# Mutual Film Company

Mutual Film Company, LLC is an American film production company based in Hollywood, California. The company was initially founded by financer Gary Levinsohn in 1989 as Classico Entertainment, before combining with The Mark Gordon Company in 1995 to form Cloud Nine Entertainment. Mutual is a film financier that was involved in the co-production of feature films. Mutual notably co-produced and financed several feature films for Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios.

## History
### Classico Entertainment

In 1989, following the shutdown of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Gary Levinsohn launched his own company Classico Entertainment and it served as a sales agent of Dino de Laurentiis Communications.
In 1994, Classico signed a deal with Atlas Entertainment, whereas Classico could finance films for the company.

### Mutual Film Company

In 1995, film producers Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn decided to merge their own companies into Cloud Nine Entertainment, a production company that would be involved in the co-production and financing of feature films. The company opened its office at Raleigh Studios on Melrose Avenue near the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, California.
Following Cloud Nine's establishment, the company created an international sales division, and finalized a multi-year equity partnership with four companies — the United Kingdom's BBC, Germany's Tele-München, Japan's Toho-Towa/Marubeni and France's UGC-PH. These four companies financed 60% (15% each) of the films' budgets, in exchange for distribution rights in their respective territories and equity stakes in the films on a worldwide basis.
The company's first film under the new regime was 1997's The Relic.
Eighteen months after forming Cloud Nine, Gordon and Levinsohn renamed the company to Mutual Film Company. The new name was meant to reflect the joint venture and the profits it would share with its international investors.
Mutual notably financed films for Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures. On several occasions, films developed by Mutual, such as Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Patriot (2000), were financed by major studios.
In 2000, three of Mutual's partners, Tele Munchen Gruppe, BBC, and Toho, negotiated with a banking consortium led by Union Bank of California and secured a $200 million revolving credit line that would allow Mutual to produce and finance films without approval from a major film studio. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, released in 2001, became the second highest-grossing film produced by Mutual (after Saving Private Ryan), while its sequel, subtitled The Cradle of Life, underperformed. Mutual's investors left the company, citing the poor box office performances of the many films produced.
In September 2000, Gordon left Mutual to relaunch his own company, the Mark Gordon Company. Film producer Don Granger joined the company, working alongside Levinsohn.

## Filmography

Mutual Film Company has produced 21 films. Of these, only two of them, Blue Ice and The Ripper were made-for-television productions. Note that in some cases the distributor or distributors are also co-producers. The box office column reflects the worldwide gross for the theatrical release of the films in United States dollars.
| Year | Title | Director | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Box office | Ref. |
| 1992 | Blue Ice $^1$ | Russell Mulcahy | Bregman Productions, M&M Productions and Guild Film Distribution | HBO | — | |
| 1993 | The Real McCoy $^2$ | Russell Mulcahy | Bregman/Baer Productions, Capella International | Universal Pictures | $6,484,246 | |
| 1995 | 12 Monkeys | Terry Gilliam | Atlas Entertainment | Universal Pictures | $168,839,459 | |
| 1995 | Angus | Patrick Read Johnson | Atlas Entertainment, Turner Pictures; in association with BBC, and Tele-München | New Line Cinema | $4,821,759 | |
| 1997 | The Relic | Peter Hyams | Marubeni/Toho-Towa, Tele-München and BBC | Paramount Pictures; Universal Pictures | $33,956,608 | |
| 1997 | The Jackal | Michael Caton-Jones | Alphaville Films | Universal Pictures | $159,330,280 | |
| 1997 | The Ripper $^1$ | Janet Meyers | | Universal Television | — | |
| 1998 | Hard Rain | Mikael Salomon | Marubeni/Toho-Towa, Tele-München, BBC UGC-PH and Nordisk Film | Paramount Pictures Universal Pictures | $19,870,567 | |
| 1998 | Primary Colors | Mike Nichols | Icarus Productions | Universal Pictures | $52,090,187 | |
| 1998 | Paulie | John Roberts | | DreamWorks Pictures | $26,875,268 | |
| 1998 | Black Dog | Kevin Hooks | | Universal Pictures | $12,951,088 | |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg | Amblin Entertainment | DreamWorks Pictures; Paramount Pictures | $481,840,909 | |
| 1998 | A Simple Plan | Sam Raimi | Savoy Pictures, in association with BBC, Marubeni, Tele-München, Toho-Towa and UGC-PH | Paramount Pictures | $16,316,273 | |
| 1999 | Virus | John Bruno | Valhalla Motion Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment | Universal Pictures | $30,652,005 | |
| 1999 | Man on the Moon | Miloš Forman | Jersey Films, Shapiro/West Productions, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa | Universal Pictures Warner Bros. | $47,434,430 | |
| 2000 | Isn't She Great | Andrew Bergman | Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa | Universal Pictures | $3,003,296 | |
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | Curtis Hanson | Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa | Paramount Pictures Warner Bros. | $33,426,588 | |
| 2000 | The Patriot | Roland Emmerich | Centropolis Entertainment | Columbia Pictures | $215,294,342 | |
| 2001 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider | Simon West | Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eidos Interactive, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa | Paramount Pictures | $274,703,340 | |
| 2003 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Jan de Bont | Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eidos Interactive, in association with Tele-München, BBC and Marubeni/Toho-Towa | Paramount Pictures | $156,505,388 | |
| 2003 | Timeline | Richard Donner | Cobalt Media Group, The Donners' Company, Artists Production Group | Paramount Pictures | $43,935,763 | |
| 2006 | Snakes on a Plane | David R. Ellis | | New Line Cinema | $62,022,014 | |
| 2012 | Deadfall | Stefan Ruzowitzky | StudioCanal, 2929 Productions | Magnolia Pictures | $66,351 | |
| 2012 | Jack Reacher $^2$ | Christopher McQuarrie | Skydance Productions, Cruise/Wagner Productions | Paramount Pictures | $218,340,595 | |
| Box office total: | Box office total: | Box office total: | Box office total: | Box office total: | $2,038,199,808 | —' |
$^1$ Released as a made-for-television film $^2$ Uncredited