Mark Canton (born June 19, 1949) is an American film producer and executive.
Early life and education Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York City, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publicity, including such films as Lawrence of Arabia. As a young adult, he met well-known movie personalities like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Doris Day when they visited the family's apartment.
After working in the mail room of Warner Bros. while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, Canton started working for 20th Century Fox and later had jobs with film director Franklin Schaffner, with producer Jon Peters, and in the 1970s as executive assistant to Mike Medavoy at United Artists.
Career Canton worked as executive vice president at Warner Bros. from 1980 onwards. Successes he was involved in at the time include 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation, Purple Rain, and the Batman and Lethal Weapon film series, but also notorious box office failures like The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), a picture he described as "the best movie I ever saw" at its first screening.
In 1991, Canton quit Warner Bros., where he was executive vice president of the Worldwide Motion Picture Production unit. Warner Bros. let him out of his contract fifteen months early, with studio head Bob Daly saying, "from our standpoint this was a job that was going to be eliminated."Griffin & Masters. p. 318 He then became chairman of Sony's Columbia Pictures (later Columbia-TriStar Pictures), where he was involved with some failures like Geronimo: An American Legend, but also with blockbusters such as Men in Black, Air Force One, and My Best Friend's Wedding.
Canton was fired by Sony in 1996, after a series of relative flops including Last Action Hero (a film Canton described as "probably the best action movie of all time"Griffin & Masters. p. 368) and The Cable Guy, before his final string of movies could become blockbusters. Described at the time as both "known for enthusiasm, rapid-fire talk, a sleek Italian wardrobe and a youthful style" and "a braggart who was lucky to have become chairman of a studio in the first place", Canton was in those years "one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood".
In 1998, Canton became an independent film producer, with Jack Frost starring Michael Keaton as his first major production. Backed by the German company Senator Entertainment from August 2000 onwards, he struck a first-look deal with Warner Bros. By the end of 2001, the shares of Senator had dropped substantially, and Canton had to close down his production company.
In 2002, he was the chief executive of Artists Production Group, the movie branch of Artist Management Group. After leaving APG in November 2003, he created Atmosphere Entertainment together with Mark Kimsey, an investment manager. The aims were to produce films and television programming. With this company, he produced blockbusters such as 300, Immortals, and The Spiderwick Chronicles.
In 2014, Canton co-created the show Power alongside Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Courtney Kemp, which earned numerous NAACP Image Awards, including multiple Outstanding Drama Series awards, National Film & Television Awards, People's Choice Awards, and BET Awards. This series was the number-one show on premium cable for its six-year run from 2014-2020.
In 2026, Canton joined forces with Peter Guber at Mandalay Entertainment as a managing partner for a new wave of feature films while continuing to develop television independently.
In his roles as executive, chairman, and producer, Canton has been involved in over 300 major Hollywood productions.
Other activities and roles , Canton is a vice-president on the board of the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival, an international film festival held on the Italian island of Ischia.
Personal life Canton was married to Oscar-winning producer Wendy Finerman, with whom he has three children.
His brother is the film producer Neil Canton. They co-produced the 2000 film Get Carter.
Filmography He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film Year Film Credit Award Box Office 1980 Die Laughing $4 million 1998 Jack Frost $34.6 million 2000 Get Carter $19.4 million Red Planet $33.5 million 2001 Angel Eyes $29.7 million 2002 Trapped Executive producer $13.4 million 2004 Taking Lives $65.5 million Godsend Executive producer $30.1 million 2005 Land of the Dead Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Horror FilmNominated - Empire Award for Best HorrorNominated - Fangoria - Best Wide Release FilmNominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie $47.8 million 2006 300 Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure FilmNominated - Empire Award for Best Sci-Fi/FantasyNominated - MTV Movie Award for Best MovieNominated - MTV Russia Movie Award for Best International MovieNominated - National Movie Award for Best Action/AdventureNominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite Action MovieNominated - Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media FeatureNominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Action $456.1 million 2007 Full of It $500.000 2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film $162.8 million 2009 A Perfect Getaway $22.9 million Fame $80.2 million 2010 Letters to Juliet Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Romance $82.1 million Piranha 3D Nominated - Dorian Award for Campy Film of the YearNominated - Scream Award for Best Horror Movie $83.7 million Removal Executive producer 2011 Immortals Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film $226.9 million 2012 Rites of Passage The Cold Light of Day Executive producer $25.4 million Black November Executive producer $35.000 Piranha 3DD Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Horror $8.5 million Freelancers Executive producer $370,000 2013 Escape Plan $137.3 million 2014 300: Rise of an Empire $337.6 million Cake $2.9 million Outcast Executive producer $4.8 million The Pyramid $16.9 million 2015 The Last Witch Hunter $140.4 million 2016 Mr. Church Burn Your Maps The Comedian 2017 The Yellow Birds Phoenix Forgotten 2018 Den of Thieves Escape Plan 2: Hades Nightmare Cinema Final Score Executive producer 2019 After Escape Plan: The Extractors 2020 After We Collided 2021 After We Fell 2022 After Ever Happy 2023 After Everything 2024 Arthur the King The Strangers: Chapter 1 2025 Den of Thieves 2: Pantera The Strangers – Chapter 2 Red Sonja 2026 The Strangers – Chapter 3 A.D. Black Belle Robot: Colony 25 The Good Samaritan
Production manager
Year Film Role Box Office 1980 Caddyshack Executive in charge of production $39.8 million
Miscellaneous crew
Year Film Role 1974 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Production aide
Thanks
Year Film Role 2000 Preston Tylk Thanks 2013 Getaway Special thanks
Television Year Title Credit Award 1999−2001 Jack & Jill Executive producer 2014–20 Power Executive producer Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series 2020 The Freak Brothers Executive producer 2020−21 Power Book II: Ghost Executive producer 2021 Power Book III: Raising Kanan Executive producer 2022 Power Book IV: Force Executive producer 2024 The Spiderwick Chronicles Executive producer
References
External links