Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established on February 1, 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was founded to increase the film output of the Walt Disney Studios, and release films similar to those of Touchstone Pictures. These films, featuring more mature themes, were targeted at adult audiences unlike the family-oriented productions of the studio's flagship Walt Disney Pictures division. After years of hiatus, the label was shut down on April 27, 2007 and is currently an in-name-only unit of Walt Disney Pictures. The studio's most commercially successful film was M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, which grossed over $670 million worldwide upon its release in 1999.
History Hollywood Pictures Corporation was incorporated on March 30, 1984, and was activated on February 1, 1989. Ricardo Mestres was appointed the division's first president, moving from Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The division was formed to create opportunities for up-and-coming executives and to double Disney's feature-film output in order to fill the gap left by the contraction in the industry, which included the closure of MGM/UA's United Artists and financial problems at Lorimar-Telepictures and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. With Touchstone aligned with Hollywood Pictures, the two Disney production divisions would share the same marketing and distribution staffs. Hollywood Pictures was expected to be producing 12 films a year by 1991 and to share funding from the Silver Screen Partners IV. The company's first release was Arachnophobia on July 18, 1990.
On October 23, 1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners to supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source.
After the collapse of their then-recently renewed deal at Paramount Pictures, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer moved their production company to Hollywood Pictures on January 18, 1991.
The division issued primarily inexpensive comedies for the first six years with a few box office flops, amongst them Holy Matrimony, Aspen Extreme, Super Mario Bros., Swing Kids, Blame It on the Bellboy, Born Yesterday and Guilty as Sin. The division only had one box office success, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and one critical success, The Joy Luck Club, which did not outweigh the general anemic box office record of the division. On April 26, 1994, Mestres was forced to resign after the lackluster performance of the division. Mestres moved to long term production deal with the studio.
On June 27, 1994, Michael Lynton was appointed as new division president after moving from the Disney Publishing Group, where he was senior vice president and oversaw domestic publishing units including Hyperion Books. Mestres left Lynton a few potential hits: Robert Redford's Quiz Show, the Sarah Jessica Parker-Antonio Banderas comedy Miami Rhapsody, and Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1997, Lynton left for a position at Penguin Group. When Lynton left, it was briefly transferred to a releasing-only entity, making pictures by third-parties, as well as Caravan Pictures, and Cinergi, and its development slate was transferred to Touchstone Pictures, but David Vogel, who was president of Walt Disney Pictures took on the studio by producing films again. In 1998, the three units were transferred to the Buena Vista Motion Picture Group, and its development slate of projects by Hollywood Pictures, such as Bicentennial Man, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was transferred to Touchstone. By 2001, Hollywood Pictures had produced 80 films, but its operation had been phased out and its management was merged with that of the flagship Walt Disney Pictures studio.
After being dormant for five years, the brand was reactivated for low-budget genre films. Films released by the repurposed Hollywood Pictures were two horror films: Stay Alive (released on March 24, 2006), and Primeval (released on January 12, 2007), and one thriller, The Invisible (released on April 27, 2007). After the latter release, Disney stopped producing and distributing under the label as it announced a focus on the company's core brands of Disney, Touchstone, ABC, ESPN, and Pixar.
Filmography 1990s US Release date Title Notes July 18, 1990 Arachnophobia Co-production with Amblin Entertainment; first Hollywood Pictures release August 17, 1990 Taking Care of Business Co-production with Silver Screen Partners IV February 1, 1991 Run April 5, 1991 The Marrying Man May 3, 1991 One Good Cop July 26, 1991 V.I. Warshawski January 10, 1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Co-production with Interscope Communications and Nomura Babcock & Brown February 7, 1992 Medicine Man North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures March 6, 1992 Blame It on the Bellboy Co-production with Silver Screen Partners IV April 3, 1992 Straight Talk Co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I April 24, 1992 Passed Away May 22, 1992 Encino Man July 17, 1992 A Stranger Among Us North American distribution only; co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I, Propaganda Films and Sandollar Productions September 18, 1992 Sarafina! American distribution with Miramax Films only; produced by Distant Horizon, Vanguard Films and BBC October 16, 1992 Consenting Adults Co-production with Touchwood Pacific Partners I December 4, 1992 The Distinguished Gentleman January 22, 1993 Aspen Extreme March 5, 1993 Swing Kids March 26, 1993 Born Yesterday April 16, 1993 Blood In Blood Out May 28, 1993 Super Mario Bros. North and South American distribution only; produced by Lightmotive, Allied Filmmakers and Cinergi Productions June 4, 1993 Guilty as Sin— July 2, 1993 Son in Law August 27, 1993 Father Hood September 8, 1993 The Joy Luck Club Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2020 September 10, 1993 Money for Nothing— December 25, 1993 Tombstone North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures January 7, 1994 The Air Up There Co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Nomura Babcock & Brown and Longview Entertainment March 4, 1994 Angie Co-production with Caravan Pictures April 8, 1994 Holy Matrimony North American distribution only; co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment August 12, 1994 In the Army Now— August 19, 1994 Color of Night North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures August 26, 1994 Camp Nowhere— September 14, 1994 Quiz ShowCo-production with Wildwood Enterprises and Baltimore Pictures September 23, 1994 Terminal Velocity Co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Nomura Babcock & Brown October 21, 1994 The Puppet Masters— November 11, 1994 The Santa Clause Co-production with Walt Disney Pictures and Outlaw Productions November 23, 1994 A Low Down Dirty Shame Co-production with Caravan Pictures January 6, 1995 Houseguest January 27, 1995 Miami Rhapsody Co-production with Cantaloupe Production March 3, 1995 Roommates Co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Nomura Babcock & Brown March 31, 1995 Funny Bones— April 21, 1995 While You Were Sleeping Co-production with Caravan Pictures April 28, 1995 A Pyromaniac's Love Story— May 12, 1995 Crimson Tide Co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films June 30, 1995 Judge Dredd North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures August 11, 1995 Dangerous Minds Co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Via Rosa Productions September 8, 1995 The Tie That Binds North American distribution only; co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment September 8, 1995 Unstrung Heroes— October 4, 1995 Dead Presidents Co-production with Caravan Pictures and Underworld Entertainment October 13, 1995 The Scarlet Letter North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures, Lightmotive, Allied Stars and Moving Pictures October 27, 1995 Powder Co-production with Caravan Pictures December 22, 1995 Nixon Distribution in North and South America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, China and Japan only; produced by Cinergi Pictures and Illusion Entertainment Group December 29, 1995 Mr. Holland's Opus North American distribution only; co-production with Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and The Charlie Mopic Company February 2, 1996 White Squall North American distribution only; produced by Largo Entertainment and Scott Free Productions February 23, 1996 Before and After Co-production with Caravan Pictures April 19, 1996 Celtic Pride May 24, 1996 Spy Hard— May 31, 1996 Eddie North American distribution only; co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Island Pictures June 7, 1996 The Rock Co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films August 9, 1996 Jack Co-production with American Zoetrope and Great Oaks Entertainment September 13, 1996 The Rich Man's Wife Co-production with Caravan Pictures October 25, 1996 The Associate North American distribution only; co-production with Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment December 25, 1996 Evita North and Latin American and Spanish distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures, RSO Films and Dirty Hands Productions January 24, 1997 Prefontaine— January 31, 1997 Shadow Conspiracy North and South American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures April 11, 1997 Grosse Pointe Blank Co-production with Caravan Pictures, Roger Birnbaum Productions and New Crime Productions May 30, 1997 Gone Fishin' Co-production with Caravan Pictures August 22, 1997 G.I. Jane Distribution in North and Latin America, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, the Benelux, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan only; co-production with Caravan Pictures, Scott Free Productions, Largo Entertainment, Roger Birnbaum Productions and Moving Pictures October 17, 1997 Washington Square North American, U.K. and Irish distribution only; co-production with Caravan Pictures, Roger Birnbaum Productions and Alchemy Filmworks December 25, 1997 An American Werewolf in Paris North American distribution only; produced by Cometstone Pictures January 30, 1998 Deep Rising North and Hispanic American and French distribution only; co-production with Laurence Mark Productions and Cinergi Pictures (uncredited) February 27, 1998 An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn North and Latin American distribution only; produced by Cinergi Pictures September 4, 1998 Firelight Distribution in North America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain only; co-distributed by Miramax Films in North America; co-production with Carnival Films and Wind Dancer Productions September 11, 1998 Simon Birch Co-production with Caravan Pictures August 6, 1999 The Sixth Sense Distribution outside Germany, Austria, the Nordics, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Benelux pay television, free television in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City and Monte Carlo, television in France, Spain, French-speaking Belgium, Andorra, Gibraltar, French-speaking Mauritius, Romandy, French-speaking Monaco and French-speaking Africa, and international airlines and ships only; produced by Spyglass Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company September 17, 1999 Breakfast of Champions North American distribution only; produced by Flying Heart Films October 1, 1999 Mystery, Alaska—
2000s