Carolco Pictures

Carolco Pictures, Inc. was originally formed in 1976 by film investors Mario F. Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna (the latter of whom previously founded Panasia Films in Hong Kong) as Anabasis Investments to make a major independent competitor to the Hollywood studios producing A-movie products. In 1984, Anabasis Investments was reincorporated as Carolco Pictures, Inc. (legally known internationally as Carolco International N.V.). The name "Carolco" was purchased from a defunct company based in Panama and "has no meaning", according to Kassar.

Carolco's first major success was the 1982 movie First Blood, an adaptation of David Morrell's novel of the same name. The film made $120 million worldwide and placed Carolco among Hollywood's major players. On May 15, 1984, the company entered a long-term agreement from Tri-Star Pictures, then an up-and-coming film distributor and fledging studio. Through the argeement, Tri-Star would provide North American distribution of Carolco's films, while HBO, one of the original three partners in the Tri-Star venture, would handle pay cable television rights, and home video rights would be handled by Thorn EMI Video. The agreement started in 1985 with Rambo: First Blood Part II, and lasted until 1994; Carolco's final film distributed by TriStar was Wagons East!.

Tri-Star and Carolco renewed their partnership in 1986, starting a new multi-feature agreement which called for Tri-Star to distribute forthcoming Carolco products. That same year, Carolco entered home video distribution and acquired International Video Entertainment (which would eventually become Artisan Entertainment), which was going through financial difficulties and was near bankruptcy; Carolco hoped to "turn the company around" with the deal, which was finalized a year later. The company payed $32 million to HBO/Cannon Video in exchange for the video rights to Angel Heart and Extreme Prejudice, both of which were then-forthcoming releases. Carolco then relicensed the films to IVE.

On August 28, 1987, Carolco acquired syndication company Orbis Communications for $15.4 million (Orbis would be merged into Carolco's television unit in 1991). Over the next few years, the company expanded into various other business sectors, including video retail holdings and licensing of their IP. By this point, Carolco focused mainly on big-budget action movies, with major stars such as Sylvester Stallone (who later signed a ten-picture deal with the studio) and Arnold Schwarzenegger attached.

In addition to its own library, Carolco had the television rights to films from The Vista Organization, Hemdale Film Corporation, Island Alive, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (except the Embassy library), and Pacific International Enterprises, as well as several HBO movies, among possible others. Carolco also purchased the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group production facility when DEG closed, and unsuccessfully attempted to buy both Orion Pictures and Media Home Entertainment.

In November 1989, Vajna formed Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, with The Walt Disney Company as a distribution partner; the following month, he sold his share of Carolco to Kassar for $106 million due to increasing disagreement between the two over the direction of the company. In 1990, Pioneer Electronic Corporation of Japan acquired a share of Carolco. Halfway through the year, Carolco entered into a joint venture with New Line Cinema to start Seven Arts Pictures, which primarily released much of Carolco's low-budget output; the venture collapsed by 1992. The company also formed Carolco Home Video, a home video label with what was by then known as Live Home Video as output partner.

By 1992, however, Carolco entered financial trouble, with factors including overspending on their movies through reliance on star power and far-fetched deals (including paying Schwarzenegger a then-unheard-of $10-14 million for his work on Total Recall and Terminator 2: Judgement Day and giving Stallone similar treatment), mixing blockbusters with small-budget, unprofitable arthouse films and losses of partnerships. That year, the company went under a corporate restructuring, invested in by a partnership of Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera of Italy, Le Studio Canal+ of France, Pioneer and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Each partner helped infuse up to $60 million into the studio's stock and another $50 million for co-financing deals. The following year, Carolco was forced to sell its shares in Live to a group of investors led by Pioneer.

Cutbacks at Carolco also played a role in their eventual demise. The studio provided half of the budget for Cliffhanger, another Stallone-led action film, to TriStar, but would have to sell full distribution rights in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and France so it could properly fund the film. This decision wound up hurting Carolco; despite the film being a major box-office success, Carolco saw little profit as the company ended up becoming a minority owner in the movie. Carolco filed a lawsuit against Columbia Pictures, TriStar's eventual corporate sibling, and Viacom in an attempt to gain the home video and television rights to a eventually unrealized Spider-Man movie with James Cameron attached as producer; the lawsuit would backfire when Columbia and Viacom counter-sued Carolco, and the studio also became sued by MGM. These lawsuits, which the studio lost, caused Carolco to lose more money and also cost them the film rights to Spider-Man. Carolco's attempt to make more of its specialties would also prove to be more strenuous; they would be forced to shelve Crusade, another Schwarzenegger vehicle based on a script by Walon Green and with Paul Verhoeven, who worked with Carolco on Total Recall and Basic Instinct, attached as director, in 1994 when that film's budget exceeded $100 million. However, the studio managed to complete a merger with The Vista Organization in late October 1993, and made a new agreement with MGM to distribute its films in North America.

The studio attempted a comeback with Cutthroat Island, a big-budget swashbuckler directed by Cliffhanger director Renny Harlin, and with actor Michael Douglas as the lead. However, Douglas dropped out early in production, and Matthew Modine, a less-bankable actor, was cast as the lead afterward. Female lead Geena Davis, Harlin's then-wife, was already an established A-lister but was coming off a string of flops. MGM hoped to advertise Cutthroat Island based on spectacle rather than cast. Carolco sold off the rights to several films in production, including Last of the Dogmen, Stargate and Showgirls; the French company Chargeurs ultimately brought the latter. The sell-off was done in an attempt to raise more financing for Cutthroat Island, which had a staggering projected $90-100 million budget. The studio ran out of funds in October 1994; Pioneer would then invest another $8 million.

In April 1995, Carolco announced that it was unable to make interest payments on $55 million in debt; that November, the studio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cutthroat Island was released that Christmas and became a box-office disaster, losing $147 million. Carolco went bankrupt not long after the disastrous release of Cutthroat Island, and the company agreed to sell its assets to 20th Century Fox for $50 million. In January 1996, however, Canal+ made a $58 million bid for Carolco's library. Not long after, 20th Century Fox, which by then lowered its purchase price to $47.5 million, dropped its deal. Carolco closed soon after. Cinergi remained active until it too shut down in 1998 following a string of critically and commercially unsuccessful movies. Kassar and Vajna later reinstated their partnership and founded C2 Pictures, which shut down in 2008.

Film producer Alexander Bafer purchased the Carolco name and logo years later. On January 21, 2015, it was announced that Brick Top Productions, Bafer's production company, had adopted the Carolco name and logo, with Mario Kassar as the company's chief development executive. However, on April 7, 2016, it was announced that Bafer and Kassar had both left the company, Kassar taking with him one of Carolco's planned products, a remake of the 1999 Japanese horror film Audition which he was producing. investor Tarek Kirschen was then inducted as Carolco's CEO. The new Carolco soon ran into legal trouble with StudioCanal over the use of the Carolco name and logo. In 2017, StudioCanal and Carolco reached an agreement whereby StudioCanal would have sole control of the Carolco name and logo and the new Carolco would be renamed "Recall Studios". The arrangement took effect on November 29 of that year.

Today, the ancillary rights to a majority of Carolco's library including the Carolco name and logo are held by StudioCanal. North American TV and streaming rights belong to Paramount Pictures through Trifecta Entertainment & Media on Paramount's behalf, due to a previous TV distribution deal with Worldvision Enterprises, and Lionsgate Home Entertainment continues to hold the domestic and digital home video rights (via a new output deal with StudioCanal), while the international home video rights are held by a different company for each country. Exceptions include Cliffhanger, which is distributed in the U.S. and some foreign territories by Sony Pictures Entertainment (due to TriStar being given complete distribution rights in those territories as explained above), Last of the Dogmen, which was originally released by Savoy Pictures and is now owned by the film's producer Joel Michaels, who licensed the film to Kino Lorber for a Blu-ray release, and Showgirls, which Carolco sold off to Chargeurs during pre-production, and is distributed in North America by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM also owns the streaming rights to Stargate, which they developed into a multimedia franchise since its release, though all other rights to the film are owned by StudioCanal. Carolco did not use a logo until 1985; before then, its films merely used an in-credit notice.

1st Logo (May 22, 1985-September 4, 1987)

ImagesVideos

• 
• 

Visuals: On a starry space background with zooming stars, a blue, C-shaped streak of light zooms out, flashes, and gains an inner swirling section while glowing blue. The process repeats twice, working its way outward, before forming the Carolco logo, which consists of a large, stylized "C" formed by many swirls. Afterwards, the logo shines brightly, turning it silver with a 3D trail, as the silver text "CAROLCO" (in the Handel Gothic font) shines in underneath. The logo then sparkles.

Variant: A still version exists.

Technique: A mix of slit-scan and backlit cel animation.

Audio: A series of synthesized shining sounds, followed by a descending nine-note brass sounder, seven synth blares, and a majestic five-note orchestral finish. This theme was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Audio Variant: AMC, Paramount+ and Pluto TV's prints of Rambo: First Blood Part II use the TriStar logo with the Carolco jingle (it was originally silent on the movie), while it is high pitched on AMC.

Audio Trivia: This was also featured on the First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II soundtracks as the thirty-first track and the first track, respectively, as "Carolco Logo" (even though the former film predates the logo). Another track has a slate recording that reveals that the fanfare was made in 75 takes. That version is the twenty-sixth track of the second film's soundtrack as "Carolco Logo (With Slate)".

Availability

Edit Table

Media Title	Date(s) of Release	Additional Note(s)
Rambo: First Blood Part II	May 22, 1985	Appearing on international prints and early home video releases cropped to 4:3. Scope logo appearing on a SECAM release. Still version found on TV spots.
Angel Heart	September 4, 1987

2nd Logo (April 14, 1986-November 30, 1988)

ImagesVideosTrailer Variations

• 

Edit Section

• 
  Pathfinder (1987): The Carolco logo is red and 2-D.

Visuals: From the lower left and upper right corners of the screen on a black background, two faint images of the "C" from before come in as silver/cyan streaks of light, converging towards the center. When they connect in the center and begin to retract their trails, streaks of blue and pink lights also draw in from the upper right, and then the logo flashes a bright light. The light vanishes to reveal the "C" in a crystalline shade of white, with a hint of cyan in the top left of it, and "CAROLCO", colored in a silver chrome color, wipes in with a glowing white outline of itself below. The entire logo then pings in sync with the music before the "C" briefly glows with a bright orange bundle of lights, then remains still for the rest of the runtime.

Variants:

• On the theatrical trailer for Extreme Prejudice, the logo is silent and tinted blue.
• On a French VHS of Red Heat, translated as Double Détente, the logo is shown in a still before the credits appear.

Technique: Motion-controlled and backlit cel animation.

Audio: Two descending synthesized whirring sounds leading to a brief snare drumroll with a brass strum, followed by an ascending and funky eight-note synth disco fanfare, concluding in a longer snare drumroll with a higher-pitched brass strum. Usually, though, the logo used the Jerry Goldsmith-composed tune from its predecessor.

Availability

OriginalHome Media

Edit Table

Media Title	Date(s) of Release	Additional Note(s)
Rambo: The Force of Freedom	April 14, 1986 (miniseries) September 15-December 26, 1986 (original run)	Intact on Lionsgate DVD releases.
Extreme Prejudice	April 27, 1987	Intact on the U.S. VHS, original LaserDisc, Artisan DVD, and Amazon Instant Video stream releases. Markdown VHS having the Goldsmith fanfare from before.

Edit Table

Media Title	Format(s)	Date(s) of Release	Additional Note(s)
Rambo: First Blood Part II	VHS	1989	Markdown release. Plasters the previous logo.
Angel Heart	VHS	1989	Markdown release. Plasters the previous logo.

3rd Logo (March 18, 1988-August 26, 1994, 2016-2017)

ImagesVideosTrailer Variations

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Edit Section

• 
  Music Box (1989): The Carolco logo is on a navy blue background.
• 
  Total Recall (1990): The logo is on a nighttime sky filled with stars, a 2-D image of the Carolco logo zooms out and warps away. This was seen on the teaser trailer of the film, though other trailers had another version like this but with the TriStar Pictures logo.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991): A shot of the exoskeleton terminator in front of flames flashes a few times over the logo. Other versions use the 1991 TriStar Pictures logo in place.

Visuals: A laser begins to carve out a blue curve as it U-turns and starts to form a "C" shape on a black background, while the area starts to rotate forwards. Silver walls fade in below before glowing blue, revealing a curvy construct as the laser begins to fill out the rest of the upper section of these walls, slowly forming the Carolco logo in the progress. As the logo fully rotates forwards, the entire logo is revealed and, once the laser finishes coloring the top blue, the entire logo radiates light rays outwards, briefly tinting the screen blue (known as a "wind tunnel" by some), before the logo turns silver. The "C" zooms out, shining while gaining its 3D trail, and "CAROLCO" fades in below with a shine effect, now with the letters closer together than prior appearances. The logo shines once more before fading to black.

Alternate Descriptive Video Description: A point of blue neon light arcs back and forth forming a letter C with five layers. White light flares from the C as the color fades to black and white. Carolco.

Trivia: On international prints of The Wizard, this logo didn't actually plaster over the Universal Pictures logo. Instead, the logo would play as normal with the music, and would then be followed by the film with the Universal logo blacked out.

Variants:

• There is a different lighting animation in the wind tunnel which was seen on some movies after the laser forms the logo, resembling stretched shadows of the logo as the screen is tinted in a deeper blue, and lasts a second longer. This was used for films in the 2.35:1 ratio such as Rambo III, Narrow Margin, The Doors, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, Cliffhanger, and the 1999 Artisan Entertainment VHS release of Rambo: First Blood Part II (the 1988 IVE release, as well as earlier video prints of Rambo III, Music Box, and Narrow Margin, used the standard animation).
  • A shortened version of this exists, which was seen on Music Box (only on current prints; the original video releases had the standard logo).
  • Other films in the aforementioned ratio, such as DeepStar Six, Air America, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, use the other animation and appears cropped (as it was mainly for films in the 1.85:1 ratio).
• An open matte version of this logo exists, which was seen on 35mm film prints.
• The logo on their website shows "I TOLD YOU I'D BE BACK!" below the signature logo, in a comedic reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger's line from Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
• On the 2004 DVD release of Universal Soldier, a blue line is seen during the animation of the logo (possibly part of the filmstrip's audio track), due to a mastering error.
• In 2016, the logo would be brought back again for the website of the then-newly revived Carolco, only now remade in HD and with a slightly bolded version of the Carolco text.

Closing Variant: On the end credits, the print logo is seen with trademark info below. The logo may be seen again with "A Carolco Release" or "A Carolco International, N.V. Release" above or below. Sometimes, legal information is seen below with "® DENOTES A TRADEMARK OF CAROLCO PICTURES, INC., REGISTERED IN THE U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE.".

Technique: Model work, backlit cel animation, and fading effects. The 2016 version uses CGI.

Audio: The music from the first logo, now opening with a whoosh as the laser appears. Sometimes, it's silent or, on films such as Total Recall, the opening theme. The first track of the digital reissue of the Rambo III soundtrack as "Carolco Logo".

Audio Variant: On some TV airings (including Trifecta's syndicated print) of Lock Up, the 1984 TriStar jingle is heard due to a plastering error. Newer prints of the movie plaster this with the StudioCanal logo and sometimes pair it with the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo.

Availability Notes: The 2016 version was only seen on the revived Carolco's website shortly before it was renamed to Recall Studios. Despite the company being renamed, it can still be seen on the official Carolco Pictures YouTube channel.

Availability

Edit Table

Title	Date of Release	Additional Info
Prince of Darkness	October 23, 1987	Most international prints (except for Italy and Japan)
Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw	March 18, 1988	Debut appearance
Rambo III	May 25, 1988
Red Heat	June 17, 1988
They Live	November 4, 1988	Non-US prints
Iron Eagle II	November 11, 1988
DeepStar Six	January 13, 1989
Pathfinder	April 7, 1989
Field of Dreams	April 21, 1989	Non-US prints
Lock Up	August 4, 1989	Non-US prints
Johnny Handsome	September 29, 1989
Shocker	October 27, 1989	Non-US prints
The Wizard	December 15, 1989	Non-US prints
Music Box	December 22, 1989	Shortened version used on current prints
Mountains of the Moon	February 23, 1990
Opportunity Knocks	March 30, 1990	Non-US prints
Total Recall	June 1, 1990	Opening theme used
Air America	August 10, 1990
Narrow Margin	September 21, 1990
Jacob's Ladder	November 2, 1990
Hamlet	December 19, 1990	Non-US prints
L.A. Story	February 8, 1991
The Doors	March 1, 1991
Career Opportunities	March 29, 1991	Non-US prints
Terminator 2: Judgement Day	July 3, 1991
Basic Instinct	March 20, 1992
Universal Soldier	July 10, 1992
Chaplin	December 25, 1992
Cliffhanger	May 28, 1993
Wagons East!	August 26, 1994	Final appearance

4th Logo (December 22, 1995, 2015)

ImagesVideo

• 
• 

Visuals: Essentially just a superimposed in-credit logo of Carolco, the "C" in gold with "CAROLCO" below, in a very small size.

Variant: During Carolco's short-lived revival, the logo appears larger with a silver look, with a copyright date below it.

Technique: A printed image made using traditional ink and paint.

Audio: The film's or show's opening/closing theme.

Availability

Edit Table

Media Title	Date(s) of Release	Additional Note(s)
Cutthroat Island	December 22, 1995	Only appearance.

External Links

• Carolco Pictures  on Wikipedia
• Carolco Pictures filmography  on IMDb