Drafthouse Films has acquired U.S. rights to a documentary about Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the Israeli-born cousins who founded Cannon Films, the indie studio announced Thursday.
Drafthouse plans a theatrical release in late 2012 for "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films," coinciding with a traveling retrospective of Cannon's movies.
The film is currently in pre-production in Australia.
"Cannon Films was an enterprise that in many ways defined exploitation cinema of the 1980s," Alamo Drafthouse founder and CEO Tim League said in a written statement. "We are thrilled to share their untold legacy with movie fans around the country."
Between 1979 and 1989, Cannon Films produced more than 120 movies, including colorfully titled sequels "Missing in Action 2: The Beginning," "Ninja 3: The Domination" and "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo."
The studio also produced "Masters of the Universe," the martial arts films "American Ninja" and arthouse films such as "Barfly."
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The documentary was directed by Mark Hartley ("Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!").
Drafthouse is the distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.