AVCO Embassy Pictures
 |
|
| Industry | Film studio |
|---|---|
| Fate | Sold |
| Successor |
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (theatrical) Nelson Entertainment (home video) ELP Communications (television) |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Parent | Independent (1942–1967) Avco Corporation (1967–1982) Embassy Communications, Inc. (1982–1985) The Coca-Cola Company (1985–1986) Dino De Laurentiis Productions (1986) |
Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as AVCO Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, Carnal Knowledge, The Night Porter, Phantasm, The Fog, Prom Night, Scanners, The Howling, Escape from New York, and This Is Spinal Tap.
The company was founded in 1942 by Joseph E. Levine, initially to distribute foreign films in the United States.
Some of Levine's early successes were the Italian-made Hercules films with Steve Reeves, Ishirō Honda's Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, and the 1961 adaptation of The Thief of Bagdad (which had virtually nothing to do with the 1940 version). Embassy also distributed Federico Fellini's film 8½ and Rick Carrier's Strangers in the City (1962).
In 1963, Levine was offered a $30 million deal with Paramount Pictures to produce films in the vein of his previous successes. Paramount would finance the films and Embassy would receive part of its profits. Under the deal, Levine produced The Carpetbaggers and its prequel Nevada Smith, which were successes, along with flops such as Harlow, starring Carroll Baker, and The Oscar.
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