue Touchwood Pacific Partners I Touchstone Pictures $18,634,643 [43]
1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Curtis Hanson Nomura Babcock & Brown Hollywood Pictures $88,036,683 [44]
1992 The Cutting Edge Paul Michael Glaser Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $25,105,517 [45]
1992 FernGully: The Last Rainforest Bill Kroyer FAI Films/
Kroyer Films/
Youngheart Productions 		20th Century Fox $32,710,894
1992 The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag Allan Moyle Nomura Babcock & Brown Touchstone Pictures $3,721,911 [46]
1992 Out on a Limb Francis Veber Universal Pictures $1,659,542 [47]
1992 Jersey Girl David Burton Morris Electric Pictures Triumph Releasing Corporation —
1993 Foreign Affairs 2 Jim O'Brien TNT — [48]
1994 The Air Up There Paul Michael Glaser PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown 		Hollywood Pictures $21,011,318 [49]
1994 Holy Matrimony Leonard Nimoy PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $713,234 [50]
1994 Terminal Velocity Deran Sarafian PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown 		Hollywood Pictures $16,487,349 [51]
1994 A Part of the Family 2 David Madden PolyGram Filmed Entertainment —
1994 Imaginary Crimes Anthony Drazan Morgan Creek Productions Warner Bros. Pictures $89,611 [52]
1995 Roommates Peter Yates PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown 		Hollywood Pictures $12,096,881 [53]
1995 Separate Lives David Madden Trimark Pictures $961,147 [54]
1995 Body Language 2 Eric Harlacher HBO —
1995 Operation Dumbo Drop Simon Wincer PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Walt Disney Pictures $24,670,346 [55]
1995 The Tie That Binds Wesley Strick PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $5,830,454 [56]
1995 Two Much Fernando Trueba PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Sogetel 		Touchstone Pictures $1,141,556 [57]
1995 Jumanji Joe Johnston TriStar Pictures $262,322,000 [58]
1995 Mr. Holland's Opus Stephen Herek PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $106,269,971 [59]
1996 Boys Stacy Cochran PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Touchstone Pictures $516,349 [60]
1996 Kazaam Paul Michael Glaser PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Touchstone Pictures $18,937,262 [61]
1996 The Arrival David Twohy Live Entertainment Orion Pictures $14,063,331 [62]
1996 The Associate Donald Petrie PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $12,844,057 [63]
1997 Dead Silence 2 Daniel Petrie, Jr. Alliance Communications HBO Pictures —
1997 Gridlock'd Vondie Curtis-Hall PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures $5,571,205 [64]
1997 Snow White: A Tale of Terror 2 Michael Cohn PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures —
1998 The Proposition Leslie Linka Glatter PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $147,773 [65]
1998 Very Bad Things Peter Berg Initial Entertainment Group/
Ballpark Productions 		PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $9,898,412 [66]
1998 What Dreams May Come Vincent Ward PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $55,382,927 [67]
1999 Runaway Bride Garry Marshall Lakeshore Entertainment Paramount Pictures/
Touchstone Pictures 		$309,457,509 [68]
1999 Teaching Mrs. Tingle Kevin Williamson Konrad Pictures Dimension Films $8,951,935 [69]
2000 Pitch Black David Twohy PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures/
USA Films 		$53,187,659 [70]
2000 The Three Stooges 2 Glenn Jordan Icon Entertainment International Columbia TriStar Television —
Box office total: $2,042,925,021 —

1 Direct-to-video release.
2 Released as a made-for-television film

References

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  2. ^ a b c Harris, Dana; Lyons, Charles (2000-10-11). "Radar on screen with '44'". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
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  19. ^ Seagram swallows PolyGram money.cnn.com December 10, 1998, Retrieved on July 19, 2014
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  22. ^ Goodridge2001-02-27T14:42:00+00:00, Mike. "Good Machine on Field's Radar". Screen. Retrieved 2024-10-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  40. ^ "Eve of Destruction (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  41. ^ "Class Action (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  42. ^ "Eve of Destruction (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  43. ^ "Paradise (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  44. ^ "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  45. ^ "The Cutting Edge (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  46. ^ "The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
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  50. ^ "Holy Matrimony (1994) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  51. ^ "Terminal Velocity (1994) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  52. ^ Moerk, Christian (1993-09-08). "Keitel nabs role in 'Imaginary Crimes'". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  53. ^ "Roommates (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  54. ^ "Separate Lives (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  55. ^ "Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  56. ^ "The Tie That Binds (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  57. ^ "Two Much (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  58. ^ "Jumanji (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  59. ^ "Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  60. ^ "Boys (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  61. ^ "Kazaam (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  62. ^ Fleming, Michael (1997-08-14). "Two pix for Twohy: 'Nightfall' & 'Havoc'". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  63. ^ "The Associate (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  64. ^ "Gridlock'd (1997) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  65. ^ "The Proposition (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  66. ^ "Very Bad Things (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  67. ^ "What Dreams May Come (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  68. ^ "Runaway Bride (1999) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
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  70. ^ "Pitch Black (2000) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
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