If you’re a fan of bad movies, then you’ll probably know The Cannon Group. Throughout the 1980s, they brought us cinema classics like Death Wish 3, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, The Apple, Masters of the Universe, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, American Ninja, Missing in Action, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Delta Force. They also once bought the rights to Spider-Man thinking he was a human spider before realising he was a comic book character and promptly sold the rights back.
The Israeli cousins Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan joined Cannon Films in 1979 and brought their business culture to Hollywood. Whereas most studios would release 8 movies in one year, Cannon would release 40 and used names like Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme to sell their movies.
They went out of business in 1994 after a string of unsuccessful movies left them bankrupt, but now they’re back with a new studio head who looks to replicate the same business formula of Golan and Globus. You can see a lot about them in the documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.
Here’s what their official website has to say:
Today, the company is proud to enforce the ideals of Menahem Golan, putting the artist first and enabling them to have the freedom to create their vision, their way; a unique approach that is not found anywhere else in the industry today. Cannon Films Ltd has developed successful working relationships worldwide with companies operating in over fifteen countries. Together their mission is to produce new and original motion pictures for a 21st century audience. A new slate of movies is on the horizon including America Ninja Apprentice, Return of The Delta Force, U.S. Sniper and more…
Update: We’ve had a tweet from the official Cannon Films Twitter account to let us know that they’re not ‘back’, and have been established since 2014. They also go into more details about their upcoming line-up of movies:
@flickeringmyth Our press release in response to 'Cannon Films are coming back ' by @ThisisLukeOwen & other articles pic.twitter.com/YcgAidiz6W
— The Cannon Film Company (@CannonFilmCo) February 19, 2016
Originally published February 19, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
