The Ladd Company

For the 19th-century company that developed the first commercial sugar plantation in Hawaii, see Ladd & Co..
The Ladd Company
Film Production
Founded 1979
Founder Alan Ladd, Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan
Headquarters Hollywood, California

The Ladd Company is an American film production company founded by Alan Ladd, Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan in 1979.

Prior to the company's formation, Ladd was President of 20th Century Fox, and Kanter & Wigan also served as Fox executives. As the alleged results of quarreling between Ladd and the studio higher-ups, the trio announced their intents to leave Fox when their contracts expired in December 1980 and form a production company to be financed by Warner Bros. Fox subsequently cut their contracts short, ending on October 1, 1979.[1] The day after the contracts expired, the trio placed ads for the newly named "Ladd Company" in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.[2]

Under Warner Bros., it distributed Chariots of Fire, which won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Picture, and produced the space epic The Right Stuff, the space western Outland, Ridley Scott's sci-fi film Blade Runner, neo-noir film Body Heat and the first two Police Academy movies, amongst others.

Even with the phenomenal success of Police Academy, the good business couldn't outweigh the bad, as the box-office failures of The Right Stuff, the edited version of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America and the animated Twice Upon a Time (co-produced with Lucasfilm) sent the company towards oblivion. On April 18, 1984, Alan Ladd, Jr. and Warner Bros. parted ways, even though the former still had three years left on the studio's contract. From that point on, "the Ladd Company [would] become a non-exclusive production organization."[3]

During a brief partnership with Paramount Pictures in the mid-1990s, it produced the Best Picture Oscar winner Braveheart, and A Very Brady Sequel.

Ladd's most recent releases are the 2005 Lasse Hallström drama, An Unfinished Life and the 2007 Ben Affleck drama Gone Baby Gone, both distributed by Miramax Films.

List of Ladd Company Films

Film Year Studio Notes
Divine Madness! 1980 Warner Bros
Outland 1981 Warner Bros
Body Heat 1981 Warner Bros
Chariots of Fire 1981 Warner Bros Distribution in association with Warner Bros. only
Looker 1981 Warner Bros
Blade Runner 1982 Warner Bros Was released in three different versions, in 1982, 1992, and 2007
co-production with Jerry Perenchio, Sir Run Run Shaw, and Bud Yorkin
Night Shift 1982 Warner Bros
Love Child 1982 Warner Bros
Five Days One Summer 1982 Warner Bros
Lovesick 1983 Warner Bros
Twice Upon a Time 1983 Warner Bros
The Right Stuff 1983 Warner Bros Limited release in October 1983, wide release in 1984; Unexpected box office failure, considered one of the causes of the company's demise at Warner Bros.
Star 80 1983 Warner Bros
Mike's Murder 1984 Warner Bros
Police Academy 1984 Warner Bros
Purple Hearts 1984 Warner Bros
Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Warner Bros
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment 1985 Warner Bros First Ladd Company film not to have the company's logo screen at the beginning of the film, has caption that reads "The Ladd Company Presents" at the beginning of the opening credits instead.
Doin' Time 1985 Warner Bros Final Ladd Company picture released by Warner Bros.
Braveheart 1995 Paramount Pictures (Domestic) / Twentieth Century Fox (International) co-production with Icon Productions
The Phantom 1996 Paramount Pictures co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures
A Very Brady Sequel 1996 Paramount Pictures
An Unfinished Life 2005 Miramax Films co-production with Revolution Studios
Gone Baby Gone 2007 Miramax Films

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Bob. "Studio 'revolution' treat for gossips". Edmonton Journal (August 18, 1979).
  2. ↑ Schreger, Charles. "New Film Company Born of Frustration". Sarasota Herald-Tribune (October 19, 1979)
  3. ↑ Associated Press. "Ladd, Warner Bros. dissolve agreement". St. Joseph News-Press (April 20, 1984).

External links