Will United Artists ever become a viable studio again? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Husar]

Just a question I have been thinking about. There is an interview in the late 90s with Coppola and Scorsese talking about how United Artists was the studio to make your movie at and you were left alone, and they said Miramax couldn't hold a candle to them. I have noticed a lot of the films I love tended to come from UA, and when I was younger, seeing the Transamerica logo on the late 60s and 70s films would give me goosebumps. I know what happened with Heaven's Gate, even though Transamerica was still in the black at the end of the year, but what has happened to UA, that they are only a subsidiary in name only to MGM. Now with The Weinstein Company filing bankruptcy, can't filmmakers get together and buy UA, like it was when it was originally started? They had a lot of the bravest films, in my opinion, especially in the 60s and 70s. What are some thoughts?

 

[t1g3r5fan]

I would absolutely love to see that happen, but I doubt the penny pinchers at MGM would part with one of their assets that easily.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Have you read Final Cut by Steven Bach? The reason I ask is, for whatever issues people may have with its portrayal of what happened with Heaven's Gate, a section of the book deals in some detail with the culture that existed at UA during the 60s and 70s and how that culture came to be [hint: it has little to nothing to do with the original ownership of UA, and everything to do with a group of executives that ultimately jumped ship during the Transamerica years and went on to form Orion]. Orion tried to follow the UA formula to some extent, but sank because the movie business had changed substantially.

In short, the idea of 60s-70s UA is attractive ["a studio without a studio"], but may not be viable now because of the changes in the industry in the last 50-60 years.

 

[Brian Husar]

Have you read Final Cut by Steven Bach? The reason I ask is, for whatever issues people may have with its portrayal of what happened with Heaven's Gate, a section of the book deals in some detail with the culture that existed at UA during the 60s and 70s and how that culture came to be [hint: it has little to nothing to do with the original ownership of UA, and everything to do with a group of executives that ultimately jumped ship during the Transamerica years and went on to form Orion]. Orion tried to follow the UA formula to some extent, but sank because the movie business had changed substantially.

In short, the idea of 60s-70s UA is attractive ["a studio without a studio"], but may not be viable now because of the changes in the industry in the last 50-60 years.

Read it along time ago. It was good. That's right, the main executives jumped ship and the new ones came in not really knowing anything.

 

[Worth]

There's no market for that kind of studio today. HBO and Netflix are probably closer to what United Artists used to be than any of the remaining studios.

 

[MatthewA]

Orion still exists, but not quite like it was under Krim and Benjamin. They even brought back Vestron and Media from the grave of home video's first full decade, the 1980s. That would be like Sony bringing back Embassy for the new version of One Day at a Time or for foreign-language and art-house films normally covered by Sony Pictures Classics.

It does tick me off that MGM felt the need to drop the T logo from movies that had it originally. I've never seen a video release of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Fiddler on the Roof that had it. Bad enough that post-1986 variations of the MGM logo get replaced with whatever is current.

 

[Brian Husar]

Orion still exists in name only. They even brought back Vestron and Media from the grave of home video's first full decade, the 1980s. That would be like Sony bringing back Embassy for the new version of One Day at a Time or for foreign-language and art-house films normally covered by Sony Pictures Classics.

It does tick me off that MGM felt the need to drop the T logo from movies that had it originally I've never seen a video release of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Fiddler on the Roof that had it. Bad enough that post-1986 variations of the MGM logo get replaced with whatever is current.

I wish they would keep the T logo on the films. Now I noticed it's present on certain ones, the MGM/UA blu ray of Woody Allen's Sleeper and the Twilight Time blu ray of of Allen's Stardust Memories. Criterion's release of Fellini Satyricon also has the T logo, but I miss it on Raging Bull, The Last Waltz, and especially on Fiddler On The Roof with the special music for that one.