American International Pictures

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American International Pictures (AIP) was an American film distributor that distributed several Toho films to American theaters. The company was founded in 1954 as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff. The company primarily released low-budget films as double features from the 1950's through the 1970's, including several of producer Roger Corman's features in the 50's. AIP formed its own television production company, American International Productions Television (AIP-TV), in 1964, which released most of the entries in the Showa Gamera series as well as The X from Outer Space to American television. The company went defunct in 1981 and was acquired by Filmways, which was itself later purchased by Orion Pictures. Most of AIP's library is now owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which purchased Orion in 1997.

Selected filmography

Trivia

  • AIP's versions of Mothra vs. Godzilla and Frankenstein vs. Baragon were released to DVD by Classic Media and Media Blasters, respectively. The company's versions of Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Hedorah have long been replaced on home video by Toho-commissioned international English dubs and the original Japanese versions.
  • The AIP-TV versions of the Showa Gamera films were largely replaced on home video by the versions released through Sandy Frank Enterprises, though companies like Alpha Video released the AIP-TV versions on DVD, mistakenly assuming them to be in the public domain. Arrow Video's Gamera: The Complete Collection Blu-ray set includes the AIP-TV versions in addition to the Sandy Frank and original Japanese versions.

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