- Cloud Ten Pictures
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Cloud Ten Pictures (or C10) is a film production and distribution company located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, specializing in Christian-themed films.
Contents
Overview
Cloud Ten was formed by brothers Peter LaLonde and Paul LaLonde in 1994. The Lalonde brothers self-financed the company's early films, which consisted primarily of a series of documentaries relating to Christian theological issues. Prior to forming Cloud Ten, the LaLonde brothers had earned some notoriety in Christian Evangelical circles through their television program, This Week in Bible Prophecy.
The company's first feature film was Apocalypse (film) (1998), a low-budget thriller. The company has since produced three more films in the Apocalypse Series, Revelation (1999), Tribulation (2000) and Judgment (2001).
In 2000, Cloud Ten Pictures released Left Behind: The Movie, based upon the first book in the popular Left Behind book series, authored by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.[1] Released into the video market on October 31, Left Behind: The Movie became one of the highest grossing videos of the year.[citation needed]. Byron M. Jones the then VP of Entertainment said this "Already, the pre-orders for this sequel have outpaced those of the original LEFT BEHIND movie by almost 40%. Those numbers are impressive considering LEFT BEHIND was the #1 selling video in America its first week of release, beating out Toy Story 2 and The Green Mile. It also ended up being named the `Best-Selling Title of the Year by an Independent Studio".[2] Cloud Ten also produced two sequels based upon the second book in the Left Behind book series, Left Behind: Tribulation Force (2002) and Left Behind: World at War (2005). Cloud Ten released Left Behind: World at War via a coordinated nationwide screening in over 3,200 churches (compared with a typical 1,700 screens in a nationwidewhere? Canada-wide? theatrical release).[3] The World at War release started a trend for Christian film church releases, and led Cloud Ten to launching its Church Cinema program.[4] The marketing success of the Left Behind films generated significant publicity for the company and its founders, Peter and Paul Lalonde, who were referred to as “The Fabulous LaLonde Brothers” in a profile by GQ magazine.[citation needed]
Cloud Ten's success with the Left Behind films was marred by legal disputes with both their co-producers Namesake Entertainment and one of the authors of the popular book series, Tim LaHaye. The dispute with LaHaye resulted in a series of legal actions, originally filed in 2000, which were finally settled in July 2008. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but Cloud Ten Pictures has stated that Tim Lahaye has the rights for one year to try to remake the Left Behind films. If he does not exercise those rights within one year, Cloud Ten Pictures will again have the rights to make Left Behind movies.
As of October 1, 2010 the rights to the Left Behind film series have officially been restored to the film company, Cloud Ten Pictures, and the company is planning a remake of the series. Cloud Ten hopes to start development on the remake by late 2011.
Cloud Ten released three films in 2008: Smuggler's Ransom, Genius Club and Saving God. Both Smuggler's Ransom and Genius Club were acquired for distribution. Saving God is a co-production with Clear Entertainment, and stars Ving Rhames, Ricardo Chavira and Dean McDermott. They also distributed The River Within in 2009.
Movies
Documentaries
- Left Behind Docudrama (1994/1996 recut)
- Final Warning (1995)
- Startling Proofs (1995)
- Last Days: Hype or Hope? (1996)
- The Mark of the Beast (1997)
- Vanished (1999)
- The Gospel of the Antichrist: Exposed
- Racing to the End of Time (formerly: 2000 AD: Are You Ready?)
- Shadow Government (2009)
- Dragons or Dinosaurs? (2010)
- 12 Biggest Lies (2010)
Films
# Film Theatrical release Church release DVD release Blu-Ray release 1 Apocalypse 1997 Released Released — 2 Apocalypse II: Revelation 1999 TBA 1999 — 3 Apocalypse III: Tribulation — Released Released — 4 Left Behind: The Movie February 2, 2001 October 29, 2000 — 5 Apocalypse IV: Judgment — — March 16, 2001 — 6 Left Behind II: Tribulation Force — December 31, 2002 October 29, 2002 — 7 Waterproof — Released Released — 8 The Miracle of the Cards Released Released — 9 Deceived — — Released — 10 Left Behind: World at War — October 18, 2005 October 25, 2005 — 11 Smuggler's Ransom — June 6, 2008 June 10, 2008 — 12 The Genius Club October 27, 2006 — September 2008 — 13 Saving God — October 6, 2008 October 11, 2008 October 11, 2008 14 The River Within — - November 10, 2009 - 15 Left Behind TBA TBA TBA TBA 16 Apocalypse V TBA TBA TBA TBA 17 End of the Beginning TBA TBA TBA TBA Abandoned projects
In 2003, the company started pre-production of a movie called End Game. The movie was supposed to be their first film planned to have a wide theatrical release. Eleven pages of the shooting script went up on the official website, but production came to a halt shortly after.
In mid-June 2003, production was supposed to begin on an animated remake of their film Left Behind: The Movie. Cloud Ten's VP of films André van Heerden said "the storyline will be even closer to the original books than a live-action movie can be simply because of the freedom animation gives." This film will not be made though.[5]
Shorty after the release of Left Behind: World at War, a television show, based on Left Behind was in the planning stages for airing on the PAX television network. Planning for the television show went as far as casting calls in the United States and Canada, but creative differences on the direction the proposed television series should take, led Cloud Ten Pictures to abandon the project.
Future projects
Cloud Ten has a number of projects in development at the moment. Among them is a remake of the original Left Behind film, which will be shot on a bigger budget, and given a wide theatrical release.[6]
Also in the works is the fifth installment in their Apocalypse series. Christian author Greg Mitchell has written the script for the film, titled The Chosen. Mitchell is also working on a Graphic Novel that will serve to connect the new film with the previous entry in the series, given the decade that has passed between movies.[7]
Distribution deals
In 2004, Cloud Ten entered into a distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which distributed Left Behind: World at War.
On April 23, 2008, Cloud Ten announced new distribution deals with Koch Entertainment and CNI Distribution. Koch will re-release all C10 films under their label.[8]
References
- ^ [1] Left Behind.com
- ^ http://messages.movies.yahoo.com/Movies/Films/threadview?m=tm&bn=12172484-hv1804383520f0&tid=254&mid=254&tof=10&frt=2
- ^ Cooperman, Alan (October 21, 2005). "Coming Soon to a Church Near You". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102002186.html. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ Carpenter, Edwin (June 25, 2007). "FAITH AND FAMILY GUIDE: Congregation screenings also promote films". Video Business. http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6454317.html. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ Ball, Ryan (June 18, 2003). "Animated Second Coming of Left Behind". http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1116. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ http://www.cloudtenpictures.com
- ^ http://www.cloudtenpictures.com/site2/news_article.php?id=52
- ^ Kroll, Justin (April 27, 2008). "Distributors aloft at Cloud Ten". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984719.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
External links
Categories:- Companies established in 1994
- Film production companies of Canada
- Christian film production companies
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