Castle Rock Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a subsidiary of Time Warner and a unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Company[]
Reiner named the company in honor of the Maine town that serves as the setting of several stories by Stephen King (which was named after the fictitious Castle Rock in Lord of the Flies), after the success of his film Stand by Me, which was based on The Body, a novella by King.
Reiner and Scheinman already had a production company. They were friends with Shafer, who worked with Horn at 20th Century Fox at the time. Horn was disappointed at Fox and agreed to join the trio at forming the company. Horn brought along Padnick, who was an executive at Embassy Television. In Castle Rock, Horn became the CEO, Shafer ran the film division, Padnick ran TV, and Reiner & Scheinman became involved in the development of productions.
The company was originally backed by The Coca-Cola Company, the then-parent company of Columbia Pictures. Coke and the company's founders jointly owned a stake in the company. Months after the deal, Coke exited the entertainment business, succeeded by Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment).
In 1989, Castle Rock was supported by another backer, Group W, a subsidiary of Westinghouse. Castle Rock later struck a deal with Nelson Entertainment, the company that owned the domestic home video rights to Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, and The Princess Bride, to co-finance Castle Rock's films.
Under the deal, Nelson also distributed the films on video in North American markets, and handled international theatrical distribution, while Columbia, which Nelson forged a distribution deal with, would receive domestic theatrical distribution rights. Some of Nelson's holdings were later acquired by New Line Cinema, which took over Nelson's duty. Columbia, shortly after the company's formation, thereafter had to re-invest with a substantial change in terms when accumulated losses exhausted its initial funding.
Reiner has stated that Castle Rock's purpose was to allow creative freedom to individuals; a safe haven away from the pressures of studio executives. Castle Rock was to make films of the highest quality, whether they made or lost money.
Castle Rock has also produced several television shows, such as the successful sitcom Seinfeld and the animated sitcom Mission Hill.
Turner purchase and WarnerMedia ownership[]
On August 1993, Turner Broadcasting System agreed to acquire Castle Rock, along with co-financing partner (and eventual Castle Rock corporate sibling) New Line Cinema. The sale was completed on December 22, 1993. The motivation behind the purchase to allow a stronger company to handle the overhead. Turner Broadcasting eventually merged with Time Warner in 1996. Castle Rock Entertainment then became a division of Warner Bros. MGM owns the rights to the pre-1994 Castle Rock Entertainment films because of the acquisition of the pre-1996 PolyGram library where Nelson Entertainment was in it. Warner Bros., through Castle Rock, owns its post-1994 library and the TV rights to the pre-1994 library with the exception of Seinfeld and Thea.
Filmography[]
1980s[]
| Title | Release Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| April 14, 1989 | Winter People | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
| July 21, 1989 | When Harry Met Sally... | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
1990s[]
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| March 16, 1990 | Lord of the Flies | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
| October 12, 1990 | Spirit of '76 | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Commercial Pictures |
| October 26, 1990 | Sibling Rivalry | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
| November 30, 1990 | Misery | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
| June 7, 1991 | City Slickers | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Nelson Entertainment |
| September 20, 1991 | Late for Dinner | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| April 24, 1992 | Year of the Comet | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| August 28, 1992 | Honeymoon in Vegas | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| September 23, 1992 | Mr. Saturday Night | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| December 11, 1992 | A Few Good Men | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| March 5, 1993 | Amos & Andrew | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| July 9, 1993 | In the Line of Fire | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| August 27, 1993 | Needful Things | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| October 1, 1993 | Malice | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| November 24, 1993 | Josh and S.A.M. | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| June 10, 1994 | City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| June 29, 1994 | Little Big League | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| July 22, 1994 | North | co-production with Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema |
| September 23, 1994 | The Shawshank Redemption | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| January 27, 1995 | Before Sunrise | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| March 19, 1995 | For Better or Worse | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| March 24, 1995 | Dolores Claiborne | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| May 19, 1995 | Forget Paris | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| August 25, 1995 | Beyond Rangoon | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| September 22, 1995 | The Run of the Country | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| November 17, 1995 | The American President | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures |
| December 15, 1995 | Othello | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| December 22, 1995 | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| February 16, 1996 | A Midwinter's Tale | co-production with Sony Pictures Classics |
| City Hall | co-production with Columbia Pictures | |
| June 21, 1996 | Lone Star | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| June 28, 1996 | Striptease | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| August 14, 1996 | Alaska | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| August 23, 1996 | The Spitfire Grill | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| September 27, 1996 | Extreme Measures | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| December 20, 1996 | Ghosts of Mississippi | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| December 25, 1996 | Hamlet | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| Some Mother's Son | co-production with Columbia Pictures | |
| January 31, 1997 | Waiting for Guffman | co-production with Sony Pictures Classics |
| February 7, 1997 | subUrbia | co-production with Sony Pictures Classics |
| February 14, 1997 | Absolute Power | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| January 30, 1998 | Zero Effect | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| February 20, 1998 | Palmetto | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| April 10, 1998 | My Giant | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| April 17, 1998 | Sour Grapes | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
2000s[]
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| April 30, 2004 | Envy | co-production with DreamWorks SKG and Columbia Pictures |
| October 12, 2007 | Sleuth | co-production with Sony Pictures Classics |
| December 18, 2009 | Did You Hear About the Morgans? | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
2010s[]
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| August 6, 2010 | Flipped | co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures |
| November 24, 2010 | Faster | co-production with CBS Films and TriStar Pictures |
| July 22, 2011 | Friends with Benefits | co-production with Screen Gems |
| May 24, 2013 | Before Midnight | co-production with Sony Pictures Classics and Venture Forth |