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Arnon Milchan

Arnon Milchan

Arnon Milchan is widely renowned as one of the most prolific and successful independent film producers of the past 25 years, with over 70 feature films to his credit. Born in Israel, Milchan was educated at the University of Geneva. His first business venture was transforming his father's modest business into one of his country's largest agro-chemical companies. This early achievement was a harbinger of Milchan's now-legendary reputation in the international marketplace as a keen businessman.

Soon, Milchan began to underwrite projects in areas that had always held a special interest for him - film, television and theater. Early projects include Roman Polanski's theater production of AMADEUS, DIZENGOFF 99, LA MENACE, THE MEDUSA TOUCH and the mini-series MASADA. By the end of the 1980s, Milchan had produced such films as Martin Scorsese's THE KING OF COMEDY, Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA and Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL.

After the huge success of PRETTY WOMAN and THE WAR OF THE ROSES, Milchan founded New Regency Productions and went on to produce a string of successful films, including J.F.K, SOMMERSBY, A TIME TO KILL, FREE WILLY, THE CLIENT, TIN CUP, UNDER SIEGE, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, THE NEGOTIATOR, CITY OF ANGELS, ENTRAPMENT, FIGHT CLUB, DON'T SAY A WORD and DAREDEVIL.

Upcoming projects include: FIRST DAUGHTER, a romantic comedy directed by Forest Whitaker about the First Daughter who goes to college and falls into a fairy tale romance with a dashing graduate student - but her prince turns out to have a secret agenda, starring Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas and Michael Keaton; and STAY, a reality-bending thriller directed by Marc Forster about a psychologist whose suicidal client makes bizarre predictions, forcing the psychologist to race against time to save everything he loves before it disappears, starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.

Also upcoming is THE UNTITLED ONION MOVIE, a series of sketches that encompasses the sharp uncensored comic tone of The Onion (the former underground college paper that has grown to be America's Finest News Source) and sheds light on the various hypocrisies of the world today, directed by Mike Maguire and Tom Kuntz; MR. AND MRS. SMITH, an action-thriller about a bored married couple who discover that they are enemy assassins hired to kill each other, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, directed by Doug Liman; BEE SEASON, a drama about an 11-year-old girl from a gifted but dysfunctional family who demonstrates a remarkable, almost mystical gift for spelling. When she wins her school and district spelling bees and qualifies for the nationals, she becomes, for the first time in her life, the center of attention and captures the approval and interest of her driven, intellectual father, starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche, and is directed by Dave Siegel and Scott McGehee; and ELEKTRA, the adaptation of the famed comic book, starring Jennifer Garner, directed by Rob Bowman.

Along the way, Milchan brought on board two powerful investors and partners who share his vision: Australian businessman Kerry Packer's Nine Network and Twentieth Century Fox. Fox distributes Regency movies in all media worldwide (excluding an output arrangement Regency has in Germany), U.S. pay television, and international pay and free television.

Milchan also successfully diversified his company's activities within the sphere of entertainment, most specifically in the realm of television through Regency Television (Malcolm in the Middle, The Bernie Mac Show and the upcoming Wonderfalls) and sports through a strategic alliance with PUMA, the worldwide athletic apparel and shoe conglomerate based in Germany. In addition, Regency has worldwide television rights to Women's Tennis Association events from 1999 through 2007, and has assisted in placing the European broadcast rights to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament from 2001 through 2004.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Arnon Milchan Facts

OccupationProducer
BirthdayDecember 6, 1944 (79)
SignSagittarius
BirthplaceIsrael

Selected Filmography

Carpool
Sommersby
Stay
Big Momma's House 2
Under Siege
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Big Momma's House
Bee Season
Copycat
Bogus
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