Elie Samaha


Elie Samaha is a Lebanese-American film producer. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Franchise Pictures.
Samaha built his reputation in Hollywood first as the owner of Celebrity Cleaners and then with his nightclub on Sunset Strip, the Roxbury. Parlaying the Hollywood friendships he formed through his clubs, Samaha was given a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures in 1998.
He has produced over 83 works since 1995, primarily films along with some video games. He produced The Boondock Saints, Battlefield Earth, Driven, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Heist, The Pledge, Spartan, Back on the Strip, among many others.

Career

Samaha was a co-owner/founder of the dry cleaner chain Celebrity Cleaners and co-owner of the Roxbury nightclub in Los Angeles.
Between 1997 and 2004, Samaha produced films under the Franchise Pictures studio title, which included films such as The Boondock Saints, Mercy, Battlefield Earth, The Whole Nine Yards, Get Carter, Angel Eyes and Driven.
Samaha specialized in rescuing stars' pet projects. Franchise Pictures sought out stars whose projects were stalled at the major studios, bringing them aboard at reduced salaries. Samaha's approach was to produce star vehicles more cheaply than the larger studios. His unorthodox deals raised eyebrows and the entertainment industry magazine Variety commented that they were "often so complex and variable as to leave outsiders scratching their heads". As Samaha put it during an interview about Battlefield Earth, "I said, 'If John wants to make this movie, what does he want to get paid?'... Because I do not pay anybody what they make. That is not my business plan."
He is currently the President of Take 3 Productions, which produced Breaking Brooklyn, a dance film starring Louis Gossett Jr., Nathan Kress and Colin Critchley.
In 2000, Samaha was sued by Intertainment Pictures, his business partners on a number of films. Intertainment won a $70 million judgment against Samaha for fraudulently overcharging them for production costs on the films.
In 2021, he co-founded and served as the chairman of Luminosity Entertainment, to distribute, produce, and finance films in the U.S., as well as handle international sales, in which headquartered in West Hollywood.

Controversy

In December 2000, the German-based Intertainment AG filed a lawsuit alleging that Franchise Pictures had fraudulently inflated budgets in films including Battlefield Earth, which Intertainment had helped to finance. Intertainment had agreed to pay 47% of the production costs of several films in exchange for European distribution rights, but ended up paying for between 60 and 90% of the costs instead. The company alleged that Franchise had defrauded it to the tune of over $75 million by systematically submitting "grossly fraudulent and inflated budgets".
Intertainment won the case and was awarded $121.7 million in damages. Samaha was declared by the court to be personally liable for $77 million in damages.

Film

YearFilmCreditNotes
1995The Immortals
1996Hollow PointExecutive producer
1996Danger Zone
1996The Last Days of Frankie the Fly
1996Natural EnemyDirect-to-video
1997American PerfektExecutive producer
1997The MakerExecutive producer
1997The PeacekeeperExecutive producer
1997Top of the World
1997Lesser ProphetsExecutive producer
1998Monument Ave.
199820 DatesExecutive producer
1998ShadrachExecutive producer
1998Scar City
1998This Is My FatherExecutive producer
1998Break Up
1998No Code of Conduct
1998Sweepers
1998Free MoneyExecutive producer
1998A Murder of Crows
1999TycusExecutive producerDirect-to-video
1999The Confession
1999Entropy
1999Restraining OrderExecutive producer
1999The Boondock Saints
1999Woman WantedExecutive producer
1999Storm CatcherExecutive producerUncredited
1999If... Dog... Rabbit...
1999The Third Miracle
1999The Big Kahuna
1999The White River Kid
2000Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at HerExecutive producer
2000Animal Factory
2000Jill RipsExecutive producerUncredited
2000Mercy
2000The Whole Nine YardsExecutive producer
2000Battlefield Earth
2000Auggie RoseExecutive producer
2000The Art of WarExecutive producer
2000Get Carter
2000Desperate But Not SeriousExecutive producer
2001The Pledge
2001The Caveman's Valentine
2001Green Dragon
20013000 Miles to Graceland
2001Driven
2001Angel Eyes
2001Plan BExecutive producer
2001Viva Las NowhereExecutive producer
2001Heist
2002Zig Zag
2002FeardotComExecutive producer
2002Avenging Angelo
2002City by the Sea
2002Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
2002Half Past Dead
2003The Foreigner
2003The In-Laws
2003Alex & Emma
2004Spartan
2004Laws of AttractionExecutive producer
2004The Whole Ten Yards
2004Out of ReachDirect-to-video
2004Funky MonkeyExecutive producer
2005Into the Sun
2005A Sound of ThunderExecutive producer
2005Dead FishExecutive producer
2006Tristan & Isolde
2006Rescue DawnExecutive producer
2006Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
2007If I Had Known I Was a GeniusExecutive producer
2007Game of LifeExecutive producer
2007I Could Never Be Your WomanExecutive producer
2007Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot
2007The Flock
20077-10 SplitExecutive producer
2007The Anna Nicole Smith StoryExecutive producer
2008ImpulseExecutive producerDirect-to-video
2008Columbus DayExecutive producer
2009The Six Wives of Henry LefayExecutive producer
2016ExposedExecutive producer
2018Breaking Brooklyn
2022Prophets of ChangeExecutive producerDocumentary film
2023Back on the Strip
2024Love Me DeadExecutive producer
2025July 7: Who Killed the President of Haiti?Executive producer
TBAExecutive producerCompleted
TBAExecutive producerCompleted
TBA---

;As an actor
YearFilmRoleNotes
199820 DatesProducerVoice role

;As writer
YearFilm
1995The Immortals

;Music department
YearFilmRole
2002Ballistic: Ecks vs. SeverExecutive soundtrack producer

;Thanks
YearFilmRole
2003WonderlandThe producers and director wish to thank
2018Billionaire Boys ClubSpecial thanks