The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of productions in the entire field of audio-visual fiction and non-fiction. Company activity is based on the five pillars of film production/procurement of rights, TV production, film distribution, home entertainment and licence trading/TV exploitation. Constantin Film AG has released 36 of the 100 most successful German films of the last 20 years, including four of the Top 5: '' Manitou's Shoe'' (11.7 million viewers), ''

Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 ''(T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1'' is a 2004 German comedy film by Michael "Bully" Herbig. It is a spoof of the 1960s American television series '' Star Trek'' and parodies several science fiction films. As a spiritual successor to ''D ...

'' (9 million), ''

Fack ju Göhte ''Fack ju Göhte'' (intentional misspelling of "Fuck you, Goethe") is a 2013 German comedy film directed by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek and Karoline Herfurth, while Max von der Groeben and Jella Haase appear in supporting roles. ...

'' (7.3 million) and ''

Fack ju Göhte 2 '' Fack ju Göhte 2'' (intentional misspelling of "Fuck you, Goethe") is a 2015 German comedy film directed by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek, Karoline Herfurth and Jella Haase, while upcoming actors Max von der Groeben and Volker ...

'' (7.7 million). The ''Fack ju Göhte'' trilogy was concluded in 2017 with ''

Fack ju Göhte 3 '' Fack ju Göhte 3'' (intentional misspelling of "Fuck you, Goethe") is a 2017 German comedy directed by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek and Jella Haase, while upcoming actors Max von der Groeben and Gizem Emre appear as supporting ro ...

'' (6 million viewers) and is now the most successful German film series of all time. Internationally, Constantin Film is best known for the successful ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'' film franchise, which has earned worldwide to date and is also known as the highest-grossing film series based on a video game. Most recent successes include TV series ''

Shadowhunters ''Shadowhunters'', also known as ''Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments'', is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Ed Decter, based on the book series ''The Mortal Instruments'' written by Cassandra Clare. It premiered ...

'', which won four

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

in 2018, and the live action

. Constantin has also been involved in

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

's ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

'' film franchise. Other productions include bestseller adaption '' The Silence'' and ''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game ''Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of platforms, ...

''.

Early Constantin

''Constantin Filmverleih GmbH'' was founded in West Germany on 1 April 1950 by

Preben Philipsen Preben Philipsen (18 January 1910 – 21 September 2005) was a Danish film producer. He produced 41 films between 1949 and 1975, and co-founded Constantin Film with Waldfried Barthel ( de) in 1950. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Co ...

and Waldfried Barthel, who would later become the head of publicity for the company. It was originally the country's national distributor of films produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. Throughout the 1950s, Constantin distributed both popular and art-house films from several nations as well as medium-budgeted domestic films. Constantin's popularity grew through the late 1950s to the 1960s by not only distributing popular films but creating its own in-house talent roster of contract players (

Joachim Fuchsberger Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger (pronounced ; 11 March 1927 – 11 September 2014) was a German actor and television host, best known to a wide German-speaking audience as one of the recurring actors in various Edgar Wallace movies (often a Detecti ...

Heinz Drache Heinz Drache (; 9 February 1923 – 3 April 2002) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1953 and 2002. He was born in Essen, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany of lung cancer. Selected filmography * '' Once I ...

), directors and producers (

Wolf C. Hartwig Wolf C. Hartwig (8 September 1919, Düsseldorf, Germany – 18 December 2017, Paris, France) sometimes credited as Wolfgang C. Hartwig and Wolfgang Hartwig, was a Germans, German film producer working in exploitation film, exploitation genres. C ...

), as well as co-financing

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

films shot in Italy, such as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, the films of

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 ...

and others using their own stable of stars. Constantin also had great success with their

Jerry Cotton Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of pulp magazine-type crime novels. The novels have been written by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland over the course of several decades. Overview The novel ...

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

, though projected film series of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

Jules Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

and

Perry Rhodan ''Perry Rhodan'' is a West Germany, West German/Germany, German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billi ...

only had one entry. Constantin Filmverleih was renamed to ''Constantin Film GmbH'' on 21 September 1964, and on 1 July 1965, Bertelsmann Publishing became the majority shareholder of Constantin. They attempted to increase output without increasing investment that resulted in the demise of many of the studio's popular film series, investment in sex films, and a stronger emphasis on releasing films from other nations rather than shooting their own. Bertelsmann sold its shares in 1969. The "old" Constantin Film GmbH was eventually declared bankrupt in October 1977.

New Constantin

Founded in 1979 by Bernd Eichinger, with Bernd Schaefers, as ''Neue Constantin Film'' after acquiring the assets of the bankrupt "old" Constantin Film GmbH the previous year, Constantin Film developed into the first German film distributor with its own production company in just six years, with production activities extending to the international market. In 1986, the

Kirch Group KirchGruppe (KirchGroup) was a German media group founded by Leo Kirch (1926–2011) in the 1960s. By 2000, it controlled a 52.5 percent stake in what would become the country's biggest broadcaster. The group collapsed in 2002 largely due to the ...

(at the time Europe's biggest film and TV license traders) acquired a minority stake in Neue Constantin Film. Eichinger retained one of the company's leading executives and a major shareholder to his death in 2011. In the following years, Constantin Film fixed its position on the international movie market by establishing various production subsidiaries across Europe in 1996. At the end of the 1990s, Constantin Film acquired majority stakes in the film production companies Olga Film GmbH, Engram Pictures and MOOVIE GmbH. In September 1999, the company then went public on the German stock market as ''Constantin Film AG''. Deutsche Börse placed the Constantin Film share on the selection index Nemax 50 in March 2000. Constantin Film AG founded

Rat Pack Filmproduktion Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH is a German film production company owned by Constantin Film. History Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH was founded by Christian Becker with Anita Schneider, Jürgen Egger, Alexander Rümelin, Catarina Raacke and Constanti ...

GmbH with producer Christian Becker and his team in 2001. The Swiss Highlight Communications AG (a strategy and finance holding with the operative segments of film and sports and event marketing) acquired 23 percent of the capital stock of Constantin Film AG from Kirch Beteiligungs GmbH und Co. KG and from diversified holdings for the first time in 2002. In 2003, the board of Constantin Film AG embarked on a new strategic path for the company: the traditional business areas of production and distribution were expanded to include the three areas of license trading, home entertainment exploitation and increased TV service production (especially TV entertainment). Constantin Film AG also acquired 61 percent of the shares in KirchMedia Entertainment GmbH (now renamed Constantin Entertainment GmbH), one of the market leaders in German show and entertainment production. The stake was increased to 100 percent in 2005. At the end of 2009, the listing of Constantin Film AG expired; all the shares were transferred to Highlight Communications after a squeeze-out. As of 7 October 2009, Constantin Film is no longer listed at the Frankfurter Börse. Since January 2017 Bernhard Burgener is chairman of the supervisory board, with Martin Moszkowicz as chairman of the executive board. In this capacity, Moszkowicz is responsible for the company's film business, including worldwide production and distribution, world sales, marketing and publicity as well as corporate communication and legal affairs. Oliver Berben has joined the Constantin Film AG Managing Board on 1 January 2017. The newly created division “TV, Entertainment and Digital Media” concentrates the development and manufacture of all national and international productions of the company that are not intended for cinema exploitation. Oliver Berben founded the MOOVIE GmbH in 1996, which became a subsidiary of Constantin Film AG in 1999. In January 2019, Oliver Berben also assumed the position of Managing Director "Production" of Constantin Film Production GmbH. Oliver Berben will continue his work as a producer.

Production

The most successful license titles and internal or co-productions in Germany include (in terms of numbers of viewers) '' The Never Ending Story'' (approx. 5 million), ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...

'' (5.9 million), ''

The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-sel ...

'' (nearly 4 million), ''

Dances With Wolves ''Dances with Wolves'' is a 1990 American epic western film starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner in his feature directorial debut. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 novel ''Dances with Wolves'' by Michael Blake that tells the s ...

'' (nearly 6.8 million), ''

Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

'' (more than 2.8 million), ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released by ...

'' (more than 4 million), '' Maybe... Maybe Not'' (more than 6.6 million), ''

Werner – Beinhart! Werner – Beinhart! (English title: ''Werner and the Wizard of Booze'') is the first German comedy-comic-film adaption based upon the successful German comic Werner by "Brösel". Production Shooting took place in Kiel, Flensburg and Berlin ...

'' (more than 4.9 million), ' (more than 3.2 million), ' (more than 2.4 million), '' Asterix & Obelix vs. Caesar'' (nearly 3.6 million), ''Werner – Volles Rooäää!!!'' (nearly 2.8 million), '' American Pie'' (more than 6 million viewers, the biggest film of 2000), '' Downfall'' (more than 4.6 million viewers. Oscar-nominated), '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' (nearly 5.6 million), '' The Baader-Meinhof Complex'' (more than 2.4 million), '' Manitou's Shoe'' (the second-most successful German film ever with more than 11.7 million viewers), '' Dreamship Surprise – Period 1'' (9 million), '' Lissi and the Wild Emperor'' (more than 2.2 million), ''

Vicky the Viking ''Vicky the Viking'', known as ''Wickie und die starken Männer'' () in Germany and Austria and in Japan, is an animated television series which tells the adventures of Vicky, a young Viking boy who uses his wits to help his Viking fellows. It ...

'' (nearly 5 million), ''

Nowhere in Africa ''Nowhere in Africa'' (german: Nirgendwo in Afrika) is a 2001 German drama film that was written and directed by Caroline Link. The screenplay is based on the 1995 autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story o ...

'' (1.66 million viewers. Oscar winner for "Best Foreign Language Film" in 2003), '' The Wave'' (more than 2.5 Mio), ''Hui Buh'' (more than 2 million), '' The White Massai'' (more than 2.2. million), ' (1.8 million), ''Horst Schlämmer – Isch kandidiere!'' (1.35 million), ' (1.3 million), ''

Pope Joan Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The s ...

'' (2.3 million), the ''Wild Chicks'' series (3.2 million), '' Girls on Top'' (nearly 1.8 million), ' (2.4 million), '' Suck me Shakespeer'' (7.3 million) and the international self-production ''

'' (3.6 million viewers), which developed into a successful international franchise.

Controversy

In October 2021, the

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...

advised its members not to work for the company due it not being a signatory to the 2020 Minimum Basic Agreement. However, the company hit back stating that it “has paid, and the WGA Plan has accepted, all WGA fringe payments.”

Filmographies

List of content produced by Constantin Film

List of content produced by New Constantin Film

) (2004) * ''Fantastic Four'' (2005) * ''The Dark'' (2005) * '' Before the Fall'' (2005) * ''

Die wilden Hühner The Wild Chicks (''Die wilden Hühner'')
www.scholastic.com is a series of Children's literature, children's and youth ...

'' (2005) * ''Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' (german: Das Parfüm – Die Geschichte eines Mörders) (2006) * '' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' (2007) * '' Resident Evil: Extinction'' (2007) * ''Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe'' (2007) * '' The Baader-Meinhof Complex'' (german: Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) (2008) * '' The Wave'' (2008) *' (2009) * ''

Pandorum ''Pandorum'' is a 2009 German/British science fiction horror film, with elements of Lovecraftian horror and survival adventure. The film was directed by Christian Alvart and produced by Robert Kulzer, Jeremy Bolt and Paul W. S. Anderson, the l ...

'' (2009) * ''Die Wilden Hühner und das Leben'' (2009) * ''

'' (german: Die Päpstin) (2009) * '' Resident Evil: Afterlife'' (2010) * '' Time You Change'' (Biographical drama) (2010) * ''

Animals United ''Animals United'' is a 2010 3D German computer-animated adventure comedy film directed and produced by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe. It was released on October 7, 2010, in Germany. The film stars Ralf Schmitz and Thomas Fritsch as a meerka ...

'' (2010) * ' (2010) * '' We Are the Night'' (2010) * ''

Paranormal Activity 3 ''Paranormal Activity 3'' is a 2011 American found footage supernatural horror film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It is the third (chronologically, the first) installment of the ''Paranormal Activity'' series and serves as a p ...

'' (2011) * ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' (2011) *' (2011) * ''Werner – Eiskalt!'' (2011) *'' Resident Evil: Retribution'' (2012) * '' Famous Five'' (2012) * ''

Heiter bis Wolkig ''Heiter bis Wolkig'' (English title: ''Partly Sunny'') is a 2012 German comedy-drama film directed by Marco Petry and starring Max Riemelt, Elyas M'Barek, Jessica Schwarz and Anna Fischer. Plot Tim and his friend Can (Elyas M’Barek) go to ...

'' (''Fair to Cloudy'', 2012) * ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'' (2013) * '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'' (2013) * ''

3096 Days ''3096 Days'' (german: 3096 Tage) is a 2013 German drama film directed by Sherry Hormann. The film is based on the true story of Natascha Kampusch, a 10-year-old girl and her eight-year ordeal being kidnapped by Wolfgang Přiklopil. Northern Ir ...

'' (2013) * ''

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

'' (2014) * '' Love, Rosie'' (2014) * ''Schossgebete'' (2014) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

Look Who's Back ''Look Who's Back'' (german: Er ist wieder da, ; ) is a bestselling German satirical novel about Adolf Hitler by Timur Vermes, published in 2012 by . The novel was adapted into a German movie of the same name, which was released in 2015. Pl ...

'' (2015) * ''

'' (2016) * ''

Gut zu Vögeln ''Gut zu Vögeln'' is a German romantic comedy film directed by Mira Thiel and starring Anja Knauer and Max von Thun. Advertised as "an ''anti''-romantic comedy", it was released in Germany on 14 January 2016. The film's title is a sexual pun: ...

'' (2016) * '' Resident Evil: The Final Chapter'' (2016) * ' (2017) * ''Tigergirl'' (2017) * ''Axolotl Overkill'' (2017) * ''Das Pubertier – Der Film'' (2017) * ''Ostwind – Aufbruch nach Ora''(2017) * ''Grießnockerlaffäre'' (2017) * ''Tigermilch'' (2017) * ''Jugend ohne Gott'' (2017) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

This Crazy Heart ''This Crazy Heart'' (german: Dieses bescheuerte Herz) is a 2017 German comedy film directed by Marc Rothemund, based on the book ''Dieses bescheuerte Herz: Über den Mut zu träumen'' by Lars Amend and Daniel Meyer. Cast * Elyas M'Barek ...

'' (2017) * ''Nur Gott kann mich richten'' (2018) * ''Fünf Freunde und das Tal der Dinosaurier'' (2018) * ''Verpiss Dich, Schneewittchen!'' (2018) * ''Sauerkrautkoma'' (2018) * ''Asphaltgorillas'' (2018) * ''What about Adolf?'' (2018) * ''Eine ganz heiße Nummer 2.0'' (2019) * ''Leberkäsjunkie'' (2019) * ''Die drei !!!'' (2019) * ''Ostwind – Aris Ankunft'' (2019) * ''Kirschblüten & Dämonen'' (2019) * ''

The Collini Case ''The Collini Case'' (german: Der Fall Collini) is a 2019 German drama film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner. It is based on the eponymous novel by Ferdinand von Schirach. Cast *Elyas M'Barek as Caspar Leinen * Heiner Lauterbach as Richard Mattin ...

'' (2019) * ''

Polar Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates * Polar climate, the c ...

'' (2019) * ''Berlin, Berlin'' (2019) * '' The Silence'' (2019) * ''Perfect Secrets'' (2019) * ''Haven – Above Sky'' (2020) * '' Dragon Rider'' (2020) * ''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2020) * ''Contra'' (2020) * '' Wrong Turn'' (2021) * '' Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City'' (2021) * '' Just Cause'' (TBA)

References

External links

* *
Constantin Film
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{authority control Film distributors of Germany Film production companies of Germany Companies based in Munich Mass media companies established in 1950 German film studios German companies established in 1950 Bertelsmann subsidiaries