Founded November 1989 | Fate Closed Defunct 1998 Founder Andrew G. Vajna Ceased operations 1998 Parent organization Valdina Corp N V | |
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Cinergi Pictures Entertainment Inc. was a small independent production company that was founded by Andrew G. Vajna, after he had sold his interest in his first production company, Carolco International Pictures, in 1989. The company had a number of major hit films, most notably Die Hard with a Vengeance in 1995. However, the majority of their films lost money. A string of box office bombs - including Color of Night, Judge Dredd, The Scarlet Letter, Nixon, Shadow Conspiracy, Deep Rising and An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn - ultimately undid the company, and it closed in 1998.
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Pre-founding
Andrew G. Vajna, a Hungarian native, launched his career in the entertainment industry with his purchase of motion picture theaters in the Far East. Later, he founded Panasia Films Limited in Hong Kong before forming Carolco with Mario Kassar in 1976. In less than four years, Carolco became one of the top three foreign sales organizations in motion pictures.
In 1982 Vajna and Kassar made their film production debut with the highly successful First Blood, starring Sylvester Stallone. Rambo: First Blood Part II was released in 1985, generating more than $300 million worldwide, making it one of the most profitable films in the history of filmmaking.
Vajna and Kassar were executive producers on such films as Alan Parker's Angel Heart, Rambo III, and Johnny Handsome. Other projects included Music Box, Total Recall, Air America, Mountains of the Moon, Narrow Margin, and Jacob's Ladder.
Cinergi
Vajna's strategy was to develop long-term relationships with certain talent and to produce a steady supply of two to four event motion pictures per year. Upon forming Cinergi, Vajna established an alliance with The Walt Disney Company for distribution of Cinergi motion pictures in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Cinergi's first production, Medicine Man starring Oscar-winner Sean Connery, was followed by Tombstone and Renaissance Man, starring Danny DeVito. In 1994, Cinergi released Color of Night starring Bruce Willis, Jane March, and Lesley Ann Warren. With the exception of Tombstone, all of those films flopped at the box office.
In 1995, Cinergi released Die Hard with a Vengeance starring Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, and Samuel L. Jackson. To date, the film has grossed over $300 million worldwide.
Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone, and The Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore, were followed by the release of Oliver Stone's epic Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins.
Cinergi's Shadow Conspiracy, starring Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland, and Linda Hamilton was released in 1997. The last film released was An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn.
Cinergi's closing
The box office and budgets for their films began to fall in late 1996, and Cinergi Pictures eventually closed in 1998. The multi-year distribution agreement with Disney was canceled in April 1997 and Disney acquired most of the film rights excluding the international rights of Die Hard with a Vengeance which was acquired by 20th Century Fox.
Three years earlier, Kassar's Carolco Pictures had also collapsed; Vajna and Kassar eventually became partners again in 2002 to form C2 Pictures.
Many of its films were distributed by The Walt Disney Company through Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures. Outside of the U.S., Cinergi handled distribution, which they farmed out to film distributors worldwide. This excludes the U.S. and Japan rights to Die Hard with a Vengeance, a co-production with 20th Century Fox (and which Disney distributed in most international territories until it was transferred to 20th Century Fox).
In 2003, Vajna bought a videogame company, Games Unlimited, and renamed it Cinergi Interactive, which ran until 2007.