The Geffen Film Company

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The Geffen Company
The Geffen Film Company, Inc.
Geffen Pictures
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFilm distributor and production company
Founded
  • 1982; 44 years ago (1982)[1]
FounderDavid Geffen
Defunct1998; 28 years ago (1998)
FateFolded into Warner Bros. aside from a one-time revival in 2024
SuccessorsLibrary:
Warner Bros.
(through The Geffen Company)
Paramount Pictures
(through Paramount Players and The Geffen Company)
(Beavis and Butt-Head Do America only)
Disney–ABC Domestic Television
(Tales from the Crypt syndication rights only)
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, United States
Key people
David Geffen
Eric Eisner
ParentWarner Bros.
DivisionsGeffen Records (1980–1999)
Geffen Television
Logo used from 1982 to 1998, and again for its 2024 revival

The Geffen Film Company (also known as The Geffen Company, The Geffen Film Company, Inc., and later Geffen Pictures) is an American film distributor and production company founded by David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records, and future co-founder of DreamWorks. The spherical Geffen Pictures logo, based on the logo of its record-label counterpart, was created by Saul Bass.[citation needed] Their most famous films are Risky Business (1983), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Beetlejuice (1988) and its 2024 sequel, and Interview with the Vampire (1994).

History

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Geffen founded the company in 1982,[1] having recruited Eric Eisner as president,[2] and distributed its films through Warner Bros.[3] Geffen was operated as a division of Warner Bros. As a result, following the original company's shutdown in 1998, Warner Bros. through The Geffen Company now owns the original company's library, with the exception of the 1996 Mike Judge comedy Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, which is owned by Paramount Pictures through Paramount Players and The Geffen Company.[4]

In 1990, The Geffen Film Company was renamed and reorganized as Geffen Pictures.

In 1993, Geffen and MTV Productions struck a two-picture deal.[5]

The Geffen Pictures brand continued to be used on films by David Geffen until 1998, after the April release of The Butcher Boy, when it was folded into Warner Bros. film divisions. In 2024, the logo made a one-time revival as a legacy credit for the release of the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as a homage to the original film.[6]

Filmography

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Feature films

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1980s

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Release date Title Director Notes Names Budget Gross (worldwide)
February 5, 1982 Personal Best Robert Towne The Geffen Film Company $15 million $5.6 million
August 5, 1983 Risky Business Paul Brickman $6.2 million $63.5 million
March 15, 1985 Lost in America Albert Brooks $4 million $10.1 million
September 13, 1985 After Hours Martin Scorsese co-production with Double Play Productions $4.5 million $10.6 million
December 19, 1986 Little Shop of Horrors Frank Oz $25 million $39 million
March 30, 1988 Beetlejuice Tim Burton $15 million $74.2 million

1990s

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Release date Title Director Notes Names Budget Gross (worldwide)
February 2, 1990 Men Don't Leave Paul Brickman The Geffen Film Company $7 million $6 million
March 22, 1991 Defending Your Life Albert Brooks Geffen Pictures N/A $16.4 million
December 13, 1991 The Last Boy Scout Tony Scott co-production with Silver Pictures $43 million $114.5 million
October 1, 1993 M. Butterfly David Cronenberg $17–18 million $1.4 million
November 11, 1994 Interview with the Vampire Neil Jordan $60 million $223.7 million
July 26, 1996 Joe's Apartment John Payson co-production with MTV Productions $13 million $4.6 million
October 11, 1996 Michael Collins Neil Jordan $25 million $27.5 million
December 20, 1996 Beavis and Butt-Head Do America Mike Judge co-production with Paramount Pictures and MTV Productions $12 million $63.1 million
July 13, 1997 The Butcher Boy Neil Jordan N/A $1.96 million

2020s

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Release date Title Director Notes Names Budget Gross (worldwide)
September 6, 2024 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Tim Burton co-production with Plan B Entertainment and Tim Burton Productions The Geffen Company $100 million $451.1 million

Television series

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Years Title Networks Notes Names Seasons Episodes
1989–1996 Tales from the Crypt HBO Co-production with Tales from the Crypt Holdings Uncredited 7 93
1989–1991 Beetlejuice ABC (seasons 1–3)
Fox Kids (season 4) 		Co-production with Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Tim Burton, Inc. and Nelvana The Geffen Film Company (seasons 1–2)
Geffen Pictures (seasons 3–4) 		4 94

Unrealized projects

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In 1994, Geffen began development on a feature film based on the children's television series Barney & Friends for a planned release in 1995.[7][8] However, disagreements with The Lyons Group, the creator of the series, over marketing led to them selling the rights to PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1996.[9] The film was eventually released by them as Barney's Great Adventure on April 3, 1998.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "David Geffen Fast Facts". CNN. March 8, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  2. ^ Shewey, Don (July 21, 1985). "On the Go With David Geffen". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. ^ Cieply, Michael (January 10, 1989). "Sean Daniel Quits Universal to Head Geffen's Film Unit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  4. ^ Dilworth, John R. (January 1997). "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  5. ^ Marx, Andy (July 7, 1993). "Geffen and MTV pair on 'Apartment'". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. ^ Broken Saw (November 20, 2024). Warner Bros. Pictures/The Geffen Company (2024) #2. Retrieved October 27, 2025 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Archerd, Army (May 23, 1994). "Geffen gets Barney pic". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  8. ^ Burke, David (March 25, 1994). "Anti-Black statements don't make 'Barney' blue: Decatur native rejects KKK venom". Herald and Review. Retrieved September 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Archerd, Army (July 25, 1996). "Barney now a Polygramosaurus". Variety. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Fleming, Michael (April 23, 1997). "Polygram grabs 'Barney'". Variety. Retrieved July 4, 2018.


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