Editing Roger Corman (section)

== New World Pictures ==
In May 1970, Corman founded [[New World Pictures]], which became a small independently owned production/distribution studio,<ref>{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Gary|title=Roger Corman's New World Pictures|url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/27/newworldpictures1.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205233405/http://brightlightsfilm.com/27/newworldpictures1.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 5, 2012|work=Bright Lights Film Journal|access-date=April 19, 2013|date=January 2000}}</ref> immediately successful with ''[[Angels Die Hard]]'' (1970), a biker film, and ''[[The Student Nurses]]'' (1971), directed by Rothman. ''[[The Big Doll House]]'' (1971), directed by [[Jack Hill]] in the Philippines, was a big hit, making a star of [[Pam Grier]]. The company made a profit of $3.2 million in its first financial year, and Corman said all eleven out of his first eleven films were successful.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|156855866}}|author= Thomas, K.|date=January 9, 1972|title=Movies|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> ''Angels Die Hard'' led to a series of biker films, including ''[[Angels Hard as They Come]]'' (1971), produced by [[Jonathan Demme]] with [[Jack Fisk]] working as art director. ''[[Bury Me an Angel]]'' (1971) was the first biker movie directed by a woman, [[Barbara Peeters]]. Corman financed the directorial debuts of [[Curtis Hanson]], ''[[Sweet Kill]]'' (1973), produced by Corman protégée [[Tamara Asseyev]]. ''Student Nurses'' led to a "cycle" of nurse pictures, including ''[[Private Duty Nurses]]'' (the first film directed by [[George Armitage]]), ''[[Night Call Nurses]]'' (1972) (the first feature directed by [[Jonathan Kaplan]]), ''[[The Young Nurses]]'' and ''[[Candy Stripe Nurses]]'' (1975). There was also ''[[The Student Teachers]]'' (1973) and ''[[Summer School Teachers]]'' (1974). ''Big Doll House'' was followed by a series of women in prison pictures, such as ''[[Women in Cages]]'' (1972), ''[[The Hot Box]]'' (1972), ''[[Black Mama, White Mama]]'' (1973), ''[[The Arena (1974 film)|The Arena]]'' (1974) (the first film directed by [[Steve Carver]]) and ''[[Caged Heat]]'' (1974) (the first film directed by Demme). Of New World's second year, Corman said 11 of the 12 releases were successful.<ref name="ingmar"/>  Corman produced one more film at AIP, ''[[Boxcar Bertha]]'' (1972), the second feature directed by [[Martin Scorsese]], starring [[David Carradine]]. He also executive produced ''[[Unholy Rollers]]'' (1972) for AIP. A proposed political satire, ''The Wild Political Prank'', was not made.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|119538974}}|author=A. H. W. |date=July 23, 1972|title=The postman rings thrice|work=The New York Times}}</ref>  He made ''[[I Escaped from Devil's Island]]'' (1973) with his brother and produced ''[[Cockfighter]]'' (1974) with Monte Hellman, which was a rare financial failure for New World. A big hit was ''[[Big Bad Mama]]'' (1974), a gangster film directed by Carver and starring [[Angie Dickinson]]. It led to a follow-up, ''[[Crazy Mama]]'' (1975), produced by his wife and directed by Demme. In 1975, Corman said New World was "the most successful independent film company in the country...if you count AIP as a major". He said they were "the best of the cheap acts".<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|157883180}}|author=Murphy|date=November 8, 1975|title='Best of cheap acts' thrives at 5|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

=== Distributing foreign films ===
In the 1970s, the major Hollywood studios were moving away from distributing foreign [[art film|arthouse pictures]], New World moved into the market and became the U.S. distributor for ''[[Cries and Whispers]]'' (1972), directed by [[Ingmar Bergman]]. Corman bought it for $75,000 and it earned over $2 million at the U.S. box office.<ref name="ingmar">{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|157207286}}|author=Warga, W.|date=February 25, 1973|title='Cries and whispers' a departure for king of the bs|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|157236082}}|author= Champlin, C.|date=February 25, 1957|title=Bergman: A private man with a hit on his hands|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> and Corman's distribution side of New World brought many foreign films to mass audiences in the U.S. for the first time – reportedly some played at drive-ins and grindhouses – including the works of [[François Truffaut]] (''[[The Story of Adele H.]]'', ''[[Small Change (film)|Small Change]]''), [[Peter Weir]] (''[[The Cars That Ate Paris]]''), [[Federico Fellini]] (''[[Amarcord]]''), [[Joseph Losey]] (''[[The Romantic Englishwoman]]''), [[Volker Schlöndorff]] (''[[The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (film)|The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum]]'', ''[[The Tin Drum (film)|The Tin Drum]]'') and [[Akira Kurosawa]] (''[[Dersu Uzala (1975 film)|Dersu Uzala]]''). New World also released ''[[Fantastic Planet]]'' (1974).

In a 10-year period, New World Pictures won more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film than all other studios combined.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

=== 20th Century Fox ===
Corman had a four-picture deal with [[20th Century Fox]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Rastar, Columbia Get Rights to Colette Bio|author=Murphy, Mary|work=Los Angeles Times|date=23 Sep 1974|page=e11}}</ref> making ''[[Capone (1975 film)|Capone]]'' (1975), ''[[Fighting Mad (1976 film)|Fighting Mad]]'' (1976) (directed by Demme), ''[[Moving Violation (film)|Moving Violation]]'' (1976) and ''[[Thunder and Lightning (1977 film)|Thunder and Lightning]]'' (1977). According to ''Filmink'', "most of his Fox movies may as well have been made for Corman's own company, as I'm sure he himself realised."<ref name="eight">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|title=Top Ten Corman – Part Eight, Corman's Studios|first=Stephen|last= Vagg|date=21 May 2024|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/top-ten-corman-part-eight-cormans-studios/}}</ref>

=== Peak of New World ===
''[[Death Race 2000]]'' (1975), written by [[Robert Thom (writer)|Robert Thom]] and directed by [[Paul Bartel]], was a big hit, earning $4 million.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|120227731}}|author=B. D.|date=December 28, 1975|title=King of schlock|work=The New York Times}}</ref> It helped inspire a series of car chase movies: ''[[Cannonball (film)|Cannonball]]'' (1976), directed by Bartel; ''[[Eat My Dust!]]'' (1976), directed by Griffith starring [[Ron Howard]], which led to a follow-up, ''[[Grand Theft Auto (film)|Grand Theft Auto]]'' (1978), Howard's directorial debut. Other films from the same period included ''[[The Great Texas Dynamite Chase]]'' (1976), ''[[Deathsport]]'' (1978), and ''[[Smokey Bites the Dust]]'' (1981).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2019/07/29/three-movies-in-one-smokey-bites-the-dust-1981-grand-theft-auto-1977-eat-my-dust-1976/|title=Three movies in one! Smokey Bites the Dust (1981) Grand Theft Auto (1977) Eat My Dust (1976)|date=July 29, 2019 |publisher=bandsaboutmovies.com|accessdate=13 May 2024|archive-date=June 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606001648/https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2019/07/29/three-movies-in-one-smokey-bites-the-dust-1981-grand-theft-auto-1977-eat-my-dust-1976/|url-status=live}}</ref>

New World's trailers were cut by [[Joe Dante]] and Alan Arkush. Corman gave them the chance to direct together, with ''[[Hollywood Boulevard (1976 film)|Hollywood Boulevard]]'' (1976), which used outtakes from other New World films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nathanrabin.com/happy-place/2023/3/13/the-fractured-mirror-20-54-hollywood-boulevard-1976|title=Joe Dante and Allan Arkush's 1976 Show Business Satire Hollywood Boulevard is a Hoot and a Half!|date=September 13, 2022 |publisher=NathanRabin.com|access-date=May 12, 2024|archive-date=January 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117042329/https://www.nathanrabin.com/happy-place/2023/3/13/the-fractured-mirror-20-54-hollywood-boulevard-1976|url-status=live}}</ref>  It was successful enough for Corman to give both men jobs directing features on their own: Dante with ''[[Piranha (1978 film)|Piranha]]'' (1978) and Arkush with ''[[Rock 'n' Roll High School]]'' (1979).{{fact|date=June 2024}}

''Piranha'' was written by [[John Sayles]], who had been discovered by Corman's story editor, [[Frances Doel]]. Sayles later wrote ''[[The Lady in Red (1979 film)|The Lady in Red]]'' (1979) for Corman, which was directed by [[Lewis Teague]] and featured the first score by [[James Horner]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womenwhorunshowh0000greg/page/145/mode/1up?|page=145|title= Women who run the show : how a brilliant and creative new generation of women stormed Hollywood|last=Gregory|first= Mollie |year=2002}}</ref>

Other popular films around this time included ''[[Tidal Wave (1973 film)|Tidal Wave]]'' (1975), a Japanese film to which Corman added some extra footage, and ''[[Jackson County Jail (film)|Jackson County Jail]]'' (1976). He also financed ''[[I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film)|I Never Promised You a Rose Garden]]''.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|146754853}}|author=K. T.|date=June 7, 1977|title=Horrors! it's the tycoon of 'Z' movies|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Less popular was [[Avalanche (1978 film)|''Avalanche'']] (1979), a disaster film directed by Corey Allen, which only grossed $87,000 on a budget of $6.5 million.<ref>Christopher T Koetting, ''Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures'', Hemlock Books. 2009 p 143</ref>

For Universal, he made ''[[Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider]]'' (1979), directed by Carver. He produced Bogdanovich's ''[[Saint Jack (film)|Saint Jack]]'' (1979).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themoviegourmet.com/?page_id=35362|title=Saint Jack:Gazzara, Bogdanovich and Corman take on the Vietnam War|date=September 2, 2023 |publisher=Movie Gourmet|access-date=May 12, 2024|archive-date=October 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005043743/https://www.themoviegourmet.com/?page_id=35362|url-status=live}}</ref>

Corman was criticized when he insisted on the addition of footage featuring a rape for ''[[Humanoids from the Deep]]'' (1980).<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|162791881}}|author=Epstein, A.|date=May 8, 1980|title='Humanoids' Haywire, Women Say|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Similarly, in ''[[Galaxy of Terror]]'', as noted on ''Schlock and Awe...some'', "Corman promised the investors that the film would feature a Taaffe O'Connell sex-scene and a gruesome death-scene as-well. To save time, Corman put the two together. The actress agreed to a nude scene, but NOT a rape scene. Corman isn't the kind of man who takes no for an answer, and after some contract renegotiation, O'Connell agreed to being raped to death by a giant worm-monster. ''Money''... it does amazing things."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schlockandawesomeblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/11/galaxy-of-terror-1981/ |title=Galaxy Of Terror (1981) |website=Schlock and Awe...some |date=January 11, 2021 |access-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529012845/https://schlockandawesomeblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/11/galaxy-of-terror-1981/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The success of ''Star Wars'' inspired New World's most expensive film yet, ''[[Battle Beyond the Stars]]'' (1981).<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|158712364}}|author=Kilday, G.|date=November 1, 1978|title=FILM CLIPS|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> This film required extensive special effects, prompting Corman to buy a movie studio in Main Street Venice for $1.5 million.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|162892380}}|author= Lee, G.|date=August 29, 1980|title=Corman: Shoestrings and Canny Guesses|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Corman made a TV film for CBS, ''[[The Georgia Peaches]]'' (1980).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&dq=THE+georgia+peaches%3A+dirk+benedict&pg=PA164 Terrace, Vincent. ''Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, Volume 2''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513004202/https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&dq=THE+georgia+peaches%3A+dirk+benedict&pg=PA164#v=onepage&q=THE%20georgia%20peaches%3A%20dirk%20benedict&f=false |date=May 13, 2024}} p.164</ref>

''Battle Beyond the Stars'' was so successful Corman had its footage and music score reused in other films such as ''[[Galaxy of Terror]]'' (1981) and ''[[Forbidden World]]'' (1982).<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Villard|first=Bob|date=1981|title= Forbidden World|url=https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2012%20No%202-3%20%281981%29/page/n13/mode/1up?view=theater|magazine=[[Cinefantastique]]|page=14|access-date=2023-08-08}}</ref>

Corman picked up a film called ''[[The Personals (1982 film)|The Personals]]'' (1983) that enjoyed success.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|153410813}}|author=Champlin, C.|date=March 5, 1983|title=Critic at Large|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

=== Millennium Films ===
Corman sold New World Pictures in January 1983 to a consortium of three lawyers for $16.9 million.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|153338673}}|author=Yoshihara, N.|date=January 17, 1983|title=New world pictures sold to 3 lawyers|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Under the terms of the contract, he agreed to stay on as a consultant for two years and to provide New World with at least five films they could release. New World agreed to distribute all of Corman's films until March 1984. He set up a new production company, Millennium – the title of which was taken from the name of a 1981 retrospective of Corman's work at the [[National Film Theatre]] in London. He announced plans to make films budgeted between $2–5 million using cash from his sale of New World to finance personally. He announced an intention to make fewer commercial films, movies more like ''[[I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film)|I Never Promised You a Rose Garden]]'' and ''Cries and Whispers''.<ref name="clips"/>

Millennium's films included ''[[Space Raiders (film)|Space Raiders]]'' (1983), a science fiction epic using footage and music from ''Battle Beyond the Stars''; ''[[Love Letters (1984 film)|Love Letters]]'' (1983), a serious drama from [[Amy Holden Jones]]; ''[[Screwballs]]'' (1984), a sex comedy in the vein of ''[[Porky's]]''; ''[[Suburbia (1984 film)|Suburbia]]'' (1984), directed by [[Penelope Spheeris]], which he acquired, ''[[Deathstalker (1983 film)|Deathstalker]]''; and ''Kain of Dark Planet'' (which became ''[[The Warrior and the Sorceress]]''). ''Deathstalker'' was made through Corman's old company, Palo Alto Productions; it was the first in a series of sword and scorcery films he did in Argentina.<ref name="clips">{{cite news|title=Film Clips: Corman Names His New Baby|last=Caulfield|first=Deborah|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 13, 1983|page=g1}}</ref> (Corman would ultimately made nine co productions in Argentina with the local company Aries.<ref>Falicov, Tamara L. "U.S.-Argentine Co-productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, "Schlockbuster" Movies, and the International Market." Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, vol. 34 no. 1, 2004, p. 31-38. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.2004.0015.</ref>