 | |
| Industry | Independent film studio |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | Elie Samaha Andrew Stevens Ashok Amritraj |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Fate | Chapter 11 bankruptcyLiquidation |
| Successor |
|
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California,United States[1] |
Key people | Elie Samaha Andrew Stevens |
| Subsidiaries | Franchise Interactive Phoenician Entertainment[2] Franchise Pictures Classics[2] |
Franchise Pictures, LLC was a short-lived American independent motion picture studio, production and distribution company based inLos Angeles,California, founded in 1997 byElie Samaha,Ashok Amritraj, andAndrew Stevens. They were known for their production in theaction film genre, and for producing passion projects by actors which major studios passed on.[3] The company also had a short-lived video game arm,Franchise Interactive.
In 2004, in a case heard before a jury in aLos Angeles federal courtroom,Intertainment Licensing GmbH v. Franchise Pictures, et al.,[4] JudgeStotler awarded a plaintiff's verdict for $121.7 million against Franchise Pictures and Elie Samaha for fraudulentaccounting. Samaha vowed to appeal but the fraud judgment destroyed Franchise's viability; the company and its subsidiaries all filedChapter 11 bankruptcy petitions on August 18, 2004.[5]
As of 2021, half of the Franchise Pictures library, along with that ofThinkFilm, is now owned by Orange Holdings LLC.[6] Another half of the Franchise Pictures library is owned byRevolution Studios (viaMorgan Creek Entertainment).[7][8]
Franchise Pictures was started in October 1997, with Phoenician Entertainment serving as subsidiary for lower-budget films. Its initial employees wereElie Samaha andAshok Amritraj, who would leave two years later to startHyde Park Entertainment.[9]
On October 8, 1998, they signed a distribution agreement with Morgan Creek Productions andWarner Bros. Pictures, in which Franchise paid the distribution rights to both Morgan Creek and Warner Bros. for North America and the United Kingdom,[10] while20th Century Fox handling the distribution rights in select territories for three films.Summit Entertainment would also handle the international sales of their films. On May 19, 1999, the company had signed a deal with Intertainment in order to bring all 60 motion pictures that Franchise had been receiving to Germany.[11] A month later, Intertainment had struck a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, in order to secure the rights to 60 motion pictures for worldwide distribution.[12] The company's first film,A Murder of Crows, began shooting in December 1997, and it was released in the United States in July 1999, with the British release occurring in December 1998.[13] In December 1997, Franchise also started shootingIf... Dog... Rabbit..., which was directed by actorMatthew Modine. However, this film didn't receive a wide release in the United States until 2002, when it was released on home video.[14]
On July 2, 2001, Morgan Creek and its CEOJames G. Robinson sued Franchise Pictures for breach of contract, resulting in Morgan Creek ending their partnership with Franchise Pictures after the release ofHeist (2001).[15]
During Franchise's partnership with Morgan Creek, by 2000, the companies had financial success with the filmThe Whole Nine Yards. However, they also suffered a huge flop withBattlefield Earth starringJohn Travolta, which received badword-of-mouth and grossed $29.7 million on a $75 million budget.[16]
Following the failure ofBattlefield Earth and other films independently produced by Franchise Pictures,The Wall Street Journal reported that theFBI was probing "the question of whether some independent motion picture companies have vastly inflated the budget of films in an effort to scam investors".[17] In December 2000, the German-based Intertainment AG filed a lawsuit alleging that Franchise Pictures had fraudulently inflated budgets in films includingBattlefield Earth, which Intertainment had helped to finance.[18] Intertainment had agreed to pay 47% of the production costs of several films in exchange for European distribution rights, but ended up paying for between 60 and 90% of the costs instead. The company alleged that Franchise had defrauded it to the tune of over $75 million by systematically submitting "grossly fraudulent and inflated budgets".[19]
The case was heard before a jury in a Los Angeles federal courtroom in May–June 2004. The court heard testimony from Intertainment that according to Franchise's bank records the real cost ofBattlefield Earth was $44 million, not the $75 million declared by Franchise. The remaining $31 million had been fraudulent padding. Intertainment's head Barry Baeres told the court that he had only fundedBattlefield Earth because it was packaged as a slate that included two more commercially attractive films, theWesley Snipes vehicleThe Art of War and theBruce Willis comedyThe Whole Nine Yards.[20] Baeres testified that "Mr. Samaha said, 'If you want the other two pictures, you have to takeBattlefield Earth — it's called packaging' ... We would have been quite happy if he had killed [Battlefield Earth]".[21]
Intertainment won the case and was awarded $121.7 million in damages. Samaha was declared by the court to be personally liable for $77 million in damages.[22][23] The jury rejected Intertainment's claims under theRacketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute, which would havetripled the damages if Franchise had been convicted on that charge.[24] The judgment forced Franchise into bankruptcy on August 18, 2004.[25][22] The failure of the film was reported to have led, in 2002, to Travolta firing his manager Jonathan Krane, who had set up the deal with Franchise in the first place.[26]
| Release date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| July 6, 1999 | A Murder of Crows | First Franchise Pictures production Also distributor |
| September 10, 1999 | Storm Catcher | Released under Phoenician Entertainment |
| October 9, 1999 | Five Aces | Released under Phoenician Entertainment |
| December 29, 1999 | The Third Miracle | First theatrical release Co-production withSony Pictures Classics |
| January 21, 2000 | The Boondock Saints | Distribution Also co-producer 20th Century Fox handled select international distribution rights. |
| February 11, 2000 | Mercy | Distributed by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| February 18, 2000 | The Whole Nine Yards | Co-production withWarner Bros. andMorgan Creek Entertainment First film under Morgan Creek pact and the first to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures. 20th Century Fox handled select international distribution rights. Directed byJonathan Lynn. |
| April 28, 2000 | The Big Kahuna | Co-production withLionsgate Films |
| May 12, 2000 | Battlefield Earth | Co-production with Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Entertainment Directed byRoger Christian Winner of theRazzie Award for Worst Picture |
| July 4, 2000 | Jill Rips | Co-production withColumbia TriStar Home Video Also distributor |
| August 25, 2000 | The Art of War | Co-production with Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Entertainment 20th Century Fox handled select international distribution rights |
| September 14, 2000 | Auggie Rose | Distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| October 6, 2000 | Get Carter | Co-production with Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Entertainment |
| October 13, 2000 | Animal Factory | Co-production with Phoenician Entertainment Directed bySteve Buscemi |
| January 19, 2001 | The Pledge | Co-production with Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Entertainment Directed bySean Penn |
| February 23, 2001 | 3000 Miles to Graceland | Co-production with Morgan Creek Entertainment Nominee of the Razzie Award for Worst Picture |
| March 2, 2001 | The Caveman's Valentine | Distributed byUniversal Focus throughUniversal Pictures |
| March 11, 2001 | Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her | Co-production withUnited Artists |
| April 10, 2001 | Agent Red | Released under Phoenician Entertainment |
| April 27, 2001 | Driven | Co-production with Warner Bros. Directed byRenny Harlin Nominee of the Razzie Award for Worst Picture |
| May 18, 2001 | Angel Eyes | Co-production with Warner Bros., Morgan Creek Entertainment and The Canton Company |
| June 15, 2001 | Viva Las Nowhere | Co-production with Jason Bloom Productions |
| November 9, 2001 | Heist | Co-production with Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Entertainment Last film under Morgan Creek pact Directed byDavid Mamet |
| May 1, 2002 | Green Dragon | Co-production withColumbia Pictures Released under Franchise Pictures Classics |
| May 21, 2002 | Desperate But Not Serious | Released on DVD under the titleReckless + Wild Co-production with Phoenician Entertainment |
| July 9, 2002 | Zig Zag | Distribution only Released under Franchise Pictures Classics |
| August 30, 2002 | FeardotCom | North American, Japanese and Thailand co-distribution with Warner Bros. Co-production with Horrorhouse Pictures Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International handled the international distribution rights Directed byWilliam Malone |
| August 30, 2002 | Avenging Angelo | Co-production withMartyn Burke Productions Distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment |
| September 3, 2002 | If... Dog... Rabbit... | Distribution only |
| September 6, 2002 | City by the Sea | Co-production with Warner Bros. andBrad Grey Pictures Touchstone Pictures handled the Spanish distribution rights throughBuena Vista International |
| September 20, 2002 | Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | Co-production with Warner Bros. Dimension Films handled the Spanish distribution rights throughBuena Vista International Directed byWych Kaosayananda |
| November 15, 2002 | Half Past Dead | Co-production withScreen Gems Directed byDon Michael Paul |
| November 22, 2002 | The 4th Tenor | Home media co-distribution with Warner Bros. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer handled the theatrical distribution rights |
| January 28, 2003 | The Foreigner | Co-production withTriStar Pictures Directed byMichael Oblowitz |
| May 23, 2003 | The In-Laws | Co-production with Warner Bros. |
| June 20, 2003 | Alex & Emma | Co-production with Warner Bros.,Castle Rock Entertainment andEscape Artists Directed byRob Reiner |
| October 21, 2003 | Final Examination | Co-production withArtisan Entertainment and Horrorhouse Pictures |
| March 12, 2004 | Spartan | Co-production with Warner Bros. Directed by David Mamet |
| April 9, 2004 | The Whole Ten Yards | Co-production with Warner Bros. Sequel toThe Whole Nine Yards Directed byHoward Deutch |
| July 20, 2004 | Out of Reach | Distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Directed byPo-Chih Leong |
| September 17, 2004 | Funky Monkey | Co-production with Warner Bros. andHarry Basil Productions |
| January 14, 2005 | Retrograde | Distribution only |
| February 15, 2005 | Into the Sun | Co-production withDestination Films |
| September 2, 2005 | A Sound of Thunder | Co-production with Warner Bros. Last Franchise film to be released by Warner Bros. |
| January 13, 2006 | Tristan & Isolde | Uncredited only Co-production with 20th Century Fox andScott Free Productions Directed byKevin Reynolds Final Franchise production |
| May 18, 2007 | The Wendell Baker Story | Picked up by Möbius Entertainment Distributed byThinkFilm and Lionsgate Films Directed byAndrew &Luke Wilson |
| February 19, 2008 | Chaos | Picked up by Möbius Entertainment Distributed by Lionsgate Films Directed byTony Giglio Final Franchise Pictures release overall |
Franchise admitted that the budgets were inflated but contended that Intertainment did not agree to pay on the basis of the budgets.
