On Wednesday of this week, cult film fanatics lost their minds when the prospect of The Cannon Group returning to movie-making appeared to be on the horizon. The recent release of Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films has sparked a renewed interest in the company—headed by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus—that infamously cranked out some of the wildest (and cheapest) movies of the ’80s. The appearance of a Facebook and Twitter account for a filmmaking company called Cannon Films Ltd. seemed to imply a rebirth of the B-movie factory, but that’s really not the case.
Cannon Films Ltd. has put out a press release stating, “The company is in no way a resurrection of Mr. Golan’s previous company, The Cannon Group Inc., or any other institution as it has been incorrectly reported.” Cannon Films Ltd. was established in 2014 by Richard Albiston “to continue filmmaking in the tradition set forth by Israeli mogul Menahem Golan,” but the films announced are “new, fresh, and original projects that have in some instances been misconstrued as sequels to properties produced by The Cannon Group Inc.”
This confusion more than likely came to a head with the announcement of American Ninja Apprentice, which according to this press release is in no way related to the Michael Dudikoff series of action movies released in the late ’80s. However, Cannon Films Ltd. fully admits that they are attempting to appeal to (i.e., cash in) on the films that Golan and Globus cranked out in the ‘80s. And if anyone would appreciate that, it would be Golan and Globus.