The Industry - Pacino! Chinatown 2! Spider-Man! The High-Water Mark of Cannon Films

Pacino! Chinatown 2! Spider-Man! The High-Water Mark of Cannon Films

08/01/21 • 39 min

3 Listeners

At the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, the impresarios of Cannon Films — best known for movies like Superman IV and Over the Top — showed up on the scene in matching tracksuits, with a grand vision.

They announced their slate of movies for the next year or so. And while the majors were being lazy with their 15 or so movies a year, Cannon's announcement was for a jaw-dropping 60 films. Sixty!

Many of the films got made. But plenty of them didn't. The movies were to star Al Pacino, John Travolta, Walter Matthau, Whoopi Goldberg, and more, and involve creators like Paul Schrader and Roman Polanski.

There were also big plans for a Spider-Man film, years before the hit Sam Raimi films starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinger.

So what happened? We explain on this episode of the industry.

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They announced their slate of movies for the next year or so. And while the majors were being lazy with their 15 or so movies a year, Cannon's announcement was for a jaw-dropping 60 films. Sixty!

There were also big plans for a Spider-Man film, years before the hit Sam Raimi films starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinger.

So what happened? We explain on this episode of the industry.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Comrade Cukor: When Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor and Cicely Tyson Invaded The Soviet Union

2 Recommendations

In the 1970s, in an attempt to thaw the Cold War, the U.S. and USSR decided to co-produce a film: Cinematic detente!

The United States would provide big Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and Cicely Tyson. They would be directed by the legendary George Cukor. The Soviet Union agreed to provide the crew, equipment, locations, and of course some ballet dancers.

Then it all fell apart, because of course it did.

Also, be sure to check out the We Know Jack Show Podcast!

Sources for this episode:

Shaw, T. (2012). Nightmare on Nevsky Prospekt: The Blue Bird as a Curious Instance of U.S.-Soviet Film Collaboration during the Cold War. Journal of Cold War Studies, 14 (1), 3-33. Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26924108

Olsen, Lynne. Will Soviet-US Film Find Happiness? Ft. Myers News-Press, March 4, 1975

Cooper, Arthur & Friendly, Jr, Alfred. Hooray for Hollygrad! Newsweek, March 31, 1975

Reed, Rex. 'Bluebird' limps rather than soars on detente. Long Beach Press Telegram, August 17,1975.

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Behind the Scenes of The Industry

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Dan Delgado is the host of The Industry, where he focuses each episode on lesser-known or forgotten movie history. He tells stories of Hollywood's weirdest decisions — and has a special place in his heart for the industry heroes who tried, and usually failed, to make something great.

On this special crossover episode of MovieMaker and The Industry, Dan talks about his VHS-shaped 1980s childhood, and how it led him to create the curious world of The Industry.

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