ImageMovers
| |
Industry | Motion pictures, performance capture & CGI animation |
---|---|
Founded | 1997 |
Founders |
Robert Zemeckis Jack Rapke Steve Starkey |
Headquarters | Novato, California, U.S. |
Key people | Robert Zemeckis, Doug Chiang, Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke |
Products | Motion pictures |
Owner | Independent |
ImageMovers is an American independent film studio run by director Robert Zemeckis. Founded in 1997, the studio is known for producing such films as Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, and The Polar Express. From 2007 to 2011, The Walt Disney Company and ImageMovers ran a joint animation facility, ImageMovers Digital, which produced two performance captured animated films, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms, for Walt Disney Pictures.
History
Early years (1997-2007)
In 1997, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis along with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey founded ImageMovers. ImageMovers' first seven films were What Lies Beneath (with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer), Cast Away (with Tom Hanks), The Polar Express (also with Tom Hanks), The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (with Julianne Moore), Last Holiday (with Queen Latifah), Monster House (with Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke and Steve Buscemi) and Beowulf (with Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie).
Disney and ImageMovers Digital (2007-2010)
In 2007, The Walt Disney Company and ImageMovers set up a joint venture animation facility known as ImageMovers Digital, a Marin County-based film company where Zemeckis would produce and direct 3D animated films using performance capture technology.[1]
On November 6, 2009, ImageMovers Digital released their first film A Christmas Carol, a performance capture film based on the Charles Dickens book of the same name and starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes each in multiple roles. On March 12, 2010, Disney and ImageMovers announced that ImageMovers Digital would close operations by January 2011 after production on Mars Needs Moms was completed. Resulting in a lay-off of approximately 450 employees,[2] Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said, "...given today's economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model."[3] The company had previously been reported to have Calling All Robots,[4] a Yellow Submarine remake,[5] a Roger Rabbit sequel[6] and The Nutcracker[7] in development. Disney dropped all of these projects following the box-office failure of Mars Needs Moms.[8]
Universal Pictures (2011-present)
In August 2011, it was announced that ImageMovers has entered a two-year first-look producing deal with Universal Studios.[9]
Filmography
Year | Film | Co-production/distributor | Budget | Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | What Lies Beneath | DreamWorks 20th Century Fox |
$100 million | $291.4 million |
Cast Away | $90 million | $429.6 million | ||
2003 | Matchstick Men | Warner Bros. Pictures | $62 million | $65.6 million |
2004 | The Polar Express | Warner Bros. Pictures Playtone Castle Rock Entertainment Shangri-La Entertainment |
$165 million | $310.6 million |
2005 | The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio | DreamWorks | $12 million | $0.7 million |
2006 | Last Holiday | Paramount Pictures | $45 million | $43.3 million |
Monster House | Columbia Pictures Amblin Entertainment |
$75 million | $140.2 million | |
2007 | Beowulf | Paramount Pictures (US) Warner Bros. Pictures (International) |
$150 million | $196.4 million |
2012 | Flight | Paramount Pictures Parkes/MacDonald |
$31 million | $161.8 million |
2015 | The Walk[10] | TriStar Productions TriStar Pictures |
$35 million | $61.2 million |
2016 | Allied | Paramount Pictures GK Films |
$85 million | $80.5 million |
2018 | Welcome to Marwen | Universal Pictures[11] | ||
2019 | Chaos Walking | Lionsgate | $125 million | |
2020 | Bios[12] | Universal Pictures Amblin Entertainment |
||
TBA | Steel Soldiers[13] | STX Entertainment |
ImageMovers Digital
Year | Film | Co-production/distributor | Budget | Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | A Christmas Carol | Walt Disney Pictures | $175–200 million | $325.3 million |
2011 | Mars Needs Moms | $150 million | $39 million |
See also
References
- ↑ Reuters (February 5, 2007). "Disney, "Polar Express" director in animation deal". Reuters. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ↑ Eller, Claudia (2010-03-13). "Disney to shut ImageMovers Digital studio". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
- ↑ Finke, Nikki (March 12, 2010). "Disney Closing Zemeckis' Digital Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ↑ Graser, Marc (March 26, 2008). "Michael Dougherty calls 'All Robots'". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
- ↑ The Walt Disney Studios (September 11, 2009). "The Walt Disney Studios, The Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd., and Oscar(R)-Winning Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis Dive Into New Magical 3D Adaptation of the 1968 Classic Yellow Submarine". PR Newswire. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ↑ Ditzian, Eric (November 3, 2009). "EXCLUSIVE: Robert Zemeckis Indicates He'll Use Performance-Capture And 3-D In 'Roger Rabbit' Sequel". MTV. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ↑ Rowles, Dustin (November 11, 2009). "Robert Zemeckis to Uglimate The Nutcracker". Pajiba.com. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ↑ Kit, Borys (March 14, 2011). "Disney torpedoes Zemeckis' "Yellow Submarine"". Reuters. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ↑ Fleming, Mike (August 2, 2011). "Universal Makes Two-Year Deal With Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers". Deadline. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ↑ Cieply, Micahel (May 17, 2015). "Tom Rothman's High-Wire Act at Sony Pictures". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Film releases". Variety Insight. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
- ↑ McNary, Dave (2018-05-05). "Film News Roundup: Tom Hanks' Sci-Fi Movie 'Bios' Dated for 2020 Release". Variety. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ↑ McNary, Dave (February 6, 2018). "Robert Zemeckis, STX, Alibaba Partner on Sci-Fi Film 'Steel Soldiers'". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
External links
- ImageMovers on IMDbPro (subscription required)
- ImageMovers Digital on IMDbPro (subscription required)