Industry | Entertainment |
---|---|
Founded | 1998 |
Founder | Mark Burg Oren Koules Gregg Hoffman |
Key people | Oren Koules (President 1999–2011) Michael Menchel (President 2011–present) |
Products | Motion pictures, television programs, entertainment management |
Subsidiaries | Twisted Pictures |
Evolution Entertainment is an American independent entertainment management and film production company. The company was founded in 1998 by Mark Burg and Oren Koules [1] and is best known for executive producing the Saw film series.
Gregg Hoffman joined the company in 2003 as Head of Production. [2] The box office success of the horror film Saw led to a distribution deal with Lionsgate and the formation of Twisted Pictures. [1] Hoffman unexpectedly died on December 4, 2005. [3]
In August 2005, the lead actor in Saw, Cary Elwes, filed a lawsuit against Evolution Entertainment, who were his managers at the time, stating he was promised a minimum of one percent of the producers' net profits of the film and did not receive the full amount. [4] The case eventually was settled out of court and in 2010, Elwes reprised his role in Saw 3D .
In June 2011, after twelve years, Koules departed from the company; Burg purchased his 50% of the company. [5] Burg chose CAA agent-turned-producer Michael Menchel as the new president.
The company's clients include Charlie Sheen and at one time Shawnee Smith and Danny Glover. [5] [6] [7]
Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American "mini-majors", Dimension Films produced and released independent films and genre titles; specifically horror and science fiction films.
Saw is a 2004 American horror film directed by James Wan in his feature directorial debut, and written by Leigh Whannell, from a story by Wan and Whannell. It is the first installment in the Saw film series, and stars Whannell alongside Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, and Ken Leung.
Saw II is a 2005 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Leigh Whannell and Bousman. It is the sequel to 2004's Saw and the second installment in the Saw film series. The film stars Donnie Wahlberg, Franky G, Glenn Plummer, Beverley Mitchell, Dina Meyer, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Erik Knudsen, Shawnee Smith, and Tobin Bell. In the film, a group of ex-convicts are trapped by the Jigsaw Killer inside a house and must pass a series of deadly tests to retrieve the antidote for a nerve agent that will kill them in two hours.
Francis Lawrence is an American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller Constantine (2005) and has since directed the post-apocalyptic horror film I Am Legend (2007), the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011), four of the five films in The Hunger Games film series, and the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018).
Gregg Hoffman was a film producer responsible for developing Saw and Saw II. He studied communications, law and economics at American University in Washington, D.C. Hoffman was working on Saw III and Crawlspace when he died in a hospital in Hollywood, California of natural causes. He was 42 years old at his death. The movie Dead Silence (2007) was dedicated to him. He was also thanked in the film Gross Misconduct, mentioned as dedicatee for Saw III, and posthumously credited with producing the Saw films from 2007 through 2023.
Saw III is a 2006 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Leigh Whannell and a story by Whannell and James Wan. It is the third installment in the Saw film series and a sequel to 2005's Saw II, starring Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh, and Dina Meyer.
Saw is an American horror media franchise created by Australian filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell, which began with the eponymous 2004 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded from films into other media, including a television series, video games, comic books, music, theme park attractions, and merchandising including toys, masks, and clothing. Saw is the fifth highest-grossing horror film franchise.
Lionsgate Films is a Canadian-American film production and distribution studio founded in Canada in 1962. It is now a division of Lionsgate Studios and headquartered in Santa Monica.
Saw IV is a 2007 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and a story by Melton, Dunstan, and Thomas Fenton. It is the fourth installment in the Saw film series and a sequel to 2006's Saw III. The film stars Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, and Lyriq Bent.
Twisted Pictures is an American production company and a division of Evolution Entertainment that specializes in horror and thriller films. The company was founded by Evolution's Gregg Hoffman, Oren Koules and Mark Burg in 2004. The company is known for producing the Saw film franchise.
Darren Lynn Bousman is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in horror films. He has directed four of the Saw films: Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, and Spiral. He also directed the horror musicals Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Carnival movies. Bousman is co-creator and writer of alternate reality games (ARG) and immersive experiences, The Tension Experience (2016), The Lust Experience (2017), Theatre Macabre (2018), iConfidant (2020), and One Day Die (2020).
Saw V is a 2008 horror film directed by David Hackl, in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the fifth installment in the Saw film series and a sequel to 2007's Saw IV. The film stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Julie Benz, Carlo Rota, and Meagan Good.
Mark Burg is an American film producer, manager and actor. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the Saw film series as well as the CBS television series Two and a Half Men.
Oren Koules is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the Saw film series as well as the CBS television series Two and a Half Men. Koules is also the former owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Helena Bighorns.
Saw VI is a 2009 horror film directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. The film stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, and Shawnee Smith. It is a sequel to 2008's Saw V and the sixth installment in the Saw film series.
Saw 3D is a 2010 American 3D horror film directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is a sequel to 2009's Saw VI and the seventh installment in the Saw film series. The film stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Cary Elwes.
Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series.
Jigsaw is a 2017 American horror film directed by the Spierig Brothers and written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger. It is the eighth installment in the Saw film series and stars Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Clé Bennett, and Hannah Emily Anderson, with Tobin Bell returning to his role as John Kramer / Jigsaw. The plot follows a group of people who find themselves forced to participate in a series of deadly "games" inside a barn. Meanwhile, the police investigate a new series of murders that fit the modus operandi of the eponymous Jigsaw Killer (Bell), who has been dead for almost a decade.
Spiral is a 2021 American horror thriller film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger. It is a standalone sequel to Jigsaw (2017) and the ninth installment of the Saw film series. The film stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson, and follows police efforts to stop a Jigsaw copycat killer. The original creators of the series, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as Rock and series veteran Kevin Greutert, serve as executive producers.
Saw X is a 2023 American horror film directed and edited by Kevin Greutert, and written by Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. The film is the tenth installment in the Saw film series, serving as a direct interquel set between Saw (2004) and Saw II (2005). It stars Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith, who reprise their roles from the previous films, alongside Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, and Michael Beach. The film sees John Kramer (Bell) travelling to Mexico in hopes that an experimental procedure may cure his terminal cancer. John later discovers that the operation is a scam, prompting him to kidnap those responsible and subject them to his trademark death traps as retribution, with Amanda Young (Smith) acting as his accomplice.