Gramercy Pictures
Gramercy Pictures was an American film production label. It was founded in May 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy was the distributor of PolyGram films in the United States and Canada and also served as Universal's art-house division. After Seagram's buyout of PolyGram, Gramercy along with October Films were merged by Barry Diller to form USA Films in 1999. In 2015, Focus Features (the current art-house division for Universal) revived the name as a label for action, horror and sci-fi genre films; the label became dormant after the release of Ratchet & Clank in 2016.
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| Type | Label |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film |
| Fate | Currently dormant |
| Successor | Focus Features High Top Releasing |
| Founded |
|
| Defunct |
|
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Owner | Comcast |
| Parent | Focus Features (NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment) (NBCUniversal) (ultimately owned by Comcast) |
History
Gramercy Pictures was formed in 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures.[1] Gramercy Pictures released its first film, the Mario Van Peebles western Posse, in May 1993.[2][3]
In January 1996, PolyGram brought the 50% stake owned by Universal thus assuming full control of Gramercy.[4] The distributor also had box office hits in 1994's Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1996's Fargo and 1997's Bean. Several Gramercy releases of the 1990s have grown in stature to become cult classics in the present day: The Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, Clay Pigeons and Mallrats. In addition, 1995's The Usual Suspects won two Oscars, for Best Original Screenplay (Christopher McQuarrie) and Best Supporting Actor (Kevin Spacey).
When Seagram acquired PolyGram in 1998, the latter was merged and folded into Universal; as a result, it reacquired Gramercy as it controlled Universal. In turn, Seagram sold the bulk of the PolyGram film library titles released up until March 31, 1996 to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1999, and later on, it sold Gramercy and another specialty division, October Films, to Barry Diller's USA Networks, which merged both companies into USA Films.[5][6] USA Films was then merged with Universal's own art-house division, Universal Focus, and transformed into Focus Features in 2002 after Vivendi Universal acquired USA Networks from Diller.
Revival
In May 2015, Focus Features announced that the Gramercy label has been revived to release action, horror and sci-fi genre films. Its first release was Insidious: Chapter 3 on June 5, 2015.[1]
Filmography
1990s
| Release Date | Title | Notes | Budget | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 1993 | Posse | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $10 million | $18,289,763 |
| August 20, 1993 | King of the Hill | $8 million | $1,214,231 | |
| September 3, 1993 | Kalifornia | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $8.5 million | $2,395,231 |
| September 24, 1993 | Dazed and Confused | $6.9 million | $7,993,039 | |
| November 5, 1993 | A Home of Our Own | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $12 million | $1,677,807 |
| December 3, 1993 | A Dangerous Woman | co-production with Amblin Entertainment | $1,497,222 | |
| February 4, 1994 | Romeo Is Bleeding | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $10 million | $3,275,865 |
| February 25, 1994 | Savage Nights | distribution only; produced by Banfilm, La Sept Cinéma and Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie | $662,341 | |
| March 9, 1994 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $4.4 million | $245,700,832 |
| April 15, 1994 | Backbeat | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $2,392,589 | |
| May 6, 1994 | Dream Lover | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $256,264 | |
| July 29, 1994 | Foreign Student | |||
| August 10, 1994 | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $2 million | $29,679,915 |
| September 9, 1994 | A Good Man in Africa | $20 million | $2,308,390 | |
| September 28, 1994 | Jason's Lyric | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $7 million | $20,851,521 |
| October 28, 1994 | Drop Squad | $734,693 | ||
| November 4, 1994 | Double Dragon | $7.8 million | $2,341,309 | |
| January 20, 1995 | S.F.W. | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $63,513 | |
| February 10, 1995 | Shallow Grave | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $2.5 million | $2,079,569 |
| February 24, 1995 | Before the Rain | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $763,847 | |
| March 17, 1995 | Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $13,940,383 | |
| April 19, 1995 | New Jersey Drive | $5 million | $3,565,508 | |
| April 28, 1995 | The Underneath | $6.5 million | $536,023 | |
| May 3, 1995 | Panther | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $6,834,525 | |
| August 16, 1995 | The Usual Suspects | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $6 million | $34,380,094 |
| September 22, 1995 | Canadian Bacon | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $11 million | $178,104 |
| September 29, 1995 | Moonlight and Valentino | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $2,484,226 | |
| October 20, 1995 | Mallrats | $6.1 million | $2,122,561 | |
| November 10, 1995 | Carrington | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $3,242,342 | |
| December 29, 1995 | Dead Man Walking | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $11 million | $83,080,768 |
| February 23, 1996 | La Haine | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | €2,590,000 | $309,811 |
| March 22, 1996 | Jack and Sarah | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $218,626 (USA) $2,492,000 (UK) | |
| Land and Freedom | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $228,800 | ||
| April 5, 1996 | Fargo | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $7 million | $60,611,975 |
| April 19, 1996 | Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie | co-production with Best Brains, Inc. | $1,007,306 | |
| May 3, 1996 | Barb Wire | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $9 million | $3,793,614 |
| May 10, 1996 | Cold Comfort Farm | $5,682,429 | ||
| August 30, 1996 | The Trigger Effect | $8 million | $3,622,979 | |
| September 13, 1996 | Grace of My Heart | $5 million | $660,313 | |
| September 20, 1996 | Loch Ness | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $7 million | £1,239,343 |
| October 4, 1996 | Bound | $6 million | $3,802,260 | |
| October 18, 1996 | Jude | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $7 million | $409,144 |
| December 24, 1996 | I'm Not Rappaport | $26,011 | ||
| December 24, 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $3,692,836 | |
| January 29, 1997 | Gridlock'd | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Interscope Communications | $5 million | $5,571,205 |
| February 14, 1997 | When We Were Kings | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $2,789,985 | |
| March 7, 1997 | The Eighth Day | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $416,401 | |
| April 11, 1997 | Keys to Tulsa | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and ITC Entertainment | $57,252 | |
| May 2, 1997 | Commandments | distribution only; co-production Universal Pictures and Northern Lights Entertainment | $5 million | $548,562 |
| May 9, 1997 | Twin Town | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $3.3 million | $127,923 |
| August 6, 1997 | Def Jam's How to Be a Player | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $12 million | $14,009,368 |
| September 19, 1997 | Going All the Way | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $113,069 | |
| October 3, 1997 | The Matchmaker | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $3,392,080 | |
| November 7, 1997 | Bean | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films and Tiger Aspect Films | $18 million | $251,212,670 |
| December 17, 1997 | Guy | $4,134 | ||
| February 18, 1998 | I Want You | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $1,672 | |
| March 6, 1998 | The Big Lebowski | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $15 million | $46,129,927 |
| March 27, 1998 | No Looking Back | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $5 million | $222,099 |
| May 1, 1998 | Go Now | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $25,695 | |
| May 29, 1998 | The Last Days of Disco | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Castle Rock Entertainment | $8 million | $3,020,601 |
| June 12, 1998 | The Land Girls | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $238,497 | |
| August 21, 1998 | Your Friends & Neighbors | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $5 million | $4,714,658 |
| September 25, 1998 | Clay Pigeons | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $8 million | $2,253,139 |
| October 16, 1998 | Reach the Rock | $4,960 | ||
| November 22, 1998 | Elizabeth | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $30 million | $82,150,642 |
| January 22, 1999 | The Hi-Lo Country | distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films | $166,082 | |
| March 5, 1999 | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | U.S. distribution only; produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment; Columbia Tristar Pictures internationally distributed outside of U.S. | $1.4 million | $28,172,686 |
| October 29, 1999 | Being John Malkovich | distributed by USA Films; co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Propaganda Films | $13 million | $32,382,381 |
2000s
| Release Date | Title | Notes | Budget | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 18, 2000 | Pitch Black | distributed by USA Films; co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Interscope Communications | $23 million | $53,187,659 |
| March 24, 2000 | Waking the Dead | distributed by USA Films; co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment | $8.5 million | $327,418 |
| April 14, 2000 | Where the Money Is | distributed by USA Films; co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures | $28 million | $7,243,669 |
| August 4, 2000 | Mad About Mambo | distributed by USA Films; co-production with Phoenix Pictures | $65,283 | |
| September 8, 2000 | Nurse Betty | distributed by USA Films; co-production with IMF and Universal Pictures | $35 million | $29,360,400 |
| November 2, 2001 | The Man Who Wasn't There | copyright holder only; distributed by USA Films; co-production with Working Title Films and Good Machine | $20 million | $18,916,623 |
2010s
| Release Date | Title | Notes | Budget | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 5, 2015 | Insidious: Chapter 3 | co-production with Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One and Blumhouse Productions | $10 million | $112,983,889 |
| July 10, 2015 | Self/less | co-production with Focus Features and Endgame Entertainment | $26 million | $30,523,226 |
| August 21, 2015 | Sinister 2 | co-production with Entertainment One, Blumhouse Productions and IM Global | $10 million | $52,882,018 |
| January 8, 2016 | The Forest | co-production with AI Film and Lava Bear Films | $10 million | $37,608,299 |
| March 4, 2016 | London Has Fallen | co-production with G-BASE and Millennium Films | $60 million | $191,094,450 |
| April 29, 2016 | Ratchet & Clank | distribution only with Focus Features; produced by Cinema Management Group, Blockade Entertainment, PlayStation Originals and Rainmaker Entertainment | $20 million | $12,880,804 |
References
- Petski, Denise (May 20, 2015). "Focus Features Revives Gramercy Pictures Label For Genre Films". deadline.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- Staff (August 17, 1993). "In Winner's Circle; Miramax's 'Crying Game' paces indies; New Line still running strong". Variety. Reed Business Information.
Off to an auspicious start is Gramercy Pictures, with its first release, 'Posse,' immediately making the chart [of largest rentals from independent distributors]
- "Box office information for Posse (1993)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
- "Gramercy Sold To Polygram". Reuters. 11 January 1996 – via The New York Times.
- "The Telegraph-Herald - Google News Archive Search".
- BATES, JAMES (28 September 1999). "Universal Adds Division for Specialty Films" – via LA Times.
External links
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