Formerly |
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Company type | Private |
Industry | Entertainment |
Predecessors |
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Founded | 1992 |
Founder |
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Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
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Products | Motion Pictures |
Subsidiaries | Millennium Films (1999–2017) Millennium Entertainment (2001–2014) |
Website | www |
Millennium Media (formerly Nu Image and Millennium Films) is an American independent film production and financing company that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort and Danny Lerner in 1992, and is one of Hollywood's [1] longest running independent film companies. [2] Millennium creates, produces, finances, and sells [3] films worldwide. The company produces action films, most of which are filmed primarily in South Africa and Bulgaria (by 2005, it acquired Nu Boyana Film Studios), [4] among other locations.
In the mid-1980s, The Cannon Group, Inc. began expanding its operation into Africa, taking advantage of cheap locations and labor in countries such as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Avi Lerner opened Nu Metro Entertainment, a film production company based in Johannesburg to accommodate production demands in the countries. [5] During this time, Lerner executive produced many films, such as American Ninja 2: The Confrontation and River of Death for Cannon as well as Howling IV: The Original Nightmare for Harry Alan Towers.
After pressure from anti-apartheid forces, Cannon closed its African operations in 1988, [6] Lerner created a new company, Nu Image, to produce original, low budget films alongside his brother Danny Lerner and other Cannon employees Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort and Boaz Davidson. [5] From 1992, Nu Image began producing multiple films a year, mainly in the action genre. Many of its films went direct-to-video, however some, such as Shark Attack debuted on television. Many stars, writers and directors from The Cannon Group, Inc. appeared in films for Nu Image, including David Bradley, Michael Dudikoff, Sam Firstenberg and Billy Drago. They also built a new generation of action talent such as Bryan Genesse [7] and Joe Lara. [8] However, their efforts to break into the mainstream with mockbusters such as Freefall starring Eric Roberts, Jeff Fahey and Pamela Gidley, created to capitalise on the success of Sylvester Stallone's Cliffhanger failed to make much of an impact. Freefall ended up going direct-to-video. [9] After the successes of creature features such as Anaconda and Deep Blue Sea released in the late 1990s, Nu Image produced a spate of low budget franchises to capitalise on the trend including; Tobe Hooper's Crocodile , Shark Attack , Spiders , Killer Rats , Octopus and Raging Sharks and various sequels were produced from 1999 to 2005. While not critically successful, the films were extremely successful on television and home media.
In 1999, Nu Image formed a subsidiary label, Millennium Films, for higher-budget productions. From the mid-2000s, the main Nu Image company gradually began producing fewer films, with Millennium Films releasing more with a greater level of financing than previously. In 2005, it purchased Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria. [10] In March 2007, Nu Image acquired a controlling 52% stake in independent film and home video company First Look Studios. As a result, Nu Image and Millennium Films were given an additional outlet for home video and theatrical distribution. [11] One of the first films to be produced by Millennium Films was the remake The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage. [12] The film was a critical and commercial failure. [13] [14] They continued on with a focus on sequels and remakes of notable properties such as Day of the Dead [15] and Rambo . [16] After the commercial success of Rambo, [17] [18] Millennium Films entered into a multi-year deal with Lionsgate to produce several big-budgeted films, the first of which was Conan the Barbarian . [19] The deal would be extended over the years with successful box-office hits ( The Mechanic [20] ) and box office bombs ( The Legend of Hercules [21] ). Another notable success was Olympus Has Fallen starring Gerard Butler. [22] In November 2010, First Look filed for bankruptcy. Nu Image formed Millennium Entertainment, LLC to assume the assets of First Look. [23] Millennium Entertainment was sold in August 2014. The company's library and distribution assets had been sold to a consortium consisting of its current management and Virgo Investment Group. The new owners renamed the company Alchemy in January 2015, finally cutting ties to its former sister company Millennium Films, which remained under the control of Avi Lerner. [24] Alchemy filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on June 30, 2016. [25]
In 2017, a deal was reached with The Recon Group, a Chinese investment firm, for them to purchase a majority stake in the Millennium Films subsidiary. [26] The deal was signed and a $20 million downpayment was secured. [27] However, this deal was later announced to be off in August 2017 due to the Chinese government clamping down on overseas business investments. [28] The same year, Millennium Films was merged into Nu Image to form Millennium Media. In 2017, Millennium faced sexual harassment allegations alleging hostile workplace and rampant sexual harassment and gender disparity. [29] In 2018, actor Terry Crews testified in front of Congress that he had been threatened by Avi Lerner of Millennium Media not to testify in his sexual assault case. [30]
Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics' Choice Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards. Stallone is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades.
Rambo is an American media franchise centered on a series of action films featuring John J. Rambo. The five films are First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), Rambo (2008), and Rambo: Last Blood (2019). Rambo is a United States Army Special Forces veteran played by Sylvester Stallone, whose Vietnam War experience traumatized him but also gave him superior military skills, which he has used to fight corrupt police officers, enemy troops and drug cartels. First Blood is an adaptation of the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell.
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. Some of their best known films include Joe (1970), Runaway Train (1985) and Street Smart (1987), all of which were Oscar-nominated.
Missing in Action is a 1984 American action film directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp ten years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War. The film was followed by a prequel, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985), and a sequel, Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988). The first two Missing in Action installments had been filmed back-to-back with the intent to have the first film involve the POW years of Braddock be the first film. However, it was determined that the commercial prospects were stronger with the film directed by Zito involving the POW rescue. As such, Hool's film was turned into Missing in Action 2 and labeled as a prequel that detailed events before those in Missing in Action.
Avinoam Lerner is an Israeli-American film producer, primarily of American action movies. Lerner is the founder and CEO of Millennium Films.
Nu Boyana Film Studios are film studios situated in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Lati Grobman is a Hollywood film producer.
Rambo is a 2008 war action film directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, based on the character John Rambo created by author David Morrell for his novel First Blood. A sequel to Rambo III (1988), it is the fourth installment in the Rambo franchise and co-stars Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Rey Gallegos, Tim Kang, Jake La Botz, Maung Maung Khin, and Ken Howard. The film is dedicated to the memory of Richard Crenna, who died in 2003. Crenna had played Colonel Sam Trautman in the previous films. In the film, Rambo leads a group of mercenaries into Burma to rescue Christian missionaries, who have been kidnapped by a local infantry unit.
Conan the Barbarian is a 2011 American sword and sorcery film based on the character of the same name created by Robert E. Howard. The film is a new interpretation of the Conan myth and is not related to the films featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It stars Jason Momoa in the title role, alongside Rachel Nichols, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman, and Bob Sapp, with Marcus Nispel directing. Morgan Freeman narrates the film.
Red Sonja is a 1985 American epic sword-and-sorcery film directed by Richard Fleischer, and written by Clive Exton and George MacDonald Fraser. It is based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, Red Sonya of Rogatino, who also inspired the comic book character of the same name.
David Elias Callaham is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-writing the screenplays for the films Doom (2005), The Expendables (2010), Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Mortal Kombat, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
The Expendables 2 is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel to The Expendables (2010), and is the second installment in The Expendables film series. The film stars an ensemble cast of largely action film actors consisting of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the film, The Expendables undertakes a mission which evolves into a quest for revenge against rival mercenary Jean Vilain, who murders one of their own men and threatens the world with a deadly weapon.
The Expendables 3 is a 2014 American action film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt and Sylvester Stallone. It is the third installment in The Expendables franchise and the sequel to The Expendables (2010) and The Expendables 2 (2012). The film features an ensemble cast of largely action film actors consisting of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Expendables is an American ensemble action thriller franchise conceived by David Callaham, spanning a film series, the first three ones cowritten by Sylvester Stallone, and additional media. The films star an ensemble cast, notably Stallone and Jason Statham, and are produced by Avi Lerner and Kevin King-Templeton. The film series, an acknowledgement of former blockbuster action films made in the 1980s and 1990s, also pays homage to action stars of former decades, and the more recent stars in action. The series consists of the films The Expendables (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), The Expendables 3 (2014), Expend4bles (2023), and an ongoing comic book series, The Expendables Go to Hell (2021). Though criticism with regard to plot and dialogue between characters has been expressed, critics praised the use of comic relief in between action.
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is a 2014 Australian-American documentary film written and directed by Mark Hartley. It tells the story of cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus who headed The Cannon Group. Those interviewed lay tribute to the brash, unconventional immigrant filmmakers who gave young actors a chance and give unflinching anecdotes of both the hits and the low budget and often crass films created.
Rambo: Last Blood is a 2019 American vigilante action film directed by Adrian Grünberg. The screenplay was co-written by Matthew Cirulnick and Sylvester Stallone, from a story by Dan Gordon and Stallone, and is based on the character John Rambo created by the author David Morrell for his novel First Blood. A sequel to Rambo (2008), it is the fifth installment in the Rambo franchise and stars Stallone as Rambo, alongside Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim aka Yenah Han, Joaquín Cosío, and Óscar Jaenada. In the film, Rambo travels to Mexico to save his adopted niece, who has been kidnapped by a Mexican cartel and forced into prostitution.
Red Sonja is an upcoming American sword and sorcery film directed by M. J. Bassett and written by Tasha Huo, based on the character of the same name. The film stars Matilda Lutz as the title character, alongside Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Rhona Mitra, and Veronica Ferres.
Boyka: Undisputed, is a 2017 American-Bulgarian martial arts film directed by Todor Chapkanov, and written by David White and Tony Mosher from a story by Boaz Davidson. It is the sequel to Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), and the fourth installment overall in the Undisputed franchise. Scott Adkins reprises his role as Yuri Boyka.
Has Fallen is an American action thriller film series starring Gerard Butler as United States Secret Service agent Mike Banning. The series includes the films Olympus Has Fallen (2013), London Has Fallen (2016), and Angel Has Fallen (2019). The films also star Aaron Eckhart as U.S. President Benjamin Asher, and Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull. The films received generally mixed reception and grossed a combined total of $523 million worldwide. In 2019 it was announced that the film series would continue, but as of October 2024 there are none in production.
Expend4bles is a 2023 American action comedy film and the fourth installment in The Expendables franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture and Andy Garcia. It is directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart and Max D. Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer and Daggerhart.