The Ladd Company
 | |
| Film Production | |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Alan Ladd, Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan |
| Headquarters | Hollywood, California |
The Ladd Company is an American film production company founded by Alan Ladd, Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan in 1979.
Prior to the company's formation, Ladd was President of 20th Century Fox, and Kanter & Wigan also served as Fox executives. As the alleged results of quarreling between Ladd and the studio higher-ups, the trio announced their intents to leave Fox when their contracts expired in December 1980 and form a production company to be financed by Warner Bros. Fox subsequently cut their contracts short, ending on October 1, 1979.[1] The day after the contracts expired, the trio placed ads for the newly named "Ladd Company" in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.[2]
Under Warner Bros., it distributed Chariots of Fire, which won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Picture, and produced the space epic The Right Stuff, the space western Outland, Ridley Scott's sci-fi film Blade Runner, neo-noir film Body Heat and the first two Police Academy movies, amongst others.
Even with the phenomenal success of Police Academy, the good business couldn't outweigh the bad, as the box-office failures of The Right Stuff, the edited version of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America and the animated Twice Upon a Time (co-produced with Lucasfilm) sent the company towards oblivion. On April 18, 1984, Alan Ladd, Jr. and Warner Bros. parted ways, even though the former still had three years left on the studio's contract. From that point on, "the Ladd Company [would] become a non-exclusive production organization."[3]
During a brief partnership with Paramount Pictures in the mid-1990s, it produced the Best Picture Oscar winner Braveheart, and A Very Brady Sequel.
Ladd's most recent releases are the 2005 Lasse Hallström drama, An Unfinished Life and the 2007 Ben Affleck drama Gone Baby Gone, both distributed by Miramax Films.
List of Ladd Company Films
| Film | Year | Studio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divine Madness! | 1980 | Warner Bros | |
| Outland | 1981 | Warner Bros | |
| Body Heat | 1981 | Warner Bros | |
| Chariots of Fire | 1981 | Warner Bros | Distribution in association with Warner Bros. only |
| Looker | 1981 | Warner Bros | |
| Blade Runner | 1982 | Warner Bros | Was released in three different versions, in 1982, 1992, and 2007 co-production with Jerry Perenchio, Sir Run Run Shaw, and Bud Yorkin |
| Night Shift | 1982 | Warner Bros | |
| Love Child | 1982 | Warner Bros | |
| Five Days One Summer | 1982 | Warner Bros | |
| Lovesick | 1983 | Warner Bros | |
| Twice Upon a Time | 1983 | Warner Bros | |
| The Right Stuff | 1983 | Warner Bros | Limited release in October 1983, wide release in 1984; Unexpected box office failure, considered one of the causes of the company's demise at Warner Bros. |
| Star 80 | 1983 | Warner Bros | |
| Mike's Murder | 1984 | Warner Bros | |
| Police Academy | 1984 | Warner Bros | |
| Purple Hearts | 1984 | Warner Bros | |
| Once Upon a Time in America | 1984 | Warner Bros | |
| Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | 1985 | Warner Bros | First Ladd Company film not to have the company's logo screen at the beginning of the film, has caption that reads "The Ladd Company Presents" at the beginning of the opening credits instead. |
| Doin' Time | 1985 | Warner Bros | Final Ladd Company picture released by Warner Bros. |
| Braveheart | 1995 | Paramount Pictures (Domestic) / Twentieth Century Fox (International) | co-production with Icon Productions |
| The Phantom | 1996 | Paramount Pictures | co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures |
| A Very Brady Sequel | 1996 | Paramount Pictures | |
| An Unfinished Life | 2005 | Miramax Films | co-production with Revolution Studios |
| Gone Baby Gone | 2007 | Miramax Films |
References
- ↑ Thomas, Bob. "Studio 'revolution' treat for gossips". Edmonton Journal (August 18, 1979).
- ↑ Schreger, Charles. "New Film Company Born of Frustration". Sarasota Herald-Tribune (October 19, 1979)
- ↑ Associated Press. "Ladd, Warner Bros. dissolve agreement". St. Joseph News-Press (April 20, 1984).
External links
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