Mutual Film Company

Not to be confused with Mutual Film.
Mutual Film Company, LLC
FormerlyClassico Entertainment (1989-1995)
Cloud Nine Entertainment (1995-1997)
Company typeProduction company
IndustryFilm
Founded1989; 35 years ago (1989)
FoundersGary Levinsohn
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, United States
Key people
Mark Gordon
Gary Levinsohn
Don Granger
ProductsFilm

Mutual Film Company, LLC is an American film production company based in Hollywood, California. The company was initially founded by financer Gary Levinsohn in 1989 as Classico Entertainment, before combining with The Mark Gordon Company in 1995 to form Cloud Nine Entertainment. Mutual is a film financier that was involved in the co-production of feature films. Mutual notably co-produced and financed several feature films for Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios.

History

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Classico Entertainment

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In 1989, following the shutdown of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Gary Levinsohn launched its own company Classico Entertainment and it served as a sales agent of Dino de Laurentiis Communications.[1]

In 1994, Classico signed a deal with Atlas Entertainment, whereas Classico could finance films for the company.[2]

Mutual Film Company

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In 1995, film producers Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn decided to merge their own companies into Cloud Nine Entertainment,[3] a production company that would be involved in the co-production and financing of feature films.[4] The company opened its office at Raleigh Studios on Melrose Avenue near the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, California.[5]

Following Cloud Nine's establishment, the company created an international sales division, and finalized a multi-year equity partnership with four companies — the United Kingdom's BBC, Germany's Tele-München, Japan's Toho-Towa/Marubeni and France's UGC-PH. These four companies financed 60% (15% each) of the films' budgets,[6] in exchange for distribution rights in their respective territories and equity stakes in the films on a worldwide basis.[5]

The company's first film under the new regime was 1997's The Relic.[4]

Eighteen months after forming Cloud Nine, Gordon and Levinsohn renamed the company to Mutual Film Company. The new name was meant to reflect the joint venture and the profits it would share with its international investors.[4]

Mutual notably financed films for Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures. On several occasions, films developed by Mutual, such as Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Patriot (2000), were financed by major studios.[7]

In 2000, three of Mutual's partners, Tele Munchen Gruppe, BBC, and Toho, negotiated with a banking consortium led by Union Bank of California and secured a $200 million revolving credit line that would allow Mutual to produce and finance films without approval from a major film studio.[7] Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, released in 2001, became the second highest-grossing film produced by Mutual (after Saving Private Ryan), while its sequel, subtitled The Cradle of Life, underperformed. Mutual's investors left the company, citing the poor box office performances of the many films produced.[6]

In September 2000, Gordon left Mutual to relaunch his own company, the Mark Gordon Company.[8] Film producer Don Granger joined the company, working alongside Levinsohn.[6]

Filmography

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Mutual Film Company has produced 21 films. Of these, only two of them, Blue Ice and The Ripper were made-for-television productions. Note that in some cases the distributor or distributors are also co-producers. The box office column reflects the worldwide gross for the theatrical release of the films in United States dollars.

Year Title Director Co-production company(s) Distributor(s) Box office Ref.
1992 Blue Ice 1 Russell Mulcahy Bregman Productions, M&M Productions and Guild Film Distribution HBO — [9]
1993 The Real McCoy 2 Russell Mulcahy Bregman/Baer Productions, Capella International Universal Pictures $6,484,246 [10]
1995 12 Monkeys Terry Gilliam Atlas Entertainment Universal Pictures $168,839,459 [11]
1995 Angus Patrick Read Johnson Atlas Entertainment, Turner Pictures; in association with BBC, and Tele-München New Line Cinema $4,821,759 [12]
1997 The Relic Peter Hyams Marubeni/Toho-Towa, Tele-München and BBC Paramount Pictures; Universal Pictures $33,956,608 [13]
1997 The Jackal Michael Caton-Jones Alphaville Films Universal Pictures $159,330,280 [14]
1997 The Ripper 1 Janet Meyers Universal Television — [15]
1998 Hard Rain Mikael Salomon Marubeni/Toho-Towa, Tele-München, BBC UGC-PH and Nordisk Film Paramount Pictures
Universal Pictures 		$19,870,567 [16]
1998 Primary Colors Mike Nichols Icarus Productions Universal Pictures $52,090,187 [17]
1998 Paulie John Roberts DreamWorks Pictures $26,875,268 [18]
1998 Black Dog Kevin Hooks Universal Pictures $12,951,088 [19]
1998 Saving Private Ryan Steven Spielberg Amblin Entertainment DreamWorks Pictures;
Paramount Pictures 		$481,840,909 [20]
1998 A Simple Plan Sam Raimi Savoy Pictures, in association with BBC, Marubeni, Tele-München, Toho-Towa and UGC-PH Paramount Pictures $16,316,273 [21]
1999 Virus John Bruno Valhalla Motion Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment Universal Pictures $30,652,005 [22]
1999 Man on the Moon Miloš Forman Jersey Films, Shapiro/West Productions, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa Universal Pictures
Warner Bros. 		$47,434,430 [23]
2000 Isn't She Great Andrew Bergman Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa Universal Pictures $3,003,296 [24]
2000 Wonder Boys Curtis Hanson Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa Paramount Pictures
Warner Bros. 		$33,426,588 [25]
2000 The Patriot Roland Emmerich Centropolis Entertainment Columbia Pictures $215,294,342 [26]
2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Simon West Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eidos Interactive, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa Paramount Pictures $274,703,340 [27]
2003 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life Jan de Bont Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eidos Interactive, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa Paramount Pictures $156,505,388 [28]
2003 Timeline Richard Donner Cobalt Media Group, The Donners' Company, Artists Production Group Paramount Pictures $43,935,763 [29]
2006 Snakes on a Plane David R. Ellis New Line Cinema $62,022,014 [30]
2012 Deadfall Stefan Ruzowitzky StudioCanal, 2929 Productions Magnolia Pictures $66,351 [31]
2012 Jack Reacher 2 Christopher McQuarrie Skydance Productions, Cruise/Wagner Productions Paramount Pictures $218,340,595 [32]
Box office total: $2,038,199,808 —'

1 Released as a made-for-television film
2 Uncredited

References

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  1. ^ "Production notes". ininet.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  2. ^ "COMPANY TOWN ANNEX". Los Angeles Times. 1994-05-09. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  3. ^ Dawtrey, Adam (1995-12-11). "Levinsohn, Gordon team up in Par pic prod'n pact". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  4. ^ a b c Hindes, Andrew (June 27, 1997). "At Cloud 9, the feeling is Mutual". Variety. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Hindes, Andrew (February 4, 1998). "Mutual agreement". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Harris, Dana (February 13, 2001). "Split personalities get shrink". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Colin (May 9, 2000). "Mutual's foreign partners strike $200m credit line". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ^ Fleming, Michael; Brodesser, Claude (2000-09-07). "Mutual team to part ways". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  9. ^ Elley, Derek (1992-10-14). "Blue Ice". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  10. ^ "The Real McCoy". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  11. ^ "12 Monkeys". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  12. ^ "Angus". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  13. ^ "Movie The Relic – Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ^ "Box Office Mojo: The Jackal". Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  15. ^ Scott, Tony (December 7, 1997). "The Ripper". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  16. ^ "Hard Rain (1998)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  17. ^ "Primary Colors (1998)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  18. ^ "Paulie (1998)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  19. ^ "Black Dog (1998)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  20. ^ "Saving Private Ryan". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  21. ^ "A Simple Plan – Box Office Data, DVD and Blu-ray Sales, Movie News, Cast and Crew Information – The Numbers". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  22. ^ "Virus (1999)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  23. ^ "Man on the Moon (1999)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  24. ^ "Isn't She Great (2000)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  25. ^ "Wonder Boys (2000)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  26. ^ "The Patriot (2000)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  27. ^ "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2000)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  28. ^ "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2000)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  29. ^ "Timeline (2003)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  30. ^ "Snakes on a Plane (2006)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  31. ^ "Deadfall (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  32. ^ "Jack Reacher (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
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