Orion Pictures

Orion Pictures was founded in 1978 by four former United Artists executives — Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, Robert Benjamin, and William Bernstein — with initial financial backing from Warner Bros. The company was built on the principle of granting filmmakers significant creative freedom. During the 1980s, Orion became a critical force, releasing a range of distinctive films including Woody Allen's comedies, Oliver Stone's *Platoon*, the historical drama *Amadeus*, *RoboCop*, and others. The studio won four Academy Awards for Best Picture during this period. However, its success coincided with financial difficulties; a series of expensive box office disappointments and growing debt led to Orion filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1991, just months before *The Silence of the Lambs* won top Oscars in 1992. Although Orion emerged from bankruptcy and released a few more films, it never fully recovered. The company was effectively shut down as an independent entity in 1997 when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired it and its film library. Since then, the Orion name has been used by MGM as a specialty label, but the original company ceased to exist after the acquisition.