B-Movie King Corman to Sell Company

Roger Corman, regarded as Hollywood’s “King of the B Movies” for making such films as “Death Race 2000,” “Stepmonster” and “The Little Shop of Horrors,” said Sunday that he is selling his film production company, movie library and some Los Angeles office buildings to veteran producer Elliott Kastner for $100 million.

The sale of Concorde-New Horizons Corp. by Corman and his wife, Julie, marks the second time in the last 15 years that Corman has cashed out by selling his principal company. In 1982, New World Pictures, a company Corman built from scratch, was sold to lawyers Harry Evans Sloan and Lawrence Kuppin, with Corman keeping his library of movies. New World, which has been transformed into a major entertainment firm, has changed hands several times since then, most recently passing from billionaire Ronald Perelman to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Included in the Corman sale is Concorde’s operations, its library of 378 films, a studio in Venice, Calif., the company’s Brentwood headquarters and several Southern California office buildings. Corman will keep a new studio in Ireland.

The sale was expected. About three years ago, Corman was openly shopping his library around. Discussions with Kastner had been ongoing since late last year, and Corman has publicly acknowledged he was in talks to sell to the producer.

Corman, 70, is best known as the maker of exploitation films that were cheap to produce and raked in substantial profits at drive-in movie theaters.

In recent years, with the number of drive-ins dwindling, Corman’s movies have mostly been sold directly to the video market.

Kastner is a prolific producer of movies since the late 1960s, with credits that include “Harper,” “Rancho Deluxe” and “The Big Sleep.” He said he plans to make movies with budgets ranging from $3 million to $15 million.

The closing date of the sale is scheduled for May 1.