Atlantic Entertainment Group (also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation) was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974.
History Their initial releases were mostly geared to arthouse audiences, with an especially large number of Australian productions, as well as two Brazilian productions, Eu Te Amo (1981) and Lady on the Bus (1978), that introduced American audiences to actress Sonia Braga. They shifted their focus to small-budgeted independent films in the early 1980s, beginning with the surprise success of Valley Girl (1983), directed by Martha Coolidge. Night of the Comet, released in 1984, would be their first film to open on over 1000 screens.
By 1984, the company had signed an agreement with CBS/Fox Video, whereas a "conceptual partnership" that launched the Atlantic Video label, and among of the launch titles set up by Atlantic Video were Alphabet City, Roadhouse 66, Night of the Comet and Vamping. Atlantic International was also launched and license overseas rights to various films territory by territory.
In 1985, they began a relationship with Paramount Pictures whereby the studio provided them money for larger-scale theatrical releases in exchange for home video and television rights to their films. The company made its big break with the success of Teen Wolf, which then spawned a franchise that year. In 1985, Atlantic Releasing Corporation started the Clubhouse Pictures label, which was designed to release films for a family audience, which set up the Clubhouse Pictures Family Network of theaters.
On July 30, 1986, Jonathan Dana was hired by Atlantic Entertainment Group to supervise all Atlantic activities, via divisions Atlantic Releasing Corporation, Atlantic Television, Clubhouse Pictures and Atlantic International, and decided to "systemize" the top management to accommodate its growth to be a mini-major film studio.
In November 1987, Atlantic Entertainment teamed up with Zenith Productions for a $20 million, three-picture agreement, following the success of Wish You Were Here, which the two companies ever formed a relationship that the relationship was more subtle than a 50/50 agreement, but essentially was an equal partnership, and the two companies would hold proportionate equity in all three pictures worldwide and the first wave of pictures was a production called Patty, as well as For Queen and Country and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, a co-production between the Czech and the U.S., and Atlantic would handle worldwide rights for the former, and had North American rights to the latter two, and foreign sales would be handled by Zenith's Sales Company.
In January 1989, Atlantic made a new deal with Kartes Video Communications for home video rights to the movies previously covered in the Paramount deal. The library was bought by Island Pictures, which took over soliciting the films to home video. Island themselves suffered financial losses soon after and was absorbed into PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1998. That same year, when PolyGram themselves were acquired by Seagram (parent company of Universal Studios, Seagram sold PolyGram's pre-1996 library to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in October 1998.
For a number of years, Paramount Pictures had television and video distribution rights to Atlantic's library, some from their previous deal with the company, and others inherited when Viacom, who had purchased television rights to many earlier Atlantic releases, merged with Paramount. MGM now owns most of the library as a result of purchasing the pre-1996 portion of PolyGram's library.
Atlantic Releasing Corporation Release date Title January 29, 1975 He Is My Brother April 1, 1976 Caddie 1976 In Search of Bigfoot September 9, 1976 Max Havelaar February 1, 1976 Something to Hide July 18, 1977 The Murri Affair September 7, 1977 Bonjour Amour 1977 The Day the Music Died November 2, 1977 Madame Rosa April 17, 1978 Lady on the Bus August 24, 1978 Boarding School September 20, 1978 The Getting of Wisdom July 21, 1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles March 22, 1978 The Irishman September 1978 The Odd Job November 9, 1978 Once in Paris... 1979 Bahia November 14, 1979 Boardwalk August 29, 1979 Womanlight 1980 The Attic October 1980 Below the Belt April 30, 1980 I Sent a Letter to My Love March 1980 Rude Boy April 1981 Eu Te Amo September 11, 1981 Montenegro December 25, 1981 Peter-No-Tail July 7, 1982 Aphrodite 1982 Breach of Contract May 1982 By Design September 1982 The Loveless September 30, 1982 Norman Loves Rose April 1982 Smash Palace October 1982 Waltz Across Texas April 29, 1983 Valley Girl November 25, 1983 The Smurfs and the Magic Flute 1984 Kamla 1984 Talk to Me May 4, 1984 Alphabet City May 1984 Vamping October 10, 1984 1984 September 1, 1985 City Limits November 16, 1984 Night of the Comet 1985 Roadhouse 66 March 22, 1985 He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword May 24, 1985 Here Come the Littles November 22, 1985 Starchaser: The Legend of Orin August 23, 1985 Teen Wolf January 11, 1985 Water December 14, 1985 Peter-No-Tail in Americat April 1986 Echo Park August 22, 1986 Extremities August 1986 The Fringe Dwellers September 1986 The Men's Club December 5, 1986 Modern Girls March 7, 1986 Nomads November 26, 1986 Nutcracker: The Motion Picture 1986 Stephen King's World of Horror June 1986 Stoogemania April 17, 1987 Wild Thing May 8, 1987 Steele Justice May 14, 1987 The Umbrella Woman May 29, 1987 Summer Heat July 24, 1987 Wish You Were Here August 21, 1987 The Garbage Pail Kids Movie November 20, 1987 Teen Wolf Too December 4, 1987 Home Is Where the Hart Is January 8, 1988 Cop February 12, 1988 A Tiger's Tale March 18, 1988 Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw April 22, 1988 Stormy Monday June 17, 1988 A World Apart August 11, 1988 A Summer Story September 23, 1988 Patty Hearst November 18, 1988 1969 May 19, 1989 For Queen and Country July 9, 1989 A Soldier's Tale
Clubhouse Pictures The company also had a division called Clubhouse Pictures to release family films; theaters screening these titles participated in the "Clubhouse Family Network". The first films shown under this division were released on January 17, 1986. Films and television series released under this label include: Release date Title January 17, 1986 The Adventures of Mark Twain January 17, 1986 Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! January 17, 1986 Heathcliff: The Movie January 17, 1986 The Adventures of the American Rabbit March 21, 1986 GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords September 13, 1986 – December 6, 1986 Teen Wolf
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