Planet Hollywood
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| Private | |
| Industry | Theme restaurant |
| Founded | New York City October 22, 1991 |
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida |
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Key people
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| Website | planethollywood.com |
Planet Hollywood International, Inc. (stylized as planet hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a theme restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood.
It was launched in New York City on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Further celebrity endorsement included actress Whoopi Goldberg, actor Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, director John Hughes, comedian Roseanne Barr, and actors Tom Arnold, Wesley Snipes, and Danny Glover.
Planet Hollywood was the idea of Bryan Kestner, a former actor who had some small parts in movies produced by Taft-Barish. Kestner approached his boss, Keith Barish, with the idea of a theme restaurant modeled after Hard Rock Cafe, which would instead feature movie memorabilia. Barish was a financier, real estate developer and film producer, whose credits include Sophie's Choice, The Fugitive, The Running Man and 9½ Weeks. Kestner wanted to call the restaurant "Cafe Hollyrock"; instead, Barish and Robert Earl came up with the name "Planet Hollywood." The similarity of the two restaurants led Hard Rock Cafe to sue Planet Hollywood's creators for $1.5 billion; the suit was not successful. Kestner received minimal shares in the company for his idea; it was Barish, and Robert Earl, former President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe, who developed Planet Hollywood. Kestner's involvement with development of the company was limited to attending grand opening parties, which he was eventually asked to not attend at Earl's prompting. After Planet Hollywood's filing of numerous bankruptcies, Kestner's shares were worthless and he had to file bankruptcy as well. Kestner still receives no money from the restaurant or corporation.
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Wikipedia