# Mark Canton

Mark Canton is an American film producer and executive.

## Early life and education

Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York City, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publicity - including such films as Lawrence of Arabia. As a young adult, he met well-known movie personalities like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Doris Day when they visited the family's apartment.
After working in the mail room of Warner Bros. while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, Canton started working for 20th Century Fox and later had jobs with film director Franklin Schaffner, with producer Jon Peters, and in the 1970s as executive assistant to Mike Medavoy at United Artists.

## Career

Canton worked as executive vice president at Warner Bros. from 1980 onwards. Successes he was involved in at the time include 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation, Purple Rain, and the Batman and Lethal Weapon film series, but also notorious box office failures like The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), a picture he described as "the best movie I ever saw" at its first screening.
In 1991, Canton quit Warner Bros. where he was executive vice president of the Worldwide Motion Picture Production unit. Warner Bros. let him out of his contract fifteen months early with studio head Bob Daly saying "from our standpoint this was a job that was going to be eliminated." He then became chairman of Sony's Columbia Pictures (later Columbia-TriStar Pictures), where he was involved with some failures like Geronimo: An American Legend, but also with blockbusters such as Men in Black, Air Force One, and My Best Friend's Wedding.
Canton was fired by Sony in 1996, after a series of relative flops including Last Action Hero (a film Canton described as "probably the best action movie of all time") and The Cable Guy, before his final string of movies could become blockbusters. Described at the time as both "known for enthusiasm, rapid-fire talk, a sleek Italian wardrobe and a youthful style" and "a braggart who was lucky to have become chairman of a studio in the first place", Canton was in those years "one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood".
In 1998, Canton became an independent film producer, with Jack Frost starring Michael Keaton as his first major production. Backed by the German company Senator Entertainment from August 2000 onwards, he struck a first-look deal with Warner Bros. By the end of 2001, the shares of Senator had dropped substantially and Canton had to close down his production company.
In 2002, he was the chief executive of Artists Production Group, the movie branch of Artist Management Group. After leaving APG in November 2003, he created Atmosphere Entertainment together with Mark Kimsey, an investment manager. The aims were to produce films and television programming. With this company, he produced blockbusters such as 300, Immortals, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. In his roles as executive, chairman, and producer, Canton has been involved in over 300 major Hollywood productions.

## Other activities and roles

As of 2023 Canton is a vice-president on the board of the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival, an international film festival held on the Italian island of Ischia.

## Personal life

Canton was married to Oscar-winning producer Wendy Finerman, with whom he has three children.
His brother is the film producer Neil Canton. They co-produced the 2000 film Get Carter.

## Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

### Film

| Year | Film | Credit | Award | Box Office |
| 1980 | Die Laughing | | | $4 million |
| 1998 | Jack Frost | | | $34.6 million |
| 2000 | Get Carter | | | $19.4 million |
| 2000 | Red Planet | | | $33.5 million |
| 2001 | Angel Eyes | | | $29.7 million |
| 2002 | Trapped | Executive producer | | $13.4 million |
| 2004 | Taking Lives | | | $65.5 million |
| 2004 | Godsend | Executive producer | | $30.1 million |
| 2005 | Land of the Dead | | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Horror Film Nominated - Empire Award for Best Horror Nominated - Fangoria - Best Wide Release Film Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie | $47.8 million |
| 2006 | 300 | | Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film Nominated - Empire Award for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Movie Nominated - MTV Russia Movie Award for Best International Movie Nominated - National Movie Award for Best Action/Adventure Nominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite Action Movie Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Action | $456.1 million |
| 2007 | Full of It | | | $500.000 |
| 2008 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film | $162.8 million |
| 2009 | A Perfect Getaway | | | $22.9 million |
| 2009 | Fame | | | $80.2 million |
| 2010 | Letters to Juliet | | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Romance | $82.1 million |
| 2010 | Piranha 3D | | Nominated - Dorian Award for Campy Film of the Year Nominated - Scream Award for Best Horror Movie | $83.7 million |
| 2010 | Removal | Executive producer | | |
| 2011 | Immortals | | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film | $226.9 million |
| 2012 | Rites of Passage | | | |
| 2012 | The Cold Light of Day | Executive producer | | $25.4 million |
| 2012 | Black November | Executive producer | | $35.000 |
| 2012 | Piranha 3DD | | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Horror | $8.5 million |
| 2012 | Freelancers | Executive producer | | $370,000 |
| 2013 | Escape Plan | | | $137.3 million |
| 2014 | 300: Rise of an Empire | | | $337.6 million |
| 2014 | Cake | | | $2.9 million |
| 2014 | Outcast | Executive producer | | $4.8 million |
| 2014 | The Pyramid | | | $16.9 million |
| 2015 | The Last Witch Hunter | | | $140.4 million |
| 2016 | Mr. Church | | | |
| 2016 | Burn Your Maps | | | |
| 2016 | The Comedian | | | |
| 2017 | The Yellow Birds | | | |
| 2017 | Phoenix Forgotten | | | |
| 2018 | Den of Thieves | | | |
| 2018 | Escape Plan 2: Hades | | | |
| 2018 | Nightmare Cinema | | | |
| 2018 | Final Score | Executive producer | | |
| 2019 | After | | | |
| 2019 | Escape Plan: The Extractors | | | |
| 2020 | After We Collided | | | |
| 2021 | After We Fell | | | |
| 2022 | After Ever Happy | | | |
| 2023 | After Everything | | | |
| 2024 | Arthur the King | | | |
| 2024 | The Strangers: Chapter 1 | | | |
| 2025 | Den of Thieves 2: Pantera | | | |
| 2025 | The Strangers: Chapter 2 | | | |
| 2025 | Red Sonja | | | |
| TBA | A.D. | | | |
| TBA | Black Belle | | | |
| TBA | Robot: Colony 25 | | | |
| TBA | The Strangers: Chapter 3 | | | |

#### Production manager

| Year | Film | Role | Box Office |
| 1980 | Caddyshack | Executive in charge of production | $39.8 million |

#### Miscellaneous crew

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1974 | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Production aide |

#### Thanks

| Year | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Preston Tylk | Thanks |
| 2013 | Getaway | Special thanks |

### Television

| Year | Title | Credit | Award |
| 1999−2001 | Jack & Jill | Executive producer | |
| 2014–20 | Power | Executive producer | Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series |
| 2020 | The Freak Brothers | Executive producer | |
| 2020−21 | Power Book II: Ghost | Executive producer | |
| 2021 | Power Book III: Raising Kanan | Executive producer | |
| 2022 | Power Book IV: Force | Executive producer | |
| 2024 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | Executive producer | |