When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
07-14-09 | 05:22 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
Any info on Summit entertainment?
They released Twilight and I rented Push and Knowing last week and both movies were distributed by Summit.
I never heard of them until last week and it seemed like they came out of nowhere.
It is obvious this is not a small independent studio dedicated to art cinema since they have been producing these big blockbusters.
They released Twilight and I rented Push and Knowing last week and both movies were distributed by Summit.
I never heard of them until last week and it seemed like they came out of nowhere.
It is obvious this is not a small independent studio dedicated to art cinema since they have been producing these big blockbusters.
07-14-09 | 05:30 PM
#3
DVD Talk God
Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
They hadn't had a hit until Twilight, and Knowing. Even with Knowing, I'd argue it wasn't all that big of a hit. It was #1 at the box office one week, IIRC, but it was released when there wasn't jack in the movie theaters.
07-15-09 | 03:19 PM
#4
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Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
What is their story though? How did they secure the option on the Twilight series when by all rights a book franchise like that should have wound up in the hands of WB or Fox or Disney? I assume they will parlay the success of the series into many more films. Will they be the next New Line?
07-15-09 | 03:29 PM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
Wiki Style:
But also check out some of their films:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._Entertainment
Co-Production
2007
Bridge to Terabithia
In the Valley of Elah
Michael Clayton
P.S. I Love You
Resident Evil: Extinction
Production and/or Distribution
2000
Memento
1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
History
It was originally founded in the early 1990s and launched in 1996 by Patrick Wachsberger, Bob Hayward and David Garrett under the name Summit Entertainment LP as a production, distribution, and sales organization. In April 2006, it became a fully independent film studio, Summit Entertainment, with the addition of Rob Friedman, a former executive at Paramount Pictures.[3] The new company added major development, production, acquisitions, marketing and distribution branches with a financing deal led by Merrill Lynch and other investors giving it access to over $1 billion in financing.[4]
After a string of flops including P2, Penelope, Never Back Down and Sex Drive, Summit found success in November 2008 with the release of Twilight, a teen romance about vampires based on the best-selling book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, which has grossed more than $300 million worldwide. In the spring of 2009, Summit released Knowing, the company's second movie to open #1 at the box office both domestically and internationally. Future releases for Summit include Next Day Air, The Hurt Locker, an action-thriller war-themed film directed by Kathryn Bigelow which has received two 2009 Independent Spirit Award nominations, the animated film Astro Boy, the coming of age movie Bandslam, the teenage horror Sorority Row, and the highly anticipated The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
In 2008, Summit ranked 8th place among the studios, with a gross of $226.5 million, almost entirely because of the release of Twilight.[5]
It was originally founded in the early 1990s and launched in 1996 by Patrick Wachsberger, Bob Hayward and David Garrett under the name Summit Entertainment LP as a production, distribution, and sales organization. In April 2006, it became a fully independent film studio, Summit Entertainment, with the addition of Rob Friedman, a former executive at Paramount Pictures.[3] The new company added major development, production, acquisitions, marketing and distribution branches with a financing deal led by Merrill Lynch and other investors giving it access to over $1 billion in financing.[4]
After a string of flops including P2, Penelope, Never Back Down and Sex Drive, Summit found success in November 2008 with the release of Twilight, a teen romance about vampires based on the best-selling book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, which has grossed more than $300 million worldwide. In the spring of 2009, Summit released Knowing, the company's second movie to open #1 at the box office both domestically and internationally. Future releases for Summit include Next Day Air, The Hurt Locker, an action-thriller war-themed film directed by Kathryn Bigelow which has received two 2009 Independent Spirit Award nominations, the animated film Astro Boy, the coming of age movie Bandslam, the teenage horror Sorority Row, and the highly anticipated The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
In 2008, Summit ranked 8th place among the studios, with a gross of $226.5 million, almost entirely because of the release of Twilight.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._Entertainment
Co-Production
2007
Bridge to Terabithia
In the Valley of Elah
Michael Clayton
P.S. I Love You
Resident Evil: Extinction
Production and/or Distribution
2000
Memento
1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Last edited by stingermck; 07-15-09 at 03:32 PM.
07-29-09 | 09:05 PM
#6
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
There is an extended interview with the president of Summit in the latest podcast of 'The Business'. It's a good listen and he sounds like one of the few good guys left in Hollywood as he is interested in more than just tentpole films for kids and teens.
EDIT
'The Hurt Locker' is their current film in release.
EDIT
'The Hurt Locker' is their current film in release.
Last edited by Gerry P.; 07-29-09 at 09:08 PM.
07-29-09 | 10:22 PM
#7
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Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
Twilight has given them amazing clout, and a guaranteed revenue stream for the next few years.
The Hurt Locker is certainly going to give them a boost around awards time if they hire some savvy Weinstein-types to continually market it.
The Hurt Locker is certainly going to give them a boost around awards time if they hire some savvy Weinstein-types to continually market it.
07-30-09 | 08:54 PM
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Re: When did Summit Entertainment become a big player?
What is their story though? How did they secure the option on the Twilight series when by all rights a book franchise like that should have wound up in the hands of WB or Fox or Disney? I assume they will parlay the success of the series into many more films. Will they be the next New Line?
EDIT: From Wikipedia: Stephenie Meyer's paranormal romance novel Twilight was originally optioned by Paramount Pictures' MTV Films in April 2004, but the screenplay that was subsequently developed was substantially different from its source material. When Summit Entertainment reinvented itself as a full-service studio in April 2007, it began development of a film adaptation anew, having picked up the rights from Paramount (who coincidentally had made an unrelated film with the same title in 1998) in a turnaround.
Last edited by davidh777; 07-30-09 at 08:57 PM.
