Constantin Film AG is a German film production company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of productions.[10]
Constantin has released 36 of the 100 most successful German films of the last 20 years, including four of the top five: Manitou's Shoe (11.7 million viewers), Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 (9 million), Fack ju Göhte (7.3 million) and Fack ju Göhte 2 (7.7 million). The Fack ju Göhte trilogy was concluded in 2017 with Fack ju Göhte 3 (6 million) and is now the most successful German film series of all time.[11]
Internationally, Constantin Film is best known for the successful Resident Evil film franchise, which has earned US$1.2 billion worldwide to date and is also known as the highest-grossing film series based on a video game.[12] More recently, TV series include Shadowhunters, which won four People's Choice Awards in 2018, and the live-action Resident Evil television series.[13] Constantin has also been involved in 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four film franchise. Other productions include bestseller adaptation The Silence and video game adaptation Monster Hunter.[14]
Early Constantin
Constantin Filmverleih GmbH was founded in West Germany on 1 April 1950 by Preben Philipsen and Waldfried Barthel[de], who would later become the head of publicity for the company. It was originally the country's national distributor of films produced by Columbia Pictures and United Artists. Throughout the 1950s, Constantin distributed both popular and art-house films from several nations as well as medium-budgeted domestic films.
Constantin Filmverleih was renamed to Constantin Film GmbH on 21 September 1964, and on 1 July 1965, Bertelsmann Publishing became the majority shareholder of Constantin. They attempted to increase output without increasing investment that resulted in the demise of many of the studio's popular film series, investment in sex films, and a stronger emphasis on releasing films from other nations rather than shooting their own. Bertelsmann sold its shares in 1969.[15]:86–87 The "old" Constantin Film GmbH was eventually declared bankrupt in October 1977.[16]
New Constantin
Founded in 1979 by Bernd Eichinger, with Bernd Schaefers,[17] as Neue Constantin Film after acquiring the assets of the bankrupt "old" Constantin Film GmbH the previous year, Constantin Film developed into the first German film distributor with its own production company in just six years, with production activities extending to the international market. In 1986, the Kirch Group (at the time Europe's biggest film and TV license traders) acquired a minority stake in Neue Constantin Film. Eichinger retained one of the company's leading executives and a major shareholder to his death in 2011.[18]
In the following years, Constantin Film fixed its position on the international movie market by establishing various production subsidiaries across Europe in 1996. At the end of the 1990s, Constantin Film acquired majority stakes in the film production companies Olga Film GmbH, Engram Pictures and MOOVIE GmbH. In September 1999, the company then went public on the German stock market as Constantin Film AG. Deutsche Börse placed the Constantin Film share on the selection index Nemax 50 in March 2000. In 2000, the company partnered with American producer Propaganda Films to start ProCon Films, the venture was quickly dissolved in October 2001.[19][20]
Constantin Film AG founded Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH with producer Christian Becker and his team in 2001. The Swiss Highlight Communications AG (a strategy and finance holding with the operative segments of film and sports and event marketing) acquired 23 percent of the capital stock of Constantin Film AG from Kirch Beteiligungs GmbH und Co. KG and from diversified holdings for the first time in 2002. In 2003, the board of Constantin Film AG embarked on a new strategic path for the company: the traditional business areas of production and distribution were expanded to include the three areas of license trading, home entertainment exploitation and increased TV service production (especially TV entertainment). Constantin Film AG also acquired 61 percent of the shares in KirchMedia Entertainment GmbH (now renamed Constantin Entertainment GmbH), one of the market leaders in German show and entertainment production. The stake was increased to 100 percent in 2005.
At the end of 2009, the listing of Constantin Film AG expired; all the shares were transferred to Highlight Communications after a squeeze-out. As of 7 October 2009, Constantin Film is no longer listed at the Frankfurter Börse.
Since January 2017 Bernhard Burgener is chairman of the supervisory board, with Martin Moszkowicz as chairman of the executive board. In this capacity, Moszkowicz is responsible for the company's film business, including worldwide production and distribution, world sales, marketing and publicity as well as corporate communication and legal affairs.[21]
Oliver Berben has joined the Constantin Film AG Managing Board on 1 January 2017. The newly created division “TV, Entertainment and Digital Media” concentrates the development and manufacture of all national and international productions of the company that are not intended for cinema exploitation. Berben founded the MOOVIE GmbH in 1996, which became a subsidiary of Constantin Film AG in 1999.
In June 2018, Constantin Film had announced that they've Munich-based drama television production company Hager Moss Film.[22]
In January 2019, Berben also assumed the position of Managing Director "Production" of Constantin Film Production GmbH. Berben will continue his work as a producer.[23] In July 2023, Netflix and Constantin have sign an exclusive long-term partnership.[24]
In October 2021, the Writers Guild of America West advised its members not to work for the company due it not being a signatory to the 2020 Minimum Basic Agreement.[25] However, the company hit back stating that it “has paid, and the WGA Plan has accepted, all WGA fringe payments.”[26]
Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in Des Teufels General. His English-language roles include James Bond villain Karl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Éric Carradine in And God Created Woman (1956), and Professor Immanuel Rath in The Blue Angel (1959).
Helga Ursula "Uschi" Glas, sometimes credited as Ursula Glas, is a German actress in film, television, and on stage, and a singer.
Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.
Walter Giller was a German actor. He was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, when he was often seen as a comedic leading man. One of his most successful and more serious roles was in Roses for the Prosecutor.
Sir James "Jimmy" Enrique Carreras was a British film producer and executive who, together with William Hinds, founded the British company Hammer Film Productions. His career spanned nearly 45 years, in multiple facets of the entertainment industry until retiring in 1972.
Günther Anders was a German cameraman and cinematographer.
Karl Friedrich Anton Hermann "Charles" Régnier was a German actor, director and translator. He appeared in more than 135 films between 1949 and 2000. In the 1950s and the 1960s, he was one of the busiest German theatre and film actors.
Gustav Knuth was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1935 and 1982 and starred in the TV series Alle meine Tiere. He was married to the actress Elisabeth Lennartz.
Rolf Thiele was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 42 films between 1951 and 1977. He was born in Prödlitz, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His 1958 film Eva was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. His 1964 film Tonio Kröger was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival.
Peter Carsten was a German actor and film producer. He appeared in 90 films between 1953 and 1999, including in supporting roles, Dark of the Sun (1968), Hannibal Brooks (1969), Madame Bovary (1969), And God Said to Cain (1970) and Zeppelin (1971).
Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH is a German film production company owned by Constantin Film. In 2021, they released Germany's most successful Netflix film to date, the horror thriller Blood Red Sky.
Hans Quest was a German actor and film director.
Ralf Wolter was a German stage and screen actor. Wolter appeared in nearly 220 films and television series in his over 60 years as a character actor.
Rudolf Vogel was a German film and television actor.
Elyas M'Barek is an Austrian actor based in Germany. He gained recognition for his roles in the comedy television series Türkisch für Anfänger and the 2013 comedy film Fack ju Göhte.
Wolfgang Neuss was a German actor and Kabarett artist. Wolfgang Neuss and Wolfgang Müller (1922–1960) were a popular double act. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Neuss also became famous for his political engagement, first for the SPD, then for the extra-parliamentary opposition, APO. He died in 1989 from a longtime cancer.
Fack ju Göhte is a 2013 German comedy film directed and written by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek and Karoline Herfurth, while Max von der Groeben and Jella Haase appear in supporting roles. The film was produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion in coproduction with Constantin Film.
Raoul Retzer (1919–1974) was an Austrian actor. Retzer was a prolific film actor appearing in more than a hundred and forty productions between 1952 and 1975 generally in small or supporting roles. He appeared in the 1955 film The Last Ten Days.
Fack ju Göhte 2 is a 2015 German comedy film directed by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek, Karoline Herfurth and Jella Haase, while upcoming actors Max von der Groeben and Volker Bruch appear as supporting roles. The film, produced by Constantin Film, is the sequel to the 2013 film Fack ju Göhte. It premiered on 7 September 2015 in Munich and was released nationwide three days later. It was released in the United States under the title Suck Me Shakespeer 2.
Martin Moszkowicz is a German film producer. He was the chairman of the executive board at Constantin Film. At his own request, his contract as a chairman ended on February 29, 2024, and he continues to work as a producer for the company from March 1, 2024.
↑ "Ski resort sold to German man". Bennington Banner. Vol.88, no.240. Bennington, Vermont: Banner Publishing Corp. Associated Press. 11 October 1991. p.2. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Movie producer Eichinger dies". The Pantagraph. Vol.165, no.26. Bloomington, Illinois. Associated Press. 26 January 2011. p.D5. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Filmmaker doesn't take easy projects". North Jersey Sunday. Vol.115, no.647. Passaic, New Jersey: North Jersey Newspapers. Associated press. 12 October 1986. p.D1. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Smith, Liz (20 July 1988). "Peopletalk". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Vol.319, no.20. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Newspapers. p.2D. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Coutinho, Isabel (24 June 1993). "Sun, Set and Asset Strip". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
1 2 "Hollywood puts hopes in 'Fantastic Four'". The News-Star. Vol.76, no.266. Monroe, Louisiana. Gannett News Service. 8 July 2005. p.1D. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Coyle, Jake (25 April 2010). "Hitler 'Downfall' parodies yanked from YouTube". The Times. Vol.101, no.265 (South Lake Countyed.). Valparaiso, Indiana: Lee Publications. Associated Press. p.D6. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Kaufman, Amy; Zeitchik, Steven (21 October 2011). "'Paranormal Activity 3' to frighten rivals". Los Angeles Times. Vol.CXXX, no.322. Los Angeles, California. p.B3. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Sperling, Nicole (25 August 2013). "Building a foundation on 'City of Bones'". The Daily News. Vol.91, no.146. Longview, Washington: Lee Enterprises. Los Angeles Times. p.B4. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Faughnder, Ryan (21 February 2014). "'Lego Movie' on top again". Company Town. Los Angeles Times. Vol.CXXXIII, no.80. Los Angeles, California. p.B3. Retrieved 12 January 2020– via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
