Drafthouse Films Acquires US Rights to 'Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films'

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's distribution arm Drafthouse Films announced Thursday, Dec. 1 that it had acquired the U.S. rights to the upcoming documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films. 

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The film, which will be helmed by Mark Hartley (Machete Maidens Unleashed, Not Quite Hollywood), follows Israeli-born cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who launched Cannon Films, an indie film studio in 1979 that went on to make over 120 exploitation films, between 1979 and 1989, dubbing itself the "seventh Hollywood major." 

Cannon Films brought Runaway Train (which received an Oscar nomination in 1986), Missing in Action, Death Wish, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Masters of the Universe and American Ninja to the big screen. 

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“Cannon Films was an enterprise that in many ways defined exploitation cinema of the 1980s,” said Alamo Drafthouse Founder/CEO and Fantastic Fest Founder Tim League, “We are thrilled to share their untold legacy with movie fans around the country.”

A theatrical release is planned for late 2012, which will coincide with a traveling roadshow retrospective of Cannon's most known works.