The Donners' Company (formerly Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions) is the film production company of director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler Donner, founded in 1986. It is notable for the Free Willy and X-Men films.
In 1986, film producer Lauren Shuler Donner announced that she would end her production deal with The Walt Disney Studios.[1] She announced that she would merge with Warner Bros.-based Richard Donner Productions, to create Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, to be operating on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California.[1]
The first film released under the name was Radio Flyer, which was directed by Richard Donner, produced by Lauren, and it was released by Columbia Pictures in 1992.[2] It flopped at the box office.[3]
The banner made its first major success in 1993 with box office hits Dave and Free Willy. The latter's success spawned two sequels, and a television series.[4] That year, the studio and Warner Bros. originally made a deal with Hammer Film Productions to do remake film projects based on its existing UK film productions.[5]
In 1994, the studio hit its first television project, with an animated adaption of Free Willy, and it was aired on ABC for two seasons.[6]
In 1999, it was announced that Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions was renamed to the better-sounding name The Donners' Company. On April 4, 2000, it was signed a deal with NBC Studios to produce shows for the NBC television network.[7]
That same year, the studio scored a major success with X-Men, which was an instant box office hit, grossing over $296.8 million worldwide.[8]
In 2001, The Donners' Company signed a deal with Winchester Films to produce its feature films from its own.[9]
More recently, the company was producing two X-Men series for television, including Legion on FX, and The Gifted on Fox. In 2019, the latter was cancelled months before the former concluded its third and final season.[10][11]
Richard Donner died on July 5, 2021. He was 91.[12]