Franchise Pictures

Franchise Pictures, LLC

Company type	Private
Industry	Film production and distribution
Founded	November 1997 (1997-11)
Founder	Elie Samaha, Ashok Amritraj, Andrew Stevens
Defunct	August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18)
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a $121.7 million judgment for fraudulent accounting practices
Headquarters	Los Angeles , United States
Products	Films, video games (via Franchise Interactive)

Franchise Pictures, LLC was an independent American film production and distribution firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1997 by Elie Samaha, Ashok Amritraj, and Andrew Stevens, the company primarily focused on the action film category. Additionally, it briefly maintained a video game branch known as Franchise Interactive.

In 2004, Franchise Pictures was ordered to pay $121.7 million due to fraudulent accounting practices in the case Intertainment Licensing GmbH v. Franchise Pictures, which severely impacted its financial health. Subsequently, on August 18, 2004, Franchise and its affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

As of 2021, the rights to Franchise Pictures' film catalog are divided between Orange Holdings LLC and Revolution Studios through Morgan Creek Entertainment.

History

Founded in November 1997, Franchise Pictures launched Phoenician Entertainment as its subsidiary to handle films with smaller budgets. Early leadership included Elie Samaha and Ashok Amritraj, who departed in 1999 to form Hyde Park Entertainment.

On October 8, 1998, Franchise entered into a distribution agreement with Morgan Creek Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures, securing North American and UK distribution rights by paying associated fees to both companies. For two titles, distribution in certain markets was handled by 20th Century Fox. In May 1999, Franchise collaborated with Intertainment to distribute its collection of 60 films within Germany. By June of that year, Intertainment had obtained global distribution rights through a contract with Warner Bros.

On July 2, 2001, Morgan Creek and CEO James G. Robinson initiated legal action against Franchise Pictures for breach of contract, which terminated their collaboration following the release of Heist.

During this timeframe, both Franchise and Morgan Creek experienced variable financial outcomes. They found commercial success with The Whole Nine Yards but faced significant losses from Battlefield Earth, featuring John Travolta, which earned only $29.7 million at the box office against a $75 million budget despite considerable expectations.

Filmography

Release date	Title	Notes
July 6, 1999	A Murder of Crows	Debut production and distributed by Franchise Pictures
September 10, 1999	Storm Catcher	Joint production with Phoenician Entertainment
October 9, 1999	Five Aces	Collaborative production with Phoenician Entertainment
December 29, 1999	The Third Miracle	First theatrical release; co-produced with Sony Pictures Classics
January 21, 2000	The Boondock Saints	Served as distributor and co-producer
February 18, 2000	The Whole Nine Yards	Co-produced with Morgan Creek Entertainment; initial film under Morgan Creek agreement; distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; select international rights handled by 20th Century Fox; directed by Jonathan Lynn
April 28, 2000	The Big Kahuna	Co-production with Lions Gate Entertainment
May 12, 2000	Battlefield Earth	Produced alongside Morgan Creek Entertainment; directed by Roger Christian; recipient of the Razzie Award for Worst Picture
July 4, 2000	Jill Rips	Co-produced with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; also handled distribution
August 25, 2000	The Art of War	Joint production with Morgan Creek Entertainment; select international distribution by 20th Century Fox
October 6, 2000	Get Carter	Co-produced with Morgan Creek Entertainment
October 13, 2000	Animal Factory	Collaborative project with Phoenician Entertainment; directed by Steve Buscemi
January 19, 2001	The Pledge	Joint production with Morgan Creek Entertainment; directed by Sean Penn
February 23, 2001	3000 Miles to Graceland	Co-produced with Morgan Creek Entertainment; nominated for Razzie Worst Picture
March 2, 2001	The Caveman's Valentine	Distributed through Universal Focus, a division of Universal Pictures
March 11, 2001	Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her	Co-production with United Artists
April 27, 2001	Driven	Produced alongside Warner Bros.; directed by Renny Harlin; nominated for Razzie Worst Picture
May 18, 2001	Angel Eyes	Co-produced with Morgan Creek Entertainment and The Canton Company
November 9, 2001	Heist	Joint production with Morgan Creek Entertainment; final film under Morgan Creek agreement; directed by David Mamet
May 1, 2002	Green Dragon	Produced in collaboration with Columbia Pictures; released under Franchise Pictures Classics label
July 9, 2002	Zig Zag	Released via Franchise Pictures Classics
August 30, 2002	FeardotCom	Co-distributed in North America, Japan and Thailand with Warner Bros.; produced alongside Horrorhouse Pictures; international rights managed by Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International; directed by William Malone
September 6, 2002	City by the Sea	Co-produced with Warner Bros. and Brad Grey Pictures; Spanish distribution rights through Touchstone Pictures via Buena Vista International
September 20, 2002	Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever	Joint production with Warner Bros.; Spanish distribution rights handled by Dimension Films via Buena Vista International; directed by Wych Kaosayananda
November 15, 2002	Half Past Dead	Co-production with Screen Gems; directed by Don Michael Paul
January 28, 2003	The Foreigner	Produced jointly with TriStar Pictures; directed by Michael Oblowitz
May 23, 2003	The In-Laws	Co-produced alongside Warner Bros.
June 20, 2003	Alex & Emma	Collaborative production involving Castle Rock Entertainment and Escape Artists; directed by Rob Reiner
March 12, 2004	Spartan	Directed by David Mamet
April 9, 2004	The Whole Ten Yards	Sequel to The Whole Nine Yards, co-produced with Warner Bros.; directed by Howard Deutch