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Mario Kassar
Mario F. Kassar (Arabic: ماريو قصار; born October 10, 1951) is a Lebanese and American film producer and industry executive. He founded the now-defunct Carolco Pictures with Andrew G. Vajna where he produced the first three films of the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, The Doors, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Rambling Rose, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, Chaplin, Showgirls, and Stargate, among other films.
Kassar was born on October 10, 1951, in Beirut, Lebanon. Like him, his father was also an independent movie producer. Kassar is of Lebanese and Italian descent.
By age 15, Kassar had purchased several Italian and French films for distribution in the Far East.
Kassar met Andrew G. Vajna at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. A year later, Kassar and Vajna founded Carolco Pictures. "Carolco" was a name they had taken from a long-defunct company based in Panama. "We just bought the name," Kassar later told Entertainment Weekly. "It means nothing."
The first film Kassar and Vajna ventured together was The Sicilian Cross, a 1976 Italian film that starred Roger Moore. They bought the rights to the film for $130,000. Kassar flew to Asia and sold it for $220,000. By the early 1980s, Vajna and Kassar had bought a small office in Melrose Avenue. Their desks faced each other in the office and Vajna's wife and Kassar's girlfriend were their secretaries. Kassar and Vajna served as executive producers on The Changeling (1980), The Amateur (1981), and Escape to Victory (1981). The latter film marked the first time for both Kassar and Vajna to have worked with Sylvester Stallone.
In 1980, Kassar and Vajna paid Warner Bros. approximately $383,000 for the option rights of David Morrell's 1972 novel, First Blood. Even though they overpaid him, Kassar and Vajna cast Stallone as John Rambo because they knew the actor's star status could be used to secure the requisite investment. The result, First Blood, was a major hit in October 1982, and eventually made $125 million on its $14 million investment, making Carolco a major Hollywood production company. According to the Los Angeles Times, a Lebanese group associated with Kassar's family was instrumental in financing the film.
From the mid to late 1980s, Kassar executive produced two Rambo sequels: Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988), both of them also released by Carolco. Kassar also executive produced Angel Heart (1987) and Johnny Handsome (1989), as well as having produced Red Heat (1988).
"They knew the international distribution business so well," remembers Alan Parker, who directed Angel Heart for Carolco. "They figured out that 60 percent of the revenue of a film comes from outside the U.S. market. Andy and Mario personally knew all the worldwide local independent distributors."
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Mario Kassar
Mario F. Kassar (Arabic: ماريو قصار; born October 10, 1951) is a Lebanese and American film producer and industry executive. He founded the now-defunct Carolco Pictures with Andrew G. Vajna where he produced the first three films of the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, The Doors, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Rambling Rose, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, Chaplin, Showgirls, and Stargate, among other films.
Kassar was born on October 10, 1951, in Beirut, Lebanon. Like him, his father was also an independent movie producer. Kassar is of Lebanese and Italian descent.
By age 15, Kassar had purchased several Italian and French films for distribution in the Far East.
Kassar met Andrew G. Vajna at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. A year later, Kassar and Vajna founded Carolco Pictures. "Carolco" was a name they had taken from a long-defunct company based in Panama. "We just bought the name," Kassar later told Entertainment Weekly. "It means nothing."
The first film Kassar and Vajna ventured together was The Sicilian Cross, a 1976 Italian film that starred Roger Moore. They bought the rights to the film for $130,000. Kassar flew to Asia and sold it for $220,000. By the early 1980s, Vajna and Kassar had bought a small office in Melrose Avenue. Their desks faced each other in the office and Vajna's wife and Kassar's girlfriend were their secretaries. Kassar and Vajna served as executive producers on The Changeling (1980), The Amateur (1981), and Escape to Victory (1981). The latter film marked the first time for both Kassar and Vajna to have worked with Sylvester Stallone.
In 1980, Kassar and Vajna paid Warner Bros. approximately $383,000 for the option rights of David Morrell's 1972 novel, First Blood. Even though they overpaid him, Kassar and Vajna cast Stallone as John Rambo because they knew the actor's star status could be used to secure the requisite investment. The result, First Blood, was a major hit in October 1982, and eventually made $125 million on its $14 million investment, making Carolco a major Hollywood production company. According to the Los Angeles Times, a Lebanese group associated with Kassar's family was instrumental in financing the film.
From the mid to late 1980s, Kassar executive produced two Rambo sequels: Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988), both of them also released by Carolco. Kassar also executive produced Angel Heart (1987) and Johnny Handsome (1989), as well as having produced Red Heat (1988).
"They knew the international distribution business so well," remembers Alan Parker, who directed Angel Heart for Carolco. "They figured out that 60 percent of the revenue of a film comes from outside the U.S. market. Andy and Mario personally knew all the worldwide local independent distributors."