Industry | Motion pictures, Performance capture & CGI animation |
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Founded | 1997 |
Headquarters | Novato, California, U.S. |
Key people | Robert Zemeckis, Doug Chiang, Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke |
Products | Motion pictures |
Owner(s) | Independent |
Website | None |
ImageMovers is a film studio run by director Robert Zemeckis. Founded in 1997, the studio produced such films as Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, and The Polar Express. From 2007 to 2010, Disney and ImageMovers ran a joint animation facility, ImageMovers Digital, which produced two performance captured animated films, A Christmas Carol, and Mars Needs Moms.
In August 2011, it was announced that ImageMovers has entered a two-year first-look producing deal with Universal Studios.[1]
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In 1997, by producer-writer-director Robert Zemeckis, along with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey formed the production company ImageMovers. Among ImageMovers' productions were What Lies Beneath (with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer), Cast Away (with Tom Hanks), The Polar Express (also with Tom Hanks), and its last film, Beowulf (with Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie).
In 2007, The Walt Disney Company and Zemeckis set up ImageMovers Digital, a new, Marin County based film company, where would Zemeckis produce and direct 3D animated films using performance capture technology.[2]
On November 6, 2009, ImageMovers Digital released A Christmas Carol, a performance capture film starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Cary Elwes, each in multiple roles. On March 12, 2010, Walt Disney Studios and ImageMovers Digital announced that they would close operations by January 2011, after the production was completed on Mars Needs Moms. Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said, "...given today’s economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model."[3]
The company had previously been reported to have a Calling All Robots,[4] Yellow Submarine remake,[5] a Roger Rabbit sequel[6] and The Nutcracker[7] in development. Disney dropped Yellow Submarine following the box-office failure of Mars Needs Moms.[8]
In August 2011, it was announced that ImageMovers has entered a two-year first-look producing deal with Universal Studios.[1]
Year | Film | Co-Production/Distributor |
---|---|---|
2000 | What Lies Beneath | DreamWorks 20th Century Fox |
Cast Away | ||
2003 | Matchstick Men | Warner Bros. |
2004 | The Polar Express | |
2005 | The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio | DreamWorks |
2006 | Last Holiday | Paramount Pictures |
Monster House | Columbia Pictures Amblin Entertainment |
|
2007 | Beowulf | Paramount Pictures (USA) Warner Bros. (non-USA) |
2011 | Real Steel | Touchstone Pictures DreamWorks |
TBA | How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack[9][10] | Columbia Pictures Sony Pictures Animation |
Year | Film | Co-Production/Distributor |
---|---|---|
2009 | A Christmas Carol | Walt Disney Pictures |
2011 | Mars Needs Moms |