Dark Castle Entertainment
Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production label and a division of Silver Pictures, It was formed in 1998 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler. Susan Downey was the Vice President of Development until February 2009, a term running congruent to her tenure as a VP of Production at parent company Silver Pictures.
![]() Logo used since 2024 | |
Company type | Label |
---|---|
Industry | Motion pictures |
Founded | 1998 |
Founders | Joel Silver Robert Zemeckis Gilbert Adler |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Alex Mace |
Parent | Silver Pictures |
Overview
Dark Castle Entertainment's name pays homage to William Castle, a horror filmmaker from the 1950s and 1960s. When first formed, the goal was to remake Castle's horror films. After two remakes, it moved on to producing original material, along with remakes of non-Castle films. Starting with RocknRolla, the company began producing films in genres other than horror. While most of the company's films were initially poorly reviewed by critics, their 2009 film Splice eventually received better reviews.
Dark Castle Entertainment originally acquired the US rights to The Loft, as they did for Splice, with the intention of releasing the film through Warner Bros. When Joel Silver moved his office to Universal Pictures (with whom Silver had a 5-year, 12-picture, North American marketing and distribution deal[1]), he took Dark Castle, and the film, with him. Universal planned to release the film on August 29, 2014, but the studio pulled it from the schedule in favor of Legendary Pictures' As Above, So Below. Universal and Dark Castle dropped the film, which was then picked up by Open Road Films and released on January 30, 2015.[2][3][4][5]
Jason Blum reportedly has spoken to Silver twice about a co-production between Blumhouse Productions (with whom Universal has a 10-year first-look deal[6]) and Dark Castle, for Universal to distribute, but they have yet to find the right project.[7]
Filmography
Release date | Film | Director(s) | Distributor |
---|---|---|---|
October 29, 1999 | House on Haunted Hill | William Malone | Warner Bros. Pictures |
October 26, 2001 | Thirteen Ghosts | Steve Beck | |
October 25, 2002 | Ghost Ship | ||
November 21, 2003 | Gothika | Mathieu Kassovitz | |
May 6, 2005 | House of Wax | Jaume Collet-Serra | |
April 5, 2007 | The Reaping | Stephen Hopkins | |
October 16, 2007 | Return to House on Haunted Hill | Víctor Garcia | Warner Premiere |
May 13, 2008 | Botched | Kit Ryan | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
October 8, 2008 | RocknRolla | Guy Ritchie | Warner Bros. Pictures |
February 27, 2009 | Echelon Conspiracy | Greg Marcks | After Dark Films |
July 24, 2009 | Orphan | Jaume Collet-Serra | Warner Bros. Pictures |
September 11, 2009 | Whiteout | Dominic Sena | |
September 29, 2009 | The Hills Run Red | Dave Parker | Warner Premiere |
November 25, 2009 | Ninja Assassin | James McTeigue | Warner Bros. Pictures |
April 23, 2010 | The Losers | Sylvain White | |
June 4, 2010 | Splice | Vincenzo Natali | |
February 18, 2011 | Unknown | Jaume Collet-Serra | |
August 24, 2012 | The Apparition | Todd Lincoln | |
February 1, 2013 | Bullet to the Head | Walter Hill | |
February 19, 2013 | The Factory | Morgan O'Neill | |
August 30, 2013 | Getaway | Courtney Solomon | |
October 27, 2017 | Suburbicon | George Clooney | Paramount Pictures |
May 21, 2021 | Seance | Simon Barrett | RLJE Films |
August 19, 2022 | Orphan: First Kill | William Brent Bell | Paramount Pictures |
September 2024 | Old Guy | Simon West | The Avenue |
TBA | Untitled horror film[8] | The Hayes Brothers | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Lifetime grosses
Year | Film | Budget | Domestic Box Office | Foreign Box Office | Total | US DVD sales | Total (with DVD sales) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | House on Haunted Hill | $37 million | $40.8 million[9] | $3.5 million (A) | $44.4 million | N/A | N/A |
2001 | Thirteen Ghosts | $42 million | $41.7 million[10] | $26.6 million[11] | $68.5 million | N/A | N/A |
2002 | Ghost Ship | $20 million | $30.1 million[12] | $38.2 million[12] | $68.3 million | N/A | N/A |
2003 | Gothika | $40 million | $59.7 million[13] | $81.7 million[13] | $141.6 million | N/A | N/A |
2005 | House of Wax | $40 million | $32.1 million[14] | $36.7 million[14] | $68.8 million | N/A | N/A |
2007 | The Reaping | $40 million | $25.1 million[15] | $37.6 million[15] | $62.8 million | $19.8 million[16] | $82.6 million |
2008 | RocknRolla | $15 million | $5.7 million[17] | $20 million | $25.7 million | $7.4 million[18] | $33.1 million |
2009 | Orphan | $20 million | $41,596,251[19] | $36,741,122[19] | $78,337,373 | $12,250,443[19] | $90,587,816 |
2009 | Whiteout | $35 million | $10,275,638[20] | $7,565,229[20] | $17,840,867 | $3,192,934[21] | $21,033,801 |
2009 | Ninja Assassin | $50 million | $38,122,883[22] | $23,471,000 | $61,593,883 | $13,841,623[23] | $75,435,506 |
2010 | The Losers | $25 million | $23,591,432[24] | $5,385,903 | $28,977,335 | $6,462,496[25] | $35,439,831 |
2010 | Splice | $30 million | $17,010,170[26] | $6,964,022 | $23,974,192 | $3,695,686 | $27,669,878 |
Budget | Overall Total | US DVD Sales | Total |
---|---|---|---|
$374 million | $646 million | $62.9 million | $708 million |
(A) Indicates minimum, as that is only two countries totals merged.
See also
References
- "EXCLUSIVE: Joel Silver Going Indie And Making 12-Film Distribution Deal With Universal For Post-Warner Bros Producing". Deadline.
- "'The loft' is gekocht door producent van 'Die hard'-films" ['The loft' bought by same producer as 'Die hard'-movies] (in Dutch). Belgium: Het Nieuwsblad. 9 June 2012.
- "'The Loft' nog maar eens uitgesteld" ['The Loft' once again delayed] (in Dutch). Belgium: De Standaard. March 8, 2013.
- "Universal Sets 'The Loft' For Summer 2014, Zac Efron's 'Townies' For May". Deadline. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- "Universal Pulls 'The Loft' From Sked, Moves Legendary Pic 'As Above/So Below' Into Slot". Deadline. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- Cunningham, Todd (July 20, 2014). "Blumhouse Signs 10-Year Production Deal With Universal Pictures". The Wrap. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- "Twitter / @RyanLeger2 @blumhouse @DCastleE @UniversalPics twice". Twitter.com. 2015-07-20. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- Lang, Brent (2017-12-07). "Hayes Brothers, Joel Silver Teaming on Horror Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
- House on Haunted Hill (1999)
- Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
- Thirteen Ghosts (2001) - International Box Office Results
- Ghost Ship (2002)
- Gothika (2003)
- House of Wax (2005)
- The Reaping (2007)
- The Reaping DVD (2007)
- RocknRolla (2008)
- RocknRolla DVD (2008)
- Orphan (2009)
- Whiteout (2009)
- Whiteout DVD (2009)
- Ninja Assassin(2009)
- Ninja Assassin DVD (2009)
- The Losers (2009)
- The Losers DVD (2010)
- Splice (2010)