Atlantic Entertainment Group


Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation, was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974.

History

Their initial releases were mostly geared to arthouse audiences, with an especially large number of Australian productions, as well as two Brazilian productions, Eu Te Amo and Lady on the Bus, that introduced American audiences to actress Sonia Braga. They shifted their focus to small-budgeted independent films in the early '80s, beginning with the surprise success of Valley Girl in 1983, directed by Martha Coolidge. Night of the Comet, released in 1984, would be their first film to open on over 1000 screens.
In 1985, they began a relationship with Paramount Pictures whereby the studio provided them money for larger-scale theatrical releases in exchange for home video and television rights to their films. In January 1989, Atlantic made a new deal with Kartes Video Communications for home video rights to the movies previously covered in the Paramount deal. The library was bought by Island Pictures, which took over soliciting the films to home video. Island themselves suffered financial losses soon after, defaulting to Crédit Lyonnais, and both the Atlantic and Island libraries were absorbed into the bank's large "Epic" catalogue of films inherited from studios that had borrowed and defaulted to the financial institution. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment purchased the large catalogue from Crédit Lyonnais in 1997; a year later, when Polygram themselves were acquired by Universal Studios, Universal sold PolyGram's pre-1996 library to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in October 1998.
For a number of years, Paramount Pictures had TV and video distribution rights to Atlantic's library, some from their previous deal with the company, and others inherited when Viacom, who had purchased TV rights to many earlier Atlantic releases, merged with Paramount. MGM via PolyGram Filmed Entertainment now distributes most of the library as a result of purchasing the pre-1996 portion of PolyGram's library.

Filmography

Some of the company's most notable films include:
Release DateTitle
April 17, 1987Wild Thing
May 8, 1987Steele Justice
May 14, 1987The Umbrella Woman
May 29, 1987Summer Heat
July 24, 1987Wish You Were Here
August 21, 1987The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
November 20, 1987Teen Wolf Too
December 4, 1987Home Is Where the Hart Is
January 8, 1988Cop
February 12, 1988A Tiger's Tale
March 18, 1988Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
April 22, 1988Stormy Monday
June 17, 1988A World Apart
August 11, 1988A Summer Story
September 23, 1988Patty Hearst
November 18, 19881969
May 19, 1989For Queen and Country
July 9, 1989A Soldier's Tale''

Clubhouse Pictures

The company also had a division called "Clubhouse Pictures" to release family films. Films and TV shows released under this label include: