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RatPac Entertainment

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RatPac Entertainment, LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryMotion pictures
Television
PredecessorRat Entertainment
Dune Entertainment
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
FoundersBrett Ratner
James Packer
SuccessorAccess Entertainment
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Brett Ratner (CEO)
OwnerBrett Ratner
Access Entertainment
DivisionsRatPac Television
RatPac Documentary Films
Websiteratpacentertainment.com

RatPac Entertainment, LLC is an American media and entertainment company that finances and produces motion pictures, television, documentaries, live theater, and podcasts. The company is owned by Brett Ratner and James Packer.[1]

History

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Dune Entertainment was a company founded by Steven Mnuchin in 2004.

Mnuchin founded Dune Entertainment as a side business. It financed a number of large-budget films, mostly for 20th Century Fox, including the X-Men film franchise and Avatar.[2][3][4] In 2012, after Dune's deal with 20th Century Fox ended, Mnuchin worked with the filmmaker Brett Ratner and the Australian businessman James Packer to merge his Dune Entertainment company with Ratner and Packer's newly founded RatPac Entertainment joint venture which would be formed into RatPac-Dune Entertainment in 2013; the following year.

Between 2013 and 2018, RatPac-Dune financed many films for Warner Bros., including American Sniper and Mad Max: Fury Road. Mnuchin was co-chairman of the trio's movie company, Relativity Media, but left seven months before it went bankrupt.[5]

In September 2013, RatPac partnered with Dune Entertainment on a multi-year motion picture co-financing arrangement with Warner Bros., financing over $1 billion for 75 of the studio's films[6][7]

In December 2013, RatPac signed a deal starting as of January 1, 2014 to finance films as part of a production deal between Plan B Entertainment and New Regency.[8]

RatPac Entertainment has co-financed 81 theatrically released motion pictures exceeding $17 billion in worldwide box office receipts. RatPac's co-financed films have been nominated for 59 Academy Awards, 25 Golden Globes and 43 BAFTAs and have won 25 Academy Awards, 8 Golden Globes and 24 BAFTAs.

In late 2017, Access Entertainment bought Packer's controlling stake in the company. In 2019, Georgetown, directed by Christoph Waltz, was released by Paramount Pictures.[9]

In 2021, Reddit r/wallstreetbets founder Jaime Rogozinski sold the rights to his life story to the company following the short squeeze of GameStop's stocks.[10] The documentary "The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution" directed by Ondi Timoner debuted on Netflix on January 1, 2024.[11]

Dune Entertainment partnership

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Dune Entertainment was led by Steven Mnuchin and had been co-financing Fox films since 2006.[12][13][14][15] On March 17, 2006, Viacom agreed to sell a controlling interest in the DreamWorks Pictures live-action film library to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II.[16] The sale was completed on May 8, 2006.[17]

Dune Entertainment films

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Produced with 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic and Fox 2000 Pictures as Dune Entertainment, Dune Entertainment LLC or Dune Entertainment III LLC.

RatPac-Dune Entertainment partnership

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RatPac-Dune Entertainment, LLC was formed in September 2013 by RatPac and Dune with a multi-year 75-picture co-financing arrangement with Warner Bros. Pictures.[18][19] On November 26, 2013, RatPac-Dune finalized a $300 million credit facility with a group of banks, led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, that has an option to be extended to $400 million.[20] The company is the result of a 2013 joint venture between RatPac Entertainment and Dune Entertainment, following a collapse in negotiations between Dune and 20th Century Fox – which led the company to close a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures instead, replacing Legendary Pictures as Warner Bros.'s key co-financing partner.[12][15][21]

In November 2018, RatPac-Dune's minority ownership stake in a library of 76 Warner Bros. films was put for sale, with investors in the fund backing the library to cash out.[22] Vine Alternative Investments made a high bid for the library, but in January 2019, Warner Bros. exercised its rights to match the bid for the library, and essentially acquired RatPac-Dune's stakes. The cost was estimated at nearly $300 million.[23] The 75-picture deal passively covered all movies including those from another production financing deal with Village Roadshow Pictures, with films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Legendary Pictures (which include the first 2 MonsterVerse films; Godzilla & Kong: Skull Island as well as 300: Rise of an Empire & Interstellar), all Alcon Entertainment films between 2014 and 2017 & Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them all being exceptions.[20]

RatPac-Dune Entertainment films

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Financed with Warner Bros. Pictures
Under Access Entertainment
Financed with Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox
Financed with Universal Pictures
Financed with Sony Pictures
Financed with RKO Pictures

RatPac Documentary Films

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RatPac Television

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References

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  1. ^ Pomerantz, Dorothy. "James Packer's Next Big Gamble Is On Hollywood". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  2. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (November 30, 2016). "Steven Mnuchin, Expected Treasury Pick, Is an Outsider to Public Policy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  3. ^ Rainey, James (August 5, 2015). "Relativity Co-Chairman Steven Mnuchin Quietly Exited Just Before Big Losses". Variety. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  4. ^ Izadi, Elahe (November 30, 2016). "Trump's Treasury pick Steven Mnuchin is behind some of Hollywood's biggest movies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  5. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (May 10, 2016). "Unlikely Fund-Raiser for Trump and Party (hardcopy)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (2013-09-30). "Warner Bros. Closes Financing Deal With Dune, Brett Ratner, James Packer". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  7. ^ "James Packer sells his stake in Hollywood film company RatPac". the Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 2017-04-19. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr.; Busch, Anita (2013-12-11). "Brad Pitt's Plan B Move Unveiled: Moving To Deal With New Regency And RatPac Partners James Packer And Brett Ratner". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  9. ^ "GEORGETOWN Trailer: Social Climber Christoph Waltz is More Than He Appears in Paramount Pictures' Drama Movie | FilmBook". 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  10. ^ Schwartzel, Erich; Otani, Akane (February 4, 2021). "Reddit's WallStreetBets Founder Sells Life Story to Movie Producer RatPac Entertainment". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Wise, Damon (2023-12-22). "Ondi Timoner Talks About Her Digital Future Doc 'The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution' Ahead Of Netflix Debut; Watch Trailer Here". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  12. ^ a b Lewis, Hilary (October 2, 2014). "Dune Capital's Steven Mnuchin Takes Stake in Relativity, Becomes Co-Chairman". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  13. ^ McNary, Dave (September 30, 2013). "Warner Bros. Closes Financing Deal With Dune, Brett Ratner, James Packer". Variety. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  14. ^ McNary, Dave (October 27, 2014). "Brett Ratner's RatPac Closes on $150 Million Credit Line for Warner Bros. Titles". Variety. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  15. ^ a b Shaw, Lucas (November 26, 2013). "RatPac-Dune Secures $300M in Credit to Fund Warner Bros. Films". TheWrap. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  16. ^ "Viacom to Sell DreamWorks Film Library". AP. March 18, 2006 – via The New York Times.
  17. ^ Viacom to Sell DreamWorks Film Library. Associated Press. March 18, 2006. Retrieved on July 20, 2009.
  18. ^ Hipes, Patrick (April 18, 2017). "Len Blavatnik's Access Acquires RatPac Entertainment Stake". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  19. ^ Miller, Daniel (September 30, 2013). "Warner Bros. strikes financing deal with Dune, Ratner". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c d Block, Alex Ben (November 26, 2013). "Brett Ratner's RatPac-Dune Closes $300 Million Credit Facility to Fund Warner Bros. Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  21. ^ Siegel, Tatiana; Belloni, Matthew (July 9, 2013). "Warner Bros. Closing Massive Financing Deal With Dune to Replace Legendary (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  22. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 15, 2018). "RatPac Dune's Warner Bros Film Library Sale: Who Wants Piece Of 'Wonder Woman,' 'American Sniper' & 'Gravity'?". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 2, 2019). "Warner Bros Exercises Matching Rights To Win RatPac Dune Library: $290M-$300M". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Warner Bros., Brett Ratner Sever Ties Amid Harassment Claims". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  25. ^ Gerard, Jeremy (May 13, 2016). "HBO's Docu 'Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher And Debbie Reynolds' – Cannes Video". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
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