 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film production |
| Founded | October 23, 1967; 58 years ago (1967-10-23) |
| Founders | Dennis Friedland Christopher C. Dewey |
| Defunct | January 21, 1994; 32 years ago (1994-01-21) |
| Fate | Rebranded asPathé Communications and later folded intoMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Successor | Library: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (with some exceptions) |
| Headquarters | United States (Also owned studios and cinema chains throughout the UK, Israel and Europe) |
Key people | Dennis Friedland (1967–1979) Christopher C. Dewey (1967–1979) Menahem Golan (1979–1989)[1] Yoram Globus (1979–1994) Giancarlo Parretti (1989–1990) Ovidio G. Assonitis (1989–1990) Christopher Pearce (1990–1994) |
| Products | Motion pictures Video releasing Cinema chains (UK and Europe) |
| Subsidiaries | Cannon Video Cannon Cinemas Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment HBO/Cannon Video ABC Cinemas |
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, includingCannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994.[2] The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. The Cannon catalogue encompasses a wide range of different genres. Cannon Films is known for its highly successful 1980sactionB movies, such asMissing in Action (1984),American Ninja (1985), andBloodsport (1988). It also produced theOscar-nominated filmsJoe (1970),Runaway Train (1985) andStreet Smart (1987).
Cannon Films was incorporated on October 23, 1967. It was formed by Dennis Friedland and Chris Dewey while they were in their early 20s. They had immediate success producing English-language versions of Swedishsoft porn films directed byJoseph W. Sarno:Inga (1968), akaJag––en oskuld andTo Ingrid, My Love, Lisa (1968), akaKvinnolek. By 1970, they had produced films on a larger production scale than a lot of major distributors, such asJoe, starringPeter Boyle,[3] andThe Yum-Yum Girls.
They managed this by tightly limiting their budgets to $300,000 per picture—or less, in some cases. The success ofJoe brought more attention to the company.[3] As the 1970s moved on, a string of unsuccessful films seriously drained Cannon's capital. This, along with changes to film-production tax laws, led to a drop in Cannon's stock price.
By 1979, Cannon had hit serious financial difficulties, and Friedland and Dewey sold Cannon to Israeli cousinsMenahem Golan andYoram Globus for $500,000 ($1.74 million in 2024[4].[5] The two cousins forged a business model of buying bottom-barrel scripts and putting them into production. They produced such films in a variety of genres, although their biggest successes were withaction films. They tapped into a ravenous market forB movies in the 1980s.[6] After buying the rights to the 1974 filmDeath Wish, Cannon produced three sequels to it in the 1980s, all starringCharles Bronson. Despite receiving negative reviews from the critics, these films were financially successful, especiallyDeath Wish II (1982), which earned over $40 million on an $8 million budget.
Other major hits for Cannon were a series of action movies starringChuck Norris, includingMissing in Action (1984),[7]Invasion U.S.A. (1985) andThe Delta Force (1986).Missing in Action was criticized heavily as being a preemptive cash-in on theRambo franchise.[8][9]James Cameron's story treatment forRambo: First Blood Part II was floating around Hollywood in 1983, which Golan and Globus reviewed and were "inspired" by.[8][9] The writers ofMIA even gave Cameron credit saying their film was inspired by his script treatment.[10]
The Cannon Group ignited a worldwideninja craze with "The Ninja Trilogy", a film series which consisted ofEnter the Ninja (1981),Revenge of the Ninja (1983), andNinja III: The Domination (1984), all starringSho Kosugi, as well asAmerican Ninja (1985) and its sequelAmerican Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987). Other action/adventure films they produced included the3-DTreasure of the Four Crowns,King Solomon's Mines, and the vigilante thriller sequelExterminator 2.
The Cannon Group's biggest financial success was with the 1986 action filmCobra, which starredSylvester Stallone; not a low-budget film, it earned $160 million on a $25 million budget.
Cannon produced musical and comedy films such asBreakin',Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,The Last American Virgin, and the U.S. release ofThe Apple (directed by Golan); erotic period drama pictures such asLady Chatterley's Lover (1981),Bolero, andMata Hari (1985); science fiction and fantasy films such asHercules,Lifeforce, andThe Barbarians; and serious pictures such asJohn Cassavetes'Love Streams,Franco Zeffirelli'sOtello (a film version of theVerdi opera),Norman Mailer'sTough Guys Don't Dance, andAndrei Konchalovsky'sRunaway Train andShy People.
During these years, Cannon prominently advertised at theCannes Film Festival each year. Substantial pre-sales of the next years' films (often involving ancillary rights, including international distribution, home video, and television rights to Cannon's productions) were made based on the strong salesmanship skills of Globus. The deposits made from these sales financed production of the first film in the production line-up, which—when completed and delivered to theatre owners around the world—generated enough money to make the next film in the line-up.Slavenburg's Bank [nl] in the Netherlands (which had provided Cannon's start-up capital in 1979) and their principal loan officer, Frans Afman, providedbridge financing until the pre-sales amounts were collected; this role was inherited byCredit Lyonnais after their purchase of Slavenburg's in 1983.[11]
In 1982, The Cannon Group, Inc. entered into a relationship withMGM/UA Entertainment Co. with the latter company serving as Cannon's distributor for North American theatrical and video releases; this would not be the last time Cannon dealt with MGM.[12][13] In 1984, Cannon expanded further into Europe, signing withUGC for French distribution, and acquiring Kenneth Rive's Gala Films, which was absorbed into Cannon Group's U.K. distribution arm.[14][15] On June 25, 1985, Cannon bought the rights to produce future films based on the comic book characterSuperman from theSalkinds, and struck a distribution assignment withWarner Bros. (owners of theSuperman property) for a 1987 release.[16] Cannon also further expanded their French assets, with the aim of becoming the largest film distributor in France.[17]
By 1986, output reached an apex with 43 films in one year. Golan remained chairman of the board, while Globus served as president. That year, Cannon attempted to produce film adaptations of the stage playsZorba andAmerican Buffalo, but these films never materialized.[18] Another film project that ultimately never materialized was a live-action film based onBarbie, with a planned plotline concerning the eponymous doll showing her owner that her dreams could come true. Warner Bros. would eventually release alive-action film based on the property in 2023.[19] Other areas of interest included plans for television adaptation of Cannon properties,[20] and following up their adaptation ofRumpelstiltskin with a total of 12 fairy tale films as theCannon Movie Tales series; Cannon wound up releasing only a few of the fairy tales.[21]
Film criticRoger Ebert said of Golan-Globus in 1987, "no other production organization in the world today—certainly not any of the seven Hollywood 'majors'—has taken more chances with serious, marginal films than Cannon."[22]That year, Cannon gained its greatest artistic success: its 1986 Dutch productionThe Assault won the 1987Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and aGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Meanwhile,Otello, based on theoperaof the same name, also received a Golden Globe nomination that year.
Golan and Cannon Films tended to over-promote films that did not live up to expectations. For instance,Lifeforce (1985) was to be "the cinematic sci-fi event of the'80s" andMasters of the Universe (1987) was dubbed "theStar Wars of the '80s." Diversifying from film production, Cannon had begun purchasingfilm distributors andmovie theaters. The purchases ranged from European companies (Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Tuschinski Theatres, a 49-screen theater chain in theNetherlands, and the 53-screen Cannon CinemaItalia) to the sixth-largest chain in theUnited States, the 425-screen "marginally profitable"Commonwealth Theaters.
In addition, Cannon also owned the film rights toSpider-Man, and planned to produce aSpider-Man film in the mid-1980s.[23] Golan and Globus agreed to payMarvel Comics $225,000 over the five-year option period, plus a percentage of the film's revenues.[23] The rights would revert to Marvel if a film was not made by April 1990.[24] Marvel andSony would eventually complete and releasea Spider-Man film in 2002 directed bySam Raimi after the rights had been re-secured, following a lengthy and messy legal battle between Marvel, Sony and several other parties over the film rights.[25][26][27]
Cannon's films proved to be much more popular in the United Kingdom than in its native United States, which is why Cannon acquired several British cinema chains during the 1980s, and founded the mail-order video distribution service Videolog as a joint venture withColumbia House Europe, Ltd. in the mid-1980s. From the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, Cannon Cinemas were a familiar sight in the United Kingdom untilRichard Branson'sVirgin Group bought the remaining sites and rebranded them asVirgin Cinemas in 1995. Cannon purchased the assets ofThorn EMI Screen Entertainment from businessman Alan Bond in April 1986 for £175 million;[28] the renamed Cannon Screen Entertainment and archrivalThe Rank Organization jointly signed a $10 million agreement with theBBC that August for the latter to broadcast both companies' films.[29]
By 1988, a cooling in the film market and a series of box office disappointments—including the multimillion-dollar production ofSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), whose original $36-million budget was slashed to $17 million—had once again put Cannon in financial woes. Concerns about Cannon's financial future had been expressed as early as 1986; one unidentified film executive called the company a "house of cards", with Golan and Globus – between their splashy wheeling and dealing, reports of "penny-pinching" by the duo in terms of business expenses, and numerous lawsuits incurred by the company (including one filed byDavid Begelman over Cannon's buyout of the Thorn EMI assets; Thorn EMI had been a financing partner of Begelman's Gladden Entertainment) – attaining an unwelcome reputation in the Hollywood community.[30]Dustin Hoffman also filed suit against Cannon, after the company purportedly breached a contract signed with the actor by taking out full-page advertisements to promote Hoffman's involvement with Cannon.[31]
The company signed a $75 million agreement withWarner Bros. to handle part of their assets;[32] however, the financial loss was staggering. Following the purchase of the Thorn EMI assets, Cannon was severely stretched, and facedbankruptcy; in May 1987, Cannon sold its 2,000-title Thorn-EMI library for $85 million toWeintraub Entertainment Group.[33][34] Shortly afterwards, Cannon dropped out of theHBO/Cannon Video joint venture with HBO due to Cannon's ongoing financial problems.[35][36]
TheU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into Cannon's financial reports, suspecting that Cannon had fraudulently misstated them. On the verge of failure, Cannon Films was taken over byPathé Communications, a holding company controlled by Italian financierGiancarlo Parretti. Financed by the French bankCrédit Lyonnais, already involved with Cannon for years, Pathé Communications' takeover of Cannon immediately began a corporate restructuring and refinancing of $250 million to pay off Cannon's debt. By 1989, Golan, citing differences with both Parretti and Globus, resigned from his position and left Cannon to start21st Century Film Corporation, while Globus remained with Pathé.[37]
One of the final films produced by Golan and Globus that received a wide release under the Cannon Films banner was thepost-apocalyptic action filmCyborg. This film was conceived to use both the sets and costumes built for a planned but unmade sequel toMasters of the Universe as well as the ill-fated live-action version ofSpider-Man. Both projects were planned to shoot simultaneously under the direction ofAlbert Pyun. Not to let that pre-production work go to waste, Pyun wroteCyborg, withChuck Norris in mind, suggesting it to Cannon Films.Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast in the lead role.
Following Golan's departure from Cannon, he became the head of21st Century Film Corporation, an independent company. The Cannon Group was renamed and restructured by Parretti with Globus being made co-president ofPathé Communications and chairman of Cannon International andAlan Ladd Jr. was brought in as chairman of Pathé Entertainment.[38] In 1989, Pathé greenlit three films,The Russia House withSean Connery andMichelle Pfeiffer,Quigley Down Under starringTom Selleck andFires Within withJimmy Smits. They also announcedShattered directed byWolfgang Petersen,Not Without My Daughter withSally Field,Company Business starringGene Hackman andMikhail Baryshnikov as well asRidley Scott'sThelma & Louise.[39] They signed a domestic distribution deal withWarner Bros. for its theatrical product.[40]
Soon after announcing a new slate of films and the distribution deal with Warner Bros., Parretti made a $1.2 billion bid forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, backed byCrédit Lyonnais. The bid was accepted and Parretti merged Pathé Communications and MGM to createMGM-Pathé Communications.[41] With the merger, the majority of the former Cannon Group library became part of the MGM library (certain rights for other media and select films during the Thorn EMI merger now lie with other entities). As MGM-Pathé had a distribution deal with Warner Bros. (and who had part financed Parretti's takeover bid), Parretti axed the MGM/UA Home Video department as one of his first acts in charge, resulting in the loss of eighty jobs.[42]
Crédit Lyonnais foreclosed on Parretti in July 1991 after he defaulted on loan payments[43] and sued for the removal of Paretti, his wife Maria Cecconi, his daughter Valentina Parretti,Yoram Globus, Florio Fiorini, Danny Dimbort, Antonio Pares-Neira and Lewis Horowitz from the board of directors.[44]
Parretti -- pushed out of management control of MGM-Pathé and the board -- proceeded to countersue Crédit Lyonnais, claiming they destroyed his ability to make money at MGM-Pathé, in an attempt to wrestle control back.[45] Parretti was later convicted of perjury and evidence tampering in aDelaware court for statements he made in a 1991 civil case, brought by Credit Lyonnais to validate their removal of Parretti, to the effect that a document he claimed allowed him to retain control of MGM was authentic;[46][47] he fled the country for Italy before he could be sentenced or extradited to France, where he was wanted on criminal charges related to his use of MGM's French assets.[47][48]
In 1997, the California Superior Court in Los Angeles entered a final judgement in a separate civil suit against Parretti, ordering him to pay $1.48 billion to Credit Lyonnais.[47] After Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Parretti and Florio Fiorini accusing them of fraud in 1999, Italian authorities arrested both men and held them for extradition to the United States.[49] Parretti was released by the court of appeal inPerugia shortly thereafter, ordered to remain in his home town ofOrvieto and report to the police three times a week, even though authorities in Rome had requested he be held pending a decision on the extradition.[citation needed]
Even as the original Cannon became part of Pathé and subsequently MGM, Parretti opted to reform Cannon in 1989 as his low-budget filmmaking arm (now known asCannon Pictures, Inc.), led by veteran Italian film producerOvidio G. Assonitis.[50]
The new Cannon announced their presence at that year's MIFED international film market inMilan, with an impressive line-up of multiple new productions and releases, including some with Cannon standbys like Chuck Norris (Fifty/Fifty,Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection andTOP KICK) andMichael Dudikoff (WINGS,Midnight Ride andAmerican Ninja 4),JAM to be directed byJoel Silberg,Dusted (later released asDeath Warrant withJean-Claude Van Damme),Keaton's Cop withLee Majors, an untitled film starringCharles Bronson,Crack House withRichard Roundtree andJim Brown,Rockula,The Rose Garden withMaximilian Schell andLiv Ullmann,The Secret of the Ice Cave withMichael Moriarty andSally Kellerman andA Man Called Sarge.[51] The new slate of pictures was expected to cost $50 million.[52] The company managed to post a small operating profit before the end of the year.[53]JAM was rebranded asLambada to cash in on the craze and was released in 1990.[54]
However, the troubles of parent Pathé soon began to affect the re-established Cannon. After the MGM-Pathé merger, Parretti agreed to sell Pathé's 60% majority stake in Cannon Pictures to Assonitis and a group of investors for $14 million. The sale would include the office building at 8200 Wiltshire Blvd, where Cannon Pictures was based.[55][56] Parretti tried to push the deal through quickly to release some capital for MGM-Pathé;[57] however, the deal fell through less than two months later due to financing problems, and MGM-Pathé was granted an easement on financial conditions that were placed upon it by its lenders as part of the MGM buyout.[58]
At the same board meeting, Assonitis and Cannon Pictures vice-chairman William J. Immerman were fired and replaced by Danny Dimbort. Cannon's marketing and casting operations were shut down by Pathé.[59][60] All of Cannon Pictures' marketing was placed under Pathé's existing operations.[61] Former Cannon Group production head Christopher Pearce was named as Assonitis' replacement and in November 1990, he bought Pathé's stake in Cannon Pictures for $14 million with a deal which allowed Pathé to distributeLambada,Midnight Ride andAmerican Ninja 4.[62]
Under Pearce, Cannon Pictures announced it would keep contracts with playersCharles Bronson,Chuck Norris andMichael Dudikoff signed under Golan's management and revealed a slate of films for 1991,Fifty/Fifty (now starringPeter Weller andRobert Hays),No Place to Hide withKris Kristofferson andDrew Barrymore,The Hitman (with Norris), as well asThe Human Shield andRescue Me (both with Dudikoff).[63] Richard Inouye joined the company in February 1991 as vice-president and CFO.[64]American Ninja V and the unmadeAnts of God were added to the slate at theAFM in 1991 andWarner Home Video signed an agreement to distribute Cannon Pictures' output in North America, UK, Japan, Italy and Australia for ten years.[65]
Cannon Pictures greatly expanded its slate in time for theCannes Film Festival in 1991 with a total of 18 films, in addition to those already announced,American Kickboxer 1,Black Cat Run with Dudikoff,The Borrower,Deep End andDream Lover fromBoaz Davidson,Delta Force 3: The Killing Game,Ninja: The American Samurai,Solemn Oath andTerminal Bliss had all been added to Cannon's production slate.[66]
When Crédit Lyonnais foreclosed on Parretti in July 1991, the sale of Cannon Pictures was questioned by the bank because Pearce was a board member of MGM-Pathé at the time of the sale and his disclosure of interest had not been documented. Crédit Lyonnais' legal filings against Parretti also named Dimbort, a member of the board of both companies, for receiving $140,000 "for services rendered, although Mr Dimbort did not perform any services to justify payments".[44] Globus was eventually dismissed from the Crédit Lyonnais suits and set up a foreign sales company, Melrose Entertainment, which handled much of Cannon Pictures' sales, alongside that of Global Pictures, another company run by Pearce.[67] In the wake of the Crédit Lyonnais foreclosure on MGM-Pathé, Pearce stepped down as president of Global Pictures, being replaced by Avi Lerner.[68]
In early 1992, there was a middle-management reshuffle at Cannon Pictures with an aim to maximize revenue from Cannon's releases.The Hitman proved to be an early success for the new team.[69] That March, Cannon sued Vision International and its chairmanMark Damon for $15 million over Chuck Norris' involvement in the film,Sidekicks. Cannon Pictures had retained Norris under an "exclusive services" contract that was made in the 1980s by Golan. Cannon Pictures loaned Norris to the makers ofSidekicks for a cameo role under the agreement that he would not appear in more than 30% of the movie; Cannon subsequently objected to Norris receiving "above the title billing" for the film.[70]
At the Cannes Film Festival in 1992, Pearce and Yoram Globus announced they were merging Globus' privately held Melrose Entertainment, Pearce's privately owned Global Pictures and the publicly traded Cannon Pictures into one single entity called theCannon Entertainment Group. The merger was announced alongside a slate of pictures includingChicago Loop withJames Spader,Cold to the Touch with Norris,Teen Angel from Boaz Davidson,Ivory to be directed byAaron Norris,Delta Force IV: The Deadly Dozen directed by Brian Hutton andWhite Sun with Dudikoff,[71] as well as a new TV show calledSam Bolt: Texas Ranger, which would later becomeWalker, Texas Ranger.[72]
Shortly afterwards, they announced thatJoe Lara had been signed to an exclusive 10-picture deal with the new company. Lara was then in production onAmerican Cyborg: Steel Warrior which would not be included in the overall deal; however, no films were ultimately made from this deal.[73] By mid-1992, the merger was cancelled after the backers were unable to come to an arrangement with Crédit Lyonnais.[74] Cannon continued with development ofWalker, Texas Ranger after CBS picked the series up for 13 episodes.[75] Cash flow problems began to have a serious impact on the company. In October 1992, James Spader sued Cannon Pictures over his $1 million fee for hisChicago Loop pay-or-play deal;[76] and a suit from Michael Dudikoff followed in December, stating he had not been paid from the four films he had made for Cannon.[77]
Cannon Pictures posted a net profit of $1.3 million for the nine months ending September 1992 and secured a new $15 million line of credit from theING Bank inAmsterdam after Crédit Lyonnais refused to lend more until their loans were fully repaid (said loans weren't due for another four years).[78]
In February 1993, Cannon ran out of money to continue production ofWalker, Texas Ranger, due to the indictments of funding partnerBanca Nazionale del Lavoro, then embroiled in a scandal over unauthorized loans toIraq, and producers were desperately trying to raise more money to complete theminiseries.[79]CBS Productions later stepped in with additional funds to complete the production.[80] In August 1993, Cannon reported a net profit of $1 million for its second quarter, double the same period the previous year, due to the success ofWalker, Texas Ranger.[81] Cannon Pictures was sued for $14 million in December 1993 by Pictor Insurance Co. and the Peter Miller Corp. for breach of contract over Cannon pulling out of a financing agreement with the two companies.[82]
With this additional pressure, Pearce began exploring selling his stock in Cannon Pictures, but this resulted in another lawsuit being filed against the company and two investment bankers, Robert Blake and Runa Alam, by the Independent Artists Picture Corp. The lawsuit claimed interference and breach of contract in connection with IAPC's plans to buy Cannon Pictures stock in a takeover bid, which would have seen Blake purchase Pearce's stock and Blake and Alam taking control of the day-to-day operations of the company.[83] During this time, Pearce was also exploring a sale to Panda Pictures, but this deal collapsed in yet another lawsuit with Panda claiming $20 million in damages from Cannon Pictures after Pearce reportedly lied about the company's financial condition.[84]
In 1994, Cannon Pictures released its last film,Hellbound, in select theatres in Los Angeles. Shortly afterwards, Pearce sold controlling interest in Cannon Pictures to VMI Acquisitions Inc.[85] The new owners settled some debts at the company, but shortly after the takeover, a group of creditors, includingCharles Bronson and Everyvision Inc. sued Cannon Pictures to force it into bankruptcy.[86][87] The creditors succeeded in pushing the company intoChapter 11bankruptcy.[88] Soon afterwards, it was discovered Christopher Pearce was selling disputed Cannon titles, includingTwin Sitters,Delta Force 3,American Samurai,Street Knight,Tobe Hooper's Night Terrors andAmerican Cyborg: Steel Warrior at the Tokyo Film Festival. A judge blocked all sales made at Tokyo and blocked any further sales that were due to take place at MIFED 1994.[89] To prevent any fraudulent deals at MIFED, a warning appeared inScreen International and other publications stating all business must be done with the court appointed trustee and not with Pearce.[90]
TheUnited States bankruptcy court set a deadline of January 11, 1995 for creditors of Cannon Pictures to submit their claim and evidence of debt.[91] Cannon Pictures, its library of 135 films, as well as 112 films from the company's previous incarnation, 21st Century Film Distribution, officially went up for sale on August 14, 1997[92] with the auction taking place on September 15.[93] The property was sold to Imperial Entertainment.[94]
In February 1998, a judge ruled thatOvidio G. Assonitis had been wrongfully terminated from the company by Parretti and Pathé. The judge awarded Assonitis $2.9 million in damages, but by this time, Pathé was bankrupt and had been foreclosed on by Credit Lyonnais.[95]
Despite the protracted death of company in its original and reincarnated forms, Golan returned to the filmmaking business in 2001 withNew Cannon, Inc. Golan hiredEvgeny Afineevsky to act as the company's president. Afineevsky would be based in Los Angeles, while Golan would be based in Tel Aviv.[96]Crime and Punishment, which was originally shot in 1993 under Golan's21st Century Film Corporation but was not released before 21st Century's bankruptcy, was their first offering alongside a slate of new films includingDeath Game, a remake ofFritz Lang'sM,Kumite (later made asFinal Combat but never released) andOpen Heart (released in 2002 asReturn from India).[96]
By the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, New Cannon had completedDeath Game andReturn from India and announced a new project,Beauty and the Beast to be directed by Pharaoh Phillips, alongside sales for previously released filmsTrain to Hell andIn Search of A Woman.[97] The company was taken over by Vision Films later that year; Afineevsky went on to form New Generation Films to produceOy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! from a script by Golan.[98] He went on to make documentaries,Cries from Syria andWinter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom, which was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature and thePrimetime Emmy Award in the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking category.[99][100]
Golan continued to produce and direct films after New Cannon, includingChildren of Wax withArmand Assante andUdo Kier,A Dangerous Dance andMarriage Agreement. In 2013, Golan announced sequels to several films he had produced at Cannon in partnership withMGM (successor-in-interest to the original Cannon), includingAllan Quatermain and the Jewel of the East withRichard Chamberlain andSharon Stone returning to their roles,Return of the Delta Force andAmerican Ninja Apprentice with Michael Dudikoff,David Bradley andSteve James' daughter Debbi, alongside new original projectsThe Sniper withMickey Rourke andBruce Willis andThe Golem withAl Pacino andNastassja Kinski; however, Golan died before any were produced.[101]
In 2014, there were two documentary films released about Cannon Films.RatPac Entertainment releasedElectric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, a documentary about Cannon Films, written and directed byMark Hartley, and produced byBrett Ratner.[102] That same year, the Israeli documentaryThe Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films was launched at the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[103] As is noted at the end ofElectric Boogaloo, Golan and Globus announcedThe Go-Go Boys shortly after they were approached to appear inBoogaloo, yet in true Cannon fashion, their movie beat Hartley's to release by 3 months.
In 2015, Globus sold "Globus Max" and returned to Hollywood to launch a new film production company,Rebel Way Entertainment. The company seeks to reconnect young and web-crazy audiences with the traditional theatrical experience.[104] As of February 2023, their only film isDeported (2020), directed byTyler Spindel.
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