The Cannon Group, Inc.
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film production |
| Founded | October 23, 1967 |
| Founders | Dennis Friedland Christopher C. Dewey |
| Defunct | January 21, 1994 |
| Fate | Rebranded as Pathé Communications and merged with MGM/UA Communications Co. to form MGM-Pathé Communications |
| Successor |
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| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Key people | Dennis Friedland (1967–1979) Christopher C. Dewey (1967–1979) Menahem Golan (1979–1989) Yoram Globus (1979–1994) Giancarlo Parretti (1989–1990) Ovidio G. Assonitis (1989–1990) Christopher Pearce (1990–1994) |
| Products | Motion pictures Video releasing Cinema chains (UK and Europe) |
| Subsidiaries | Cannon Video Cannon Cinemas Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment HBO/Cannon Video ABC Cinemas |
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. The Cannon catalogue encompasses a wide range of different genres. Cannon Films is known for its highly successful 1980s action B movies, such as Missing in Action (1984), American Ninja (1985), and Bloodsport (1988). It also produced the Oscar-nominated films Joe (1970), Runaway Train (1985) and Street Smart (1987).