Background Andrew G. Vajna, a Hungarian native, launched his career in the entertainment industry with his purchase of motion picture theaters in the Far East. Later, he founded Panasia Films Limited in Hong Kong before forming Carolco with
Mario Kassar in 1976. In less than four years, Carolco became one of the top three foreign sales organizations in motion pictures. In 1982, Vajna and Kassar made their film production debut with the highly successful
First Blood, starring
Sylvester Stallone.
Rambo: First Blood Part II was released in 1985, generating more than $300 million worldwide, making it one of the most profitable films in the history of filmmaking. Vajna and Kassar were executive producers on such films as Alan Parker's
Angel Heart,
Rambo III, and
Johnny Handsome. Other projects included
Music Box,
Total Recall,
Air America,
Mountains of the Moon,
Narrow Margin and ''
Jacob's Ladder''.
Studio formation and early years Cinergi Pictures Entertainment was founded in 1989 after leaving Carolco. Vajna's strategy was to develop long-term relationships with certain talent and to produce a steady supply of two to four event motion pictures per year. Upon forming Cinergi, Vajna established an alliance with
The Walt Disney Company for distribution of Cinergi motion pictures in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Cinergi's first production,
Medicine Man starring Oscar-winner
Sean Connery, was followed by
Super Mario Bros. in co-production with
Allied Filmmakers and
Lightmotive,
Tombstone starring
Val Kilmer and
Kurt Russell and
Renaissance Man starring
Danny DeVito. In 1994, Cinergi released
Color of Night starring
Bruce Willis,
Jane March and
Lesley Ann Warren. With the exception of
Tombstone, all of those films flopped at the box office. In 1992, Cinergi was hired to manage Sovereign Pictures' library, producer of
Reversal of Fortune. Cinergi went public in 1994 with Vajna converting $33.6 million in loans to equity. There was another public offering of shares in 1995.
Decline, collapse and aftermath The box office and budgets for their films began to fall in late 1996, and Cinergi Pictures eventually closed on February 27, 1998. The company's film
Broadway Brawler involving Bruce Willis had abruptly stopped production in March 1997. After a year on consulting, Disney and Cinergi decided to wind down the company. Disney canceled $38 million in production advance owed and 5% of Cinergi shares in exchange for most of the film rights excluding the international rights of
Die Hard with a Vengeance, which was acquired by
20th Century Fox, which ironically was
bought by Disney. The company was separately selling its development slate, a special effects facility The company went on to acquire four development studios:
Black Hole Entertainment, Clever's Games, Artex Entertainment and
Digic Pictures before closing in 2007. == Filmography ==