James G. Robinson, the producer and co-founder of Morgan Creek Productions who was behind films such as Major League, Dead rangers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, True romance and Ace Ventura: Pet DetectiveHe died on February 15, his family announced. He was 90 years old.
Robinson, who made his fortune in the auto import industry, and producer Joe Roth launched Morgan Creek in 1988, with Robinson betting $80 million of his own money to get things started. (The company also obtained a $126 million line of credit from Signet Bank-Maryland.)
In the wake of the demise of independent studios such as Cannon Group, New World Entertainment, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, the partners agreed not to distribute their films. They will fully finance the films they produce, cover advertising costs, pre-sell foreign video and television rights, and leave it to others to show their films in American theaters.
Morgan Creek took a hit right out of the gate Young guns (1988), about Billy the Kid’s early days. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney, and was directed by Christopher Kane. Distributed by Fox, the film cost about $11 million — and was billed as a non-union shoot — and grossed $45 million at the box office.
The son of a professional golfer, Robinson was born in Baltimore on December 16, 1935. At the age of five, he and his family moved to Dundalk, Maryland. He attended Dundalk High School and then the University of Maryland at College Park.
After a stint in the U.S. Army in Germany, in 1963 Robinson returned to Baltimore, where fate directed him toward opportunity. He had purchased a used car from abroad, and when it arrived it was covered in what can only be described as protective grunge. After his failed attempt to remove the substance, he found a local company specializing in this type of car cleaning.
He bought the company with a partner and opened a shop at Dundalk Marine Terminal to provide cleaning services for imported cars. Business boomed when car importers began requesting additional services such as undercoating and retrofitting of sunroofs and moldings.
In the mid-1970s, Robinson purchased a nearly bankrupt Subaru dealership and built it into Subaru Mid America, a Chicago-based company that eventually supplied the Japanese brand’s vehicles and parts to 94 dealerships throughout the Midwest.
He came to Hollywood in the late 1970s by organizing bridge financing for independent films. “There were people who had deals with studios but didn’t have any immediate financing, and I would finance [their films]Robinson said Hollywood Reporter In 2007. “I didn’t come to town and say, ‘I want to be in this business.'”
Eventually, he began looking for films of his own to finance, and was approached by Roth, then an up-and-coming producer, Stone boy. Robinson signed on as executive producer, and the family drama, directed by Caine, hit theaters in 1984 with a cast that included Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Frederick Forrest.
“He’s a risk-taker, but he’s a smart one who takes calculated risks, most of which have paid off,” Marvin Riesenback, an auto industry colleague of Robinson’s, said in a 1991 report. Baltimore Sun Introductory account.
Robinson continued to work in Hollywood, investing money in comedies in 1985 Girls just want to have fun and grunt! Wrestling movie. He rejoined Roth in the 1986 adventure film Where the river runs blackalso led by Cain.
The title of Morgan Creek was inspired by the great comedy of Preston Sturges Miracle Creek Morgan (1943). “We wanted an American name,” Robinson said. sun In 1999. “Something that was very American and something that involved a well-known American director. “Morgan Creek” is as American as you can get. … You don’t hear the word ‘creek’ anywhere else in the world.”
Roth left in 1989 to become president of 20th Century Fox, but Robinson kept the momentum going with his pitch-perfect baseball comedy. Major League (1989) starring Shane; David Cronenberg’s thrilling and complex film Dead rangers (1988), starring Jeremy Irons; Starring Kevin Costner Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); True romance (1993), written by Quentin Tarantino, has just been released Reservoir dogs; and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994); Which made Jim Carrey a movie star.
In 1996, Robinson was named ShoWest Producer of the Year.
“There are a lot of things for me that go into choosing a movie. From the top: Is it a good script? Because if it’s not a good script, why don’t we stop there?” Robinson said THR In 2007. “I sit down with a lot of people. I don’t isolate myself in a vacuum. There’s no simple formula. Let’s just say I think we’re going to do well around the world. OK, now can we pick the movie? Can we get the right director? Is the budget right for this movie? Everything is seamless. It’s the story, the director, the cast.”
The film is directed by Paul Mazursky Enemies, love story (1989) brought Morgan Creek three Academy Award nominations, and one for Michael Mann The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis, won the Academy Award for Best Sound.
Maximizing the potential of the product, Robinson created numerous sequels to Young guns, Major League and Ace Ventura In 1990, the legendary scary franchise was revived with Exorcist IIIfollowed by three more films and a reboot of the Fox series.
Other features that Robinson brought to the big screen included Skin deep (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Freejack game (1992), White sand (1992), demonic (1996), soldier (1998), American outlaws (2001), The good shepherd (2006) and Rule of Georgia (2007), where he argued with Lindsay Lohan, calling her a “spoiled brat” who “jeopardized the quality of this photo” in a letter.
In 2014, Morgan Creek struck a deal with Roth-founded Revolution Studios to sell the international distribution rights and copyrights to its film library for $36.75 million.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Barbara; children Michael, Patrick, Brian, David, Thomas and Beth; and grandchildren Blake, Megan, Caitlin, Aidan, Callie, Campbell, David Cameron and David Henry.
His son David, married to actress Susan Ward, followed in his father’s footsteps as a producer and eventually as president of the Morgan Creek Entertainment Group.
Robinson never lost his love for Baltimore, raising his family in Lutherville, just north of the city. Although Morgan Creek had its headquarters in Los Angeles, it mostly operated from offices in its hometown.
“I love Baltimore,” he said. “I would make all my films here if I could. It’s all about cost. If it was close, maybe a million difference between shooting here and somewhere else, I would always choose Baltimore.”
