Interscope Communications
IndustryFilm studio
Founded1982 (1982)
Defunct1999 (1999) (as film studio and label)
2002 (2002) (through USA Films merger)
2003 (2003) (as in-name-only label)
FateMerged with October Films and Gramercy Pictures to become USA Films and later consolidated into Focus Features
Successor
HeadquartersUnited States
Key people
Ted Field
Robert W. Cort
Scott Kroopf
ParentIndependent (1982–1994)
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (1994–1998)
Universal Studios (1998–1999)
USA Films (1999–2002)
SubsidiariesInterscope Records (1990–1996)

Interscope Communications (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

In 1999, after Seagram merged PolyGram into Universal Pictures, Interscope Communications was sold to USA Networks and merged into the recently formed USA Films, which in 2002, would later be merged with other film labels after being acquired by Universal to become Focus Features.[1]

History

Interscope Communications (the studio shared its name for a former racing team, "Interscope Racing") was founded in 1982 by media mogul Ted Field, who aimed to create films with mass appeal.[2] Field acted as a producer or executive producer on a number of films in Interscope's filmography. The company's first film, Revenge of the Nerds, was released in 1984 and was a box office success.[3] That same year, Robert W. Cort, a former executive of 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures, joined Interscope and became the president of the company. Cort also co-produced a number of films.[4]

On November 13, 1984, the company received an agreement with The Walt Disney Studios for a two-year term, to become the company's first independent supplier within the studio, after several years working with an agreement at 20th Century-Fox in order that Interscope would finance films for the studio.[5]

On December 10, 1986, Interscope Communications inked a three-picture domestic feature pact with United Artists Pictures, whereas production would be jointly financed by UA and Interscope, and that Interaccess Film Distribution and Vestron Inc. would participate in Interscope's share of financing, and domestic videocassette rights to Interscope's features going to Vestron Video, and foreign theatrical, TV and home video distribution of Interscope's films going to Interaccess Film Distribution.[6]

On May 20, 1987, Interscope Communications rises into the rank as a film supplier, in order to set films from different major film studios, mostly MPAA members, which included five of the films that were donated by Interscope to the major motion picture studios, such as Touchstone Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Warner Bros., Orion Pictures, 20th Century Fox and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, as well as his involvement with a $1 million in-house development kitty.[7]

In early July 1987, Interscope Communications decided to accelerate its TV production phase from four productions from its first four years of existence to a slate of 13 new projects for the next eighteen months, and which include two movies-of-the week, a miniseries and a conventional series for NBC, and Patricia Clifford runs the company's television operations for Interscope's television division, acknowledged a markedly pronounced greater receptivity than in previous years to telefilms dealing with black experience in the U.S., and offered a series of failed pilots and television movies on the air.[8]

In 1990, Nomura Babcock & Brown (NBB) invested $250 million in a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company and Interscope Communications. The deal called for NBB to co-produce and finance[2] films for Interscope and Disney for four years. The joint venture produced five films between 1992 and 1995, all of which were marketed and released under two of Disney's production banners, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures.[9] The most successful film co-produced by Interscope and NBB was The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), while other films produced by the joint venture were critical and commercial failures.[4]

Also that year, it purchased Marble Arch Productions from ITC, and decided that ITC Entertainment would co-finance the projects for U.S. and foreign distribution.[10]

PolyGram

In 1992, PolyGram bought a controlling interest in Interscope Communications' film unit. Production and marketing budgets were to be paid by PolyGram.[2] Robert W. Cort, president of Interscope, left the company at the end of 1995 believing that PolyGram "took on much more of a corporate environment than it had before and that consequently his role had become more like an executive's than a producer's." Field purchased Cort's 12% stake in the corporation.[4]

Beginning in 1996, Interscope began using PFE's PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution for distribution.[11]

USA Films merger and shut down

In 1998, after PolyGram was bought by Universal Studios,[12] Interscope's film unit was retained as a subsidiary of Universal until in 1999, it was sold off to Barry Diller's USA Networks, which later merged Interscope Communications with October Films and Gramercy Pictures to become USA Films. In 2001, Universal acquired USA and its divisions from Diller,[13] resulting in USA Films combining its operations with Universal Focus and Good Machine to become Focus Features.[1] Interscope Communications managed to remain in-name-only until it was shut down in 2003. Remaining films that were intended to be produced under the Interscope Communications name were drafted to Focus Features.

Interscope Records, however, still exists as part of the Interscope Geffen A&M faction of Universal Music Group (whose predecessor, MCA, purchased Atlantic's stake in the label in 1995).

Filmography

Interscope Communications has produced 56 films. Of the 56 films produced, only 14 are direct-to-video or made-for-television productions. Currently, all of the films that Interscope produced for Orion Pictures, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group between 1989 and 1991, as well as PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Gramercy Pictures before March 31, 1996, are owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which acquired the studios in separate transactions.[14] Films produced for PolyGram or Gramercy after April 1, 1996, are now owned by Universal Studios or its division Focus Features. Note that in all 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.
1984 Revenge of the Nerds Jeff Kanew 20th Century Fox $40,874,452 [3]
1985 Turk 182 Bob Clark 20th Century Fox $3,594,997 [15]
1985 American Geisha 2 Lee Phillips CBS —
1987 Critical Condition Michael Apted Paramount Pictures $20,240,752 [16]
1987 Outrageous Fortune Arthur Hiller Silver Screen Partners II Touchstone Pictures $52,864,741 [17]
1987 Stillwatch 2 Rod Holcomb CBS —
1987 Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Joe Roth 20th Century Fox $30,063,289 [18]
1987 Three Men and a Baby Leonard Nimoy Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $167,780,960 [19]
1988 The Seventh Sign Carl Schultz TriStar Pictures $18,875,011 [20]
1988 Cocktail Roger Donaldson Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $171,504,781 [21]
1989 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Stephen Herek Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $40,485,039 [22]
1989 Collision Course 1 Lewis Teague DEG —
1989 Renegades Jack Sholder Morgan Creek Productions Universal Pictures $9,015,164 [23]
1989 Blind Fury Phillip Noyce TriStar Pictures $2,692,037 [24]
1989 My Boyfriend's Back 2 Paul Schneider NBC —
1989 An Innocent Man Peter Yates Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures $20,047,604 [25]
1989 A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story 2 John Patterson Walt Disney Television — [26]
1990 The First Power Robert Resnikoff Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $22,424,195
1990 Bird on a Wire John Badham The Badham-Cohen Group Universal Pictures $138,697,012 [27]
1990 A Gnome Named Gnorm 1 Stan Winston Lightning Pictures Vestron Pictures —
1990 Three Men and a Little Lady Emile Ardolino Touchstone Pictures $71,609,321 [28]
1990 Eve of Destruction Duncan Gibbins Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $5,451,119 [29]
1991 The Last to Go 2 John Erman ABC —
1991 Aftermath 2 Glenn Jordan CBS — [26]
1991 Class Action Michael Apted 20th Century Fox $28,277,918 [30]
1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Peter Hewitt Nelson Entertainment Orion Pictures $38,037,513 [31]
1991 Paradise Mary Agnes Donahue Touchwood Pacific Partners I Touchstone Pictures $18,634,643 [32]
1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Curtis Hanson Nomura Babcock & Brown Hollywood Pictures $88,036,683 [33]
1992 The Cutting Edge Paul Michael Glaser Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $25,105,517 [34]
1992 The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag Allan Moyle Nomura Babcock & Brown Touchstone Pictures $3,721,911 [35]
1992 Out on a Limb Francis Veber Universal Pictures $1,659,542 [36]
1993 Foreign Affairs 2 Jim O'Brien TNT — [37]
1994 The Air Up There Paul Michael Glaser PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown		 Hollywood Pictures $21,011,318 [38]
1994 Holy Matrimony Leonard Nimoy PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $713,234 [39]
1994 Terminal Velocity Deran Sarafian PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown		 Hollywood Pictures $16,487,349 [40]
1994 A Part of the Family 2 David Madden PolyGram Filmed Entertainment —
1995 Roommates Peter Yates PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Nomura Babcock & Brown		 Hollywood Pictures $12,096,881 [41]
1995 Separate Lives David Madden Trimark Pictures $961,147 [42]
1995 Body Language 2 Eric Harlacher HBO —
1995 Operation Dumbo Drop Simon Wincer PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Walt Disney Pictures $24,670,346 [43]
1995 The Tie That Binds Wesley Strick PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $5,830,454 [44]
1995 Two Much Fernando Trueba PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/
Sogetel		 Touchstone Pictures $1,141,556 [45]
1995 Jumanji Joe Johnston TriStar Pictures $262,322,000 [46]
1995 Mr. Holland's Opus Stephen Herek PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $106,269,971 [47]
1996 Boys Stacy Cochran PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Touchstone Pictures $516,349 [48]
1996 Kazaam Paul Michael Glaser PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Touchstone Pictures $18,937,262 [49]
1996 The Associate Donald Petrie PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures $12,844,057 [50]
1997 Dead Silence 2 Daniel Petrie, Jr. Alliance Communications HBO Pictures —
1997 Gridlock'd Vondie Curtis-Hall PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures $5,571,205 [51]
1997 Snow White: A Tale of Terror 2 Michael Cohn PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures —
1998 The Proposition Leslie Linka Glatter PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $147,773 [52]
1998 Very Bad Things Peter Berg Initial Entertainment Group/
Ballpark Productions		 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $9,898,412 [53]
1998 What Dreams May Come Vincent Ward PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $55,382,927 [54]
1999 Runaway Bride Garry Marshall Lakeshore Entertainment Paramount Pictures/
Touchstone Pictures		 $309,457,509 [55]
1999 Teaching Mrs. Tingle Kevin Williamson Konrad Pictures Dimension Films $8,951,935 [56]
2000 Pitch Black David Twohy PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Gramercy Pictures/
USA Films		 $53,187,659 [57]
2000 The Three Stooges 2 Glenn Jordan Icon Entertainment International Columbia TriStar Television —
2002 The Pianist Roman Polanski Studio Canal+/
Canal+/
Studio Babelsberg		 Focus Features $120,072,577
Box office total: $3,037,962,100 —'

1 Direct-to-video release.
2 Released as a made-for-television film

References

  1. 1 2 "Interscope Communications". Audiovisual Identity Database. 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  2. 1 2 3 Geraldine Fabrikant (11 August 1992). "Polygram to Buy 51% Stake in Interscope's Film Division – New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Revenge of the Nerds (1984) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Claudia Eller (September 27, 1995). "ENTERTAINMENT : Interscope President to Resign; Parting Amicable, Partner Says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Interscope Disney's First Indie Supplier". Variety. 1984-11-14. p. 3.
  6. ↑ "UA To Distribute 3 Interscope Films". Variety. 1986-12-10. pp. 5, 40.
  7. ↑ Tusher, Will (1987-05-20). "Intersccope Into Front Ranks As Film Supplier; Sets 5 For Majors". Variety. p. 39.
  8. ↑ Tusher, Will (1987-07-08). "Interscope Picks Up TV Stream With 13 Projects In Production: Made-Fors, Miniseries & Skeins". Variety. pp. 55, 73.
  9. ↑ Alan Citron (14 September 1990). "Japanese Will Invest Up to $250 Million in Disney Filmmaking". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Syndication Marketplace" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1990-05-28. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  11. ↑ "PolyGram Unit to Distribute Films in U.S." Los Angeles Times. 1997-05-03. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
  12. ↑ Seagram swallows PolyGram money.cnn.com December 10, 1998, Retrieved on July 19, 2014
  13. ↑ Staff Reports; Verrier, Richard; Hofmeister |, Sallie (2001-12-17). "UNIVERSAL'S OWNER, USA NETWORKS OK DEAL". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  14. ↑ Gerald Fabrikant (August 11, 1992). "MGM Owner Said to Offer $300 Million to Buy Orion – New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Turk 182 (1985) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Critical Condition". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  17. ↑ "Outrageous Fortune (1987)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1985) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Three Men and a Baby (1987) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  20. ↑ "The Seventh Sign (1988)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Cocktail (1988)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Renegades (1989)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Blind Fury (1990) – Weekend Box Office Results – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  25. ↑ "An Innocent Man (1989) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Mother's Courage, A: The Mary Thomas Story (1989) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Entertainment Networks. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Bird on a Wire (1990) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Eve of Destruction (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Class Action (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Eve of Destruction (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  32. ↑ "Paradise (1991) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  33. ↑ "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  34. ↑ "The Cutting Edge (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  35. ↑ "The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  36. ↑ "Out on a Limb (1992) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Foreign Affairs (1993) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Entertainment Networks. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  38. ↑ "The Air Up There (1994) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  39. ↑ "Holy Matrimony (1994) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  40. ↑ "Terminal Velocity (1994) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Roommates (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  42. ↑ "Separate Lives (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  43. ↑ "Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  44. ↑ "The Tie That Binds (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  45. ↑ "Two Much (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  46. ↑ "Jumanji (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  47. ↑ "Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  48. ↑ "Boys (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  49. ↑ "Kazaam (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  50. ↑ "The Associate (1996) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  51. ↑ "Gridlock'd (1997) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  52. ↑ "The Proposition (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  53. ↑ "Very Bad Things (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  54. ↑ "What Dreams May Come (1998) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  55. ↑ "Runaway Bride (1999) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  56. ↑ "Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  57. ↑ "Pitch Black (2000) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
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