Cinema International Corporation

Cinema International Corporation (CIC) was a film distribution company started by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures in the early 1970s to distribute the two studios' films outside the United States – it even operated in Canada before it was considered part of the "domestic" market.

Overview

On April 9, 1970, as a part of a cost-cutting move, caused due to declining movie-going audiences, competition from television and anti-trust rules, Paramount and Universal merged their international distribution arms into a new releasing company, Cinema International Corporation (CIC), registered in England and Wales.

In 1973, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer closed down its distribution offices and became a partner in CIC, which took over international distribution for MGM's films. However, United Artists took over the U.S. distribution for MGM's output at that time. CIC also entered the home video market by forming CIC Video, which distributed Paramount and Universal titles on video worldwide. MGM however, had its own video unit, which later became a joint venture with CBS as MGM/CBS Home Video (later known as MGM/UA Home Video, which was later renamed MGM Home Entertainment).

In 1981, MGM purchased United Artists, but could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with UA's overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released domestically through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge with UA's international units and reformed as United International Pictures from November 1.[1]

The CIC name lived on in its video division, which became directly managed as a joint venture of Paramount Home Video and MCA Videocassette, Inc. (later MCA Home Video and MCA/Universal Home Video). CIC Video survived until the late 1990s/early 2000s, in 1999 when Universal purchased PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and reorganized its video division (which was a joint venture with what is now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and remains so to this day) under the Universal name, while Paramount took over full ownership of CIC Video and merged it under its own video division.

Controversy

CIC made headlines in 2012 because both Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures denied ownership of director William Friedkin's film, Sorcerer. The studios claimed they transferred ownership to CIC, which later dissolved, causing the rights to be in limbo. In April 2012, Friedkin sued the studios to discover who owned the domestic theatrical rights and to capture any royalty payments from VHS and DVD releases. At one point, a court date for March 2013 was set if the parties could not reach a settlement.[2] However, it was exactly that month that Friedkin revealed that he had dropped his lawsuit against Universal and Paramount, and that he and a "major studio" were involved in the creation of a new, recolored digital print of Sorcerer, to be screened at the Venice Film Festival and to receive a Blu-ray release:

We're working off the original negative, which is in pretty good shape, but without changing the original concept we have to bring it back in terms of color saturation, sharpness and all the stuff... [The film's] been in a legal whirlpool for 30 or 35 years. And a lot of people have come and gone from the studios during that time, so it just takes awhile to unravel everything, but we're very close to announcing a premiere date.[3]

See also

References
  1. "CIC Status Update". Variety. October 14, 1981. p. 5.
  2. Adams, Sam (27 July 2012). "Interview: William Friedkin talks Killer Joe and shares some choice words about Hollywood". The A.V. Club.
  3. Smith, Jeremy (20 December 2012). "AICN Legends: William Friedkin Talks KILLER JOE, Clarence Carter, SORCERER And More With Mr. Beaks!". Ain't It Cool News.
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