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| Industry | Film studio |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Carolco International Pictures |
| Founded | November 1989; 36 years ago (1989-11) |
| Founder | Andrew G. Vajna |
| Defunct | February 27, 1998; 27 years ago (1998-02-27) |
| Fate | Ceased operations, film library now owned byDisney |
| Successors | Studio: C2 Pictures Library: Walt Disney Studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (throughOrion Pictures) (Sovereign Pictures library only) |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, United States |
Key people | Andrew G. Vajna |
| Parent | The Walt Disney Studios |
| Divisions | Cinergi Productions N.V. Inc. |
| Subsidiaries | Cinergi F/X (1995–1997) |
Cinergi Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film production company founded byAndrew G. Vajna in November 1989, after he had sold his interest in his first production company,Carolco International Pictures. The company had a number of major hit films, most notablyTombstone,Die Hard with a Vengeance andEvita. However, the majority of their films lost money. A string ofbox office bombs – includingSuper Mario Bros.,Renaissance Man,Color of Night,Judge Dredd andBurn Hollywood Burn – ultimately did the company in, and it was dissolved on February 27, 1998. Cinergi Pictures' library is now owned byDisney.[1]
Andrew G. Vajna, a Hungarian native, launched his career in the entertainment industry with his purchase of motion picture theaters in the Far East. Later, he founded Panasia Films Limited in Hong Kong before forming Carolco with Mario Kassar in 1976. In less than four years, Carolco became one of the top three foreign sales organizations in motion pictures.
In 1982, Vajna and Kassar made their film production debut with the highly successfulFirst Blood, starringSylvester Stallone.Rambo: First Blood Part II was released in 1985, generating more than $300 million worldwide, making it one of the most profitable films in the history of filmmaking.
Vajna and Kassar were executive producers on such films as Alan Parker'sAngel Heart,Rambo III, andJohnny Handsome. Other projects includedMusic Box,Total Recall,Air America,Mountains of the Moon,Narrow Margin andJacob's Ladder.
Cinergi Pictures Entertainment was founded in 1989 after leaving Carolco.[2] Vajna's strategy was to develop long-term relationships with certain talent and to produce a steady supply of two to four event motion pictures per year. Upon forming Cinergi, Vajna established an alliance withThe Walt Disney Company for distribution of Cinergi motion pictures in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Cinergi's first production,Medicine Man starring Oscar-winnerSean Connery, was followed bySuper Mario Bros. in co-production withAllied Filmmakers andLightmotive,Tombstone starringVal Kilmer andKurt Russell andRenaissance Man starringDanny DeVito. In 1994, Cinergi releasedColor of Night starringBruce Willis,Jane March andLesley Ann Warren. With the exception ofTombstone, all of those films flopped at the box office.
In 1992, Cinergi was hired to manage Sovereign Pictures' library, producer ofReversal of Fortune.[3] Cinergi went public in 1994 with Vajna converting $33.6 million in loans to equity. There was another public offering of shares in 1995.[2]
In 1995, Cinergi releasedDie Hard with a Vengeance starringBruce Willis,Jeremy Irons, andSamuel L. Jackson. To date, the film has grossed over $300 million worldwide. That film was followed byJudge Dredd starringSylvester Stallone,The Scarlet Letter withDemi Moore, andOliver Stone's epicNixon, starringAnthony Hopkins. The last film released wasAn Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn.
In the early 1990s, Cinergi started up a VFX company,Mass.Illusion, in Massachusetts.[4]
The box office and budgets for their films began to fall in late 1996, and Cinergi Pictures eventually closed on February 27, 1998. The company's filmBroadway Brawler involving Bruce Willis had abruptly stopped production in March 1997.[5] After a year on consulting, Disney and Cinergi decided to wind down the company. Disney canceled $38 million in production advance owed and 5% of Cinergi shares in exchange for most of the film rights excluding the international rights ofDie Hard with a Vengeance, which was acquired by20th Century Fox,[6] which ironically wasbought by Disney.[7]
The company was separately selling its development slate, a special effects facility[2] and theEvita soundtrack.[6] The development slate includedOliver Stone project underwritten in a first-look deal.[6] Shareholders were expected to get between $2 and $2.50 per share back.[2] The company's development projects sold through an auction to Vajna for $4.75 million. In September 1997, Vajna made a bid to purchase the company's stock at $2.30 a share which was considered underwhelming by Wall Street with the company expect to have $3.48 a share in cash or $45 million. The buyout would only cost him $15 million give his and his other own companies' shares in Cinergi. TheEvita soundtrack and the Stone project were still not sold.[2]
Vajna had tasked Mass.Illusion former executive producer Michael Van Himbergen and Roger Davis to sell the VFX company, which had about $1 million in debt, expert staff, likely contract for a film,The Matrix andWhat Dreams May Come special effects contract worth $7.5 million. Van Himbergen found Manex Group of Ohio to assume the company's debt.[4] The company closed shortly thereafter. Its final two films,Deep Rising andAn Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, were released in early 1998.
Three years earlier, Kassar'sCarolco Pictures had also collapsed; Vajna and Kassar eventually became partners again in 2002 to formC2 Pictures.
In 2003, Vajna bought avideogame company, Games Unlimited, and renamed itCinergi Interactive.[8] The company went on to acquire four development studios:Black Hole Entertainment, Clever's Games, Artex Entertainment andDigic Pictures before closing in 2007.
In the United States,Buena Vista Pictures through theirTouchstone Pictures andHollywood Pictures imprints distributed Cinergi's movies. Outside the United States, Cinergi operated an international sales division namedCinergi Productions N.V. Inc., which pre-sold the company's films to independent film distributors around the world.
The only film that was exempt to the deal wasDie Hard with a Vengeance, which was handled by20th Century Fox in the United States, Canada and Japan, while Cinergi Productions andSummit Entertainment handled international sales depending on the region, withBuena Vista International getting distribution rights in most regions. Following theacquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in 2019, the film is now collectively included in Disney's library of films.
| Release date | Title | Notes | Budget | Gross (worldwide) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 7, 1992 | Medicine Man | released byHollywood Pictures | $40 million | $45,500,797[9] |
| May 28, 1993 | Super Mario Bros. | released by Hollywood Pictures | $48 million | $20,915,465[10] |
| December 25, 1993 | Tombstone | released by Hollywood Pictures | $25 million | $56,505,065[11] |
| June 6, 1994 | Renaissance Man | released byTouchstone Pictures | $40 million | $24,332,324[12] |
| August 19, 1994 | Color of Night | released by Hollywood Pictures | $40 million | $19,726,050[13] |
| May 19, 1995 | Die Hard with a Vengeance | released by20th Century Fox (North America/Japan) /Buena Vista International orSummit Entertainment (International) | $90 million | $366,101,666[14] |
| June 30, 1995 | Judge Dredd | released by Hollywood Pictures | $90 million | $113,493,481[15] |
| October 13, 1995 | The Scarlet Letter | released by Hollywood Pictures | $46 million | $10,382,407[16] |
| December 22, 1995 | Nixon | released by Hollywood Pictures | $44 million | $13,681,765[17] |
| March 1, 1996 | Up Close & Personal | released by Touchstone Pictures | $60 million | $100,688,705[18] |
| December 25, 1996 | Evita | released by Hollywood Pictures | $55 million | $141,047,179[19] |
| January 31, 1997 | Shadow Conspiracy | released by Hollywood Pictures | $45 million | $2,312,463[20] |
| never released | Broadway Brawler | never released | $28 million | $0[21] |
| January 30, 1998 | Deep Rising | released by Hollywood Pictures | $45 million | $11,203,026[22] |
| February 27, 1998 | An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn | released by Hollywood Pictures | $10 million | $52,850[23] |
