Summit Entertainment
| Name | Summit Entertainment, LLC |
| Logo |  |
| Logo Caption | Logo used since 2018 |
| Type | In-name only subsidiary of Lionsgate Films |
| Industry | Film |
| Founders | Bernd Eichinger Arnon Milchan Andrew G. Vajna |
| Location | Burbank, California (1991–2007) Universal City, California (2007–12) Santa Monica, California (2012–present) |
| Key People | Patrick Wachsberger Bob Hayward |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Services | Film distribution (previous) Film production (current) |
| Parent | Lionsgate Films (2012–present) |
| Divisions | Summit Records Summit Premiere |
| Subsid | International Distribution Company, LLC (joint venture with Pedro Rodriguez) |
Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Studios and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It was founded on July 26, 1991.
History
Independent era (1991–2012)
Summit Entertainment was founded in 1991 as the Summit Group by film producers Bernd Eichinger (Constantin Film), Arnon Milchan (Regency Enterprises), and Andrew G. Vajna (Carolco Pictures and Cinergi Pictures) to handle film sales in foreign countries. Summit officially launched in 1993 by David Garrett, Patrick Wachsberger, and Bob Hayward under the name Summit Entertainment LP as a distribution and sales organization. By 1995 they were producing and co-financing films, and by 1997 they started fully financing films, as well as striking international deals with companies like Mandalay Pictures, Artisan Entertainment and Franchise Pictures.
Among the company's early successes were American Pie, Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Memento, Requiem For A Dream, Die Hard With A Vengeance, The Blair Witch Project, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In 1998, Summit acquired worldwide distribution rights to the entire filmography of Wim Wenders, including the then-upcoming Buena Vista Social Club, from Road Movies Filmproduktion; the deal however excluded The End of Violence, retained by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Ciby 2000.
In 2006, it became an independent film studio with over a billion dollars in financing backed by Merrill Lynch. Starting in 2007, Summit Entertainment's home video division was distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
In November 2008, Summit found massive success with the release of Twilight, a teen romance about vampires based on the best-selling book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer that made $408,773,703 worldwide. In the spring of 2009, Summit released Knowing, the company's second movie to open #1 at the box office and made $182,492,056 worldwide.
In November 2009, Summit released the sequel to Twilight titled The Twilight Saga: New Moon, also based on the popular novel by Stephenie Meyer, breaking box office records for first weekend grosses at the time, taking in $142,839,137 in the first three days. In June 2010 Summit released the third film of the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. It broke a midnight screening record of over $30 million and set a one-day Wednesday record of $68.5 million. It became the first movie in the series to cross the $300 million mark domestically. Collectively, the franchise grossed $3.3 billion globally.
In 2008, Summit Entertainment ranked in eighth place among the studios, with a gross of $226.5 million, almost entirely because of the release of Twilight. In 2009, Summit ranked 7th among studios with a gross of $482.5 million.
Other Summit Entertainment releases include: Ender's Game (released November 1, 2013 in the United States; an adaptation of Orson Scott Card's 1985 novel); Mr. & Mrs. Smith ($186,330,000 US box office); The Hurt Locker ($16,400,000 US box office; it garnered Summit its first Best Picture Oscar); La La Land ($151,100,000 US box office); Step Up Franchise ($651,000,00 Global box office); Now You See Me ($117,700,000 US box office); the low-budget Push ($31,811,527 US box office); Deepwater Horizon ($61,400,000 US box office); the sleeper hit, RED ($87,940,198 US box office; nominated for a 2010 Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category); Vanilla Sky ($100,618344 US box office); and most recently the popular John Wick Franchise ($1,011,000,000 grossed globally across the four films).
Lionsgate era (2012–present)
On February 1, 2009, it was announced that Lionsgate would acquire Summit Entertainment, along with its library of six films and rights to the Twilight franchise, but two days later, these merger negotiations broke down due to concerns over changing content. On January 13, 2012, Lionsgate officially acquired Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million. Lionsgate continues to operate Summit Entertainment as a label.
Filmography
List of Summit Entertainment films
See also
References
- Summit nabs Wenders pix, Variety, Benedict, Carver, 28 September 1998, 20 October 2024
- McNary, Dave, 2007-05-18, Summit, Universal make distrib pact, 2021-11-09, Variety, en-US
- 2008 Studio Market Share, Box Office Mojo, December 30, 2011
- 2009 Studio Market Share, Box Office Mojo, December 20, 2011
External links
- (Now redirects to Lionsgate's website)
Category:1991 establishments in California
Category:2012 mergers and acquisitions
Category:American companies established in 1991
Category:American independent film studios
Category:Companies based in Santa Monica, California
Category:Entertainment companies established in 1991
Category:Film distributors of the United States
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:Home video companies of the United States
Category:Lionsgate Studios
Category:International sales agents
Category:Bernd Eichinger