Morgan Creek Entertainment

"David C. Robinson" redirects here. For the steamboat captain, see David C. Robinson (steamboat captain).

Morgan Creek is an American film production company that has released box-office hits including Young Guns, Dead Ringers, Major League, True Romance, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Crush, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Last of the Mohicans. The studio was co-founded in 1987 by James G. Robinson and Joe Roth.^[1] Robinson leads the company as chairman and CEO. His two sons, Brian Robinson and David C. Robinson, run the day-to-day operations.^{[citation needed]} The company name comes from Roth's favorite film, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.^[2] Their most recent film is The Exorcist: Believer, which was released on October 6, 2023.

Morgan Creek

Logo used as of 2001
Company type	Film production company
Industry	Film & television
Founded	1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Founder	James G. Robinson Joe Roth
Headquarters	Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California , United States
Key people	James G. Robinson (Chairman & CEO) Brian Robinson David C. Robinson
Divisions	Morgan Creek International Morgan Creek Music Morgan Creek Video Morgan Creek DVD
Website	morgancreek.com

Morgan Creek generally releases their films through larger studios while retaining the copyrights, and making autonomous decisions on home video and television rights. Their logo contains a stylized creek.

Company history

Morgan Creek's initial slate of films from 1988 to 1990 were released by 20th Century Fox, except for Renegades and Coupe de Ville which were released by Universal Pictures and Major League which was released by Paramount Pictures, and some home video releases of its early titles going to Media Home Entertainment.^[2] In 1991, beginning with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, they shifted their distribution of new films, as well as their previous catalog titles, to Warner Bros., where they remained until early 2005. Later that year, beginning with Two for the Money, they released their newer films through Universal, though previous films were still handled in the United States by Warner Bros.

In 1996, Morgan Creek tried to expand into animated feature film production. Only one, The King & I was produced, and it flopped.^[3]

On July 11, 1997, Gary Barber announced that he would leave Morgan Creek, and he subsequently went on to start out Spyglass Entertainment.^[4] In 1998, Morgan Creek had a distribution deal with Warner Home Video to release its product through the Morgan Creek Video and the Morgan Creek DVD labels.^[5]

On October 8, 1998, Morgan Creek and Franchise Pictures entered into an agreement where Morgan Creek would distribute Franchise's upcoming pictures domestically.^[6] On July 2, 2001, Morgan Creek Productions sued Franchise Pictures for allegedly breaching an agreement giving the company the right of first refusal on some films.^[7]

In October 2014, Morgan Creek sold the international distribution rights and copyrights to their films to Revolution Studios for $36.75 million.^[8] In September 2015, Morgan Creek began negotiating the sale of rights for the remaining territories, though they intend to retain remake and television rights to the Ace Ventura, Major League, Young Guns, and Exorcist franchises.^[9]

List of Morgan Creek filmography

Films

Release date	Title	Director	Story by	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)	Budget	Gross (worldwide)	Notes
August 12, 1988	Young Guns	Christopher Cain	John Fusco		Christopher Cain Joe Roth	$11 million	$45,661,556	first Morgan Creek production distributed by 20th Century Fox; international and home media distribution by Vestron Pictures
September 23, 1988	Dead Ringers	David Cronenberg	David Cronenberg Norman Snider		Marc Boyman David Cronenberg	$13 million	$8,038,508	co-production with Telefilm Canada and Mantle Clinic II
March 3, 1989	Skin Deep	Blake Edwards			Tony Adams	$8.5 million	$19,674,852
April 7, 1989	Major League	David S. Ward			Chris Chesser Irby Smith	$11 million	$49,797,148	co-production with Mirage Productions; U.S. distribution by Paramount Pictures
June 2, 1989	Renegades	Jack Sholder	David Rich		David Madden	$16 million	$9,015,164	co-production with Interscope Communications; distributed by Universal Pictures
December 13, 1989	Enemies, a Love Story	Paul Mazursky	Roger L. Simon Paul Mazursky		Paul Mazursky	$9.5 million	$7,754,571
February 16, 1990	Nightbreed	Clive Barker			Gabriella Martinelli Jon Turtle Joe Roth	$11 million	$8,862,354
March 9, 1990	Coupe de Ville	Joe Roth	Mike Binder		Larry Brezner Paul Schiff	N/A	$715,983	second and last Morgan Creek production distributed by Universal Pictures until 2005
August 1, 1990	Young Guns II	Geoff Murphy	John Fusco		James G. Robinson Paul Schiff Irby Smith	$10 million	$44,143,410
August 17, 1990	The Exorcist III	William Peter Blatty			Carter DeHaven	$11 million	$39,024,251
September 28, 1990	Pacific Heights	John Schlesinger	Daniel Pyne		Scott Rudin William Sackheim	$18 million	$44,926,706	last Morgan Creek production distributed by 20th Century Fox
June 14, 1991	Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	Kevin Reynolds	Pen Densham	Pen Densham John Watson	Pen Densham Richard Barton Lewis John Watson	$48 million	$390,493,908	first Morgan Creek production distributed by Warner Bros.; the film's score would become the music for Morgan Creek's animated logo
January 17, 1992	Freejack	Geoff Murphy	Steven Pressfield Ronald Shusett Dan Gilroy		Steven Pressfield Ronald Shusett	$30 million	$17,129,000
March 27, 1992	Ladybugs	Sidney J. Furie	Curtis Burch		Andre Morgan Albert S. Ruddy	$20 million	$14,796,494	international distribution only; distributed in North America by Paramount Pictures
April 24, 1992	White Sands	Roger Donaldson	Daniel Pyne		William Sackheim Scott Rudin	$22 million	$9,011,574
August 14, 1992	Stay Tuned	Peter Hyams	Jim Jennewein Tom S. Parker Richard Siegel	Jim Jennewein Tom S. Parker	James G. Robinson	$25 million	$10,736,401
September 25, 1992	The Last of the Mohicans	Michael Mann	Michael Mann Christopher Crowe		Michael Mann Hunt Lowry	$40 million	$75,505,856	international distribution only; distributed in North America by 20th Century Fox
April 2, 1993	The Crush	Alan Shapiro			James G. Robinson	$6 million	$13,609,396
September 10, 1993	True Romance	Tony Scott	Quentin Tarantino		Samuel Hadida Steve Perry Bill Unger	$13 million	$12,281,551	co-production with Davis Films and A Band Apart
February 4, 1994	Ace Ventura: Pet Detective	Tom Shadyac	Jack Bernstein	Jack Bernstein Tom Shadyac Jim Carrey	James G. Robinson	$12 million	$107,217,396
March 30, 1994	Major League II	David S. Ward	R.J. Stewart Tom S. Parker Jim Jennewein	R.J. Stewart	James G. Robinson David S. Ward	$25 million	$30,626,182
April 22, 1994	Chasers	Dennis Hopper	Joe Batteer John Rice	Joe Batteer John Rice Dan Gilroy	Tom Berenger Erika Eleniak William McNamara Gary Busey	$15 million	$1,596,687
September 9, 1994	Trial by Jury	Heywood Gould	Jordan Katz Heywood Gould		James G. Robinson Chris Meledandri Mark Gordon	N/A	$6,971,777
October 14, 1994	Imaginary Crimes	Anthony Drazan	Kristine Johnson Davia Nelson		James G. Robinson	N/A	$89,611
October 28, 1994	Silent Fall	Bruce Beresford	Akiva Goldsman			$30 million	$3,180,674
November 10, 1995	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	Steve Oedekerk				$30 million	$212,385,533
January 12, 1996	Two If by Sea	Bill Bennett	Mike Armstrong Denis Leary Ann Lembeck	Mike Armstrong Denis Leary		N/A	$10,658,278
January 26, 1996	Big Bully	Steve Miner	Mark Steven Johnson		Gary Foster Lee Rich James G. Robinson Gary Barber Dylan Sellers	$15 million	$2,042,530
March 22, 1996	Diabolique	Jeremiah S. Chechik	Henri-Georges Clouzot Don Roos		James G. Robinson Marvin Worth	$45 million	$17,100,369
November 1, 1996	Bad Moon	Eric Red			James G. Robinson	$7 million	$1,055,525
July 2, 1997	Wild America	William Dear	David Michael Wieger		James G. Robinson Irby Smith Mark Stouffer	$17 million	$7,324,662
March 13, 1998	Incognito	John Badham	Jordan Katz		James G. Robinson	N/A	N/A
April 17, 1998	Major League: Back to the Minors	John Warren				$18 million	$3,572,443
August 21, 1998	Wrongfully Accused	Pat Proft			Pat Proft James G. Robinson Bernd Eichinger	N/A	$9,623,329	co-production with Constantin Film
October 23, 1998	Soldier	Paul W. S. Anderson	David Webb Peoples		Jerry Weintraub	$60 million	$14,594,226	co-production with Warner Bros. and Jerry Weintraub Productions
March 19, 1999	The King and I	Richard Rich	Peter Bakalian Jacqueline Feather David Seidler		Peter Bakalian Arthur Rankin, Jr. James G. Robinson	$25 million	$11,993,021	Morgan Creek's first and, so far, only animated film; co-production with Nest Family Entertainment, Rankin/Bass Productions and Rich Animation Studios
September 1, 1999	Chill Factor	Hugh Johnson	Drew Gitlin Mike Cheda		James G. Robinson	$34 million	$11,263,966
February 18, 2000	The Whole Nine Yards	Jonathan Lynn	Mitchell Kapner		Allan Kaufman David Willis	$41.3 million	$106,371,651	North American, U.K. and Irish distribution with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures, Rational Packaging and Lansdown Films
May 12, 2000	Battlefield Earth	Roger Christian	Corey Mandell J. D. Shapiro		Jonathan Krane Elie Samaha John Travolta	$44 million	$29,725,663	distribution in North America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux, Italy and Spain with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures
July 19, 2000	The In Crowd	Mary Lambert	Mark Gibson Philip Halprin		James G. Robinson	$15 million	$5,217,498
August 25, 2000	The Art of War	Christian Duguay	Wayne Beach	Wayne Beach Simon Barry	Nicolas Clermont	$60 million	$40,400,425	U.S., U.K. and Irish distribution with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures and Amen-Ra Films
October 6, 2000	Get Carter	Stephen Kay	David McKenna		Mark Canton Neil Canton Elie Samaha	$63.6 million	$19,412,993	distribution in North and Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux, Italy and Spain with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures and The Canton Company
January 19, 2001	The Pledge	Sean Penn	Jerzy Kromolowski Mary Olson-Kromolowski		Michael Fitzgerald Sean Penn Elie Samaha	$35 million	$29,419,291	distribution in North America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux, Italy, Spain and India with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures and Clyde Is Hungry Films
February 23, 2001	3000 Miles to Graceland	Demian Lichtenstein	Richard Recco Demian Lichtenstein		Demian Lichtenstein Eric Manes Elie Samaha Richard Spero Andrew Stevens	$62 million	$18,720,175	distribution in North America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux and India with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures
May 18, 2001	Angel Eyes	Luis Mandoki	Gerald Di Pego		Mark Canton Elie Samaha	$53 million	$29,715,606	distribution in North and Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux, Italy, Spain and India with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures and The Canton Company
August 17, 2001	American Outlaws	Les Mayfield	Roderick Taylor John Rogers		James G. Robinson Bill Gerber	$35 million	$13,342,790
November 9, 2001	Heist	David Mamet			Art Linson Elie Samaha Andrew Stevens	$39 million	$28,510,652	distribution in North and Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Benelux, Italy and India with Warner Bros. only; produced by Franchise Pictures
June 21, 2002	Juwanna Mann	Jesse Vaughan	Bradley Allenstein		James G. Robinson Bill Gerber	$15 million	$13,802,599
August 1, 2003	I'll Be There	Craig Ferguson	Craig Ferguson Philip McGrade		James G. Robinson	N/A	N/A
August 20, 2004	Exorcist: The Beginning	Renny Harlin	William Wisher Caleb Carr	Alexi Hawley	James G. Robinson	$50 million	$78,000,586
May 20, 2005	Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist	Paul Schrader	William Wisher Caleb Carr			$30 million	$251,495	last Morgan Creek production distributed by Warner Bros.
October 7, 2005	Two for the Money	D. J. Caruso	Dan Gilroy			$35 million	$30,526,509	first Morgan Creek production distributed by Universal Pictures since Coupe de Ville
October 13, 2006	Man of the Year	Barry Levinson				$20 million	$41,237,658
December 22, 2006	The Good Shepherd	Robert De Niro	Eric Roth		James G. Robinson Jane Rosenthal Robert De Niro	$85 million	$99,480,480	co-production with Universal Pictures, TriBeCa Productions and American Zoetrope
May 11, 2007	Georgia Rule	Garry Marshall	Mark Andrus		David Robinson James G. Robinson	$20 million	$25,992,167
September 21, 2007	Sydney White	Joe Nussbaum	Chad Gomez Creasey		James G. Robinson David C. Robinson Clifford Werber	N/A	$13,620,075
March 3, 2009	Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective	David Mickey Evans	Jeffrey Sank Jason Heimberg Justin Heimberg	Jeffrey Sank Jason Heimberg Justin Heimberg David Mickey Evans	James G. Robinson David Robinson	$7.5 million	N/A	Released by Warner Home Video
September 30, 2011	Dream House	Jim Sheridan	David Loucka		James G. Robinson David C. Robinson Daniel Bobker Ehren Kruger	$50 million	$38,502,340	select international distribution by Warner Bros.
October 14, 2011	The Thing	Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.	Eric Heisserer		Marc Abraham Eric Newman	$38 million	$31,505,287	co-production with Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment
June 16, 2017	All Eyez on Me	Benny Boom	Jeremy Haft Eddie Gonzalez Steven Bagatourian		David Robinson L.T. Hutton James G. Robinson	$45 million	$54,876,855	distributed by Lionsgate under Summit Entertainment; co-production with Program Pictures and Codeblack Films
October 6, 2023	The Exorcist: Believer	David Gordon Green	Scott Teems Danny McBride David Gordon Green	Peter Sattler David Gordon Green	Jason Blum David C. Robinson James G. Robinson	$30 million	$136,998,069	co-production with Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions; direct sequel to the 1973 film[10][11][12]

Upcoming/In development

Release date	Title	Director	Story by	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)	Notes
TBA	Untitled Exorcist film	Mike Flanagan				co-production with Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Intrepid Pictures, and Atomic Monster; reboot of the franchise[13][14][15]
TBA	Dream House	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	remake of the 2011 film[16]

Television series

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995–2000) (with Warner Bros. Television)
• The Exorcist (2016–2017) (with 20th Century Fox Television)
• Dead Ringers (2023) (with Amazon Studios, Astral Projection and Annapurna Television)^[17]

In development

• The Good Shepherd (with Showtime)^[18]
• Nightbreed^[19]