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| Founded | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) inAnchorage, Alaska, United States |
|---|---|
| Founder | Tom Coleman Michael Rosenblatt |
| Defunct | 1989; 36 years ago (1989) |
| Fate | Merged withIsland Pictures |
| Successor | Studio: Island Pictures (1989–1998) Library: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (throughOrion Pictures) |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Parent | Atlantic Recording Corporation  |
| Subsidiaries | Clubhouse Pictures |
Atlantic Entertainment Group (also known asAtlantic Releasing Corporation) was an independent filmproduction anddistribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974.
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) andLady on the Bus (1978), that introduced American audiences to actressSonia Braga. They shifted their focus to small-budgeted independent films in the early 1980s, beginning with the surprise success ofValley Girl (1983), directed byMartha 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 withCBS/Fox Video, whereas a "conceptual partnership" that launched the Atlantic Video label, and among of the launch titles set up by Atlantic Video wereAlphabet City,Roadhouse 66,Night of the Comet andVamping. Atlantic International was also launched and license overseas rights to various films territory by territory.[1]
In 1985, they began a relationship withParamount 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 ofTeen Wolf, which then spawned a franchise that year.[3] In 1985, Atlantic Releasing Corporation started theClubhouse 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 withZenith Productions for a $20 million, three-picture agreement, following the success ofWish 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 calledPatty, as well asFor Queen and Country andThe 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 byIsland Pictures, which took over soliciting the films to home video. Island themselves suffered financial losses soon after and was absorbed intoPolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1998.[7] That same year, when PolyGram themselves were acquired bySeagram (parent company ofUniversal Studios, Seagram sold PolyGram's pre-1996 library toMetro-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 whenViacom, 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]
Some of the company's most notable films include:
| Release date | Title |
|---|---|
| January 29, 1975 | He Is My Brother |
| July 18, 1977 | The Murri Affair |
| 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 |
The company also had a division calledClubhouse 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 with the release ofThe Adventures of Mark Twain;Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! (reissue of the 1964 film);Heathcliff: The Movie; andThe Adventures of the American Rabbit.[11][12] Other films and television series released under this label include:[13]
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