In a move that feels like Indiana Jones nabbing the Holy Grail, Concord Originals just acquired the dusty crown jewels of old-school Hollywood: RKO Pictures. Yeah, that RKO—the studio that birthed King Kong, Citizen Kane, It’s a Wonderful Life, and the Val Lewton horror flicks that basically taught America how to be afraid in the dark.
This isn’t just a buyout; it’s a full-on resurrection. Concord Originals, the film and TV tentacle of music publishing powerhouse Concord, is now the official caretaker of over 5,000 RKO titles—remakes, sequels, stage rights, the works. Hell, they even got the unproduced screenplays. Ted Hartley, who’s been RKO’s keeper for the past 35 years, is stepping into an emeritus role while launching a new outfit called Roseblood Pictures. (Yes, it sounds like a Hammer horror reboot and we’re here for it.)
But let’s be clear: this isn’t Disney swooping in to scrub everything clean and slap it on Disney+. Concord has been quietly making big, smart moves in the IP space—producing award-winning docs like Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. for HBO and working on a Cinderella series with SkydanceTV and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican. Now, with the RKO brand in its vault, Concord has the ammo to take on Hollywood’s remake addiction with a little more soul and a lot less corporate polish.
Gabriel Byrne in Shade (2003), a stylish neo-noir crime drama from RKO Pictures.
Credit: Courtesy of RKO
“This isn’t just a buyout; it’s a full-on resurrection.”
RKO will now operate as its own imprint under the Concord Originals umbrella, co-run by Sophia Dilley (head of Concord Originals) and Mary Beth O’Connor (longtime RKO exec). First project out of the gate? A new stage production of Top Hat is launching this summer in the UK, based on the 1935 Fred and Ginger classic. Think sequins, tap shoes, and full-on nostalgia, but with enough vision to actually justify its existence.
This is a studio with serious skeletons in its archive: The Best Years of Our Lives, Suspicion, The Saint, The Falcon, and 92 musicals (including Astaire and Rogers’ biggest hits). The original Val Lewton horror cycle alone—Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Body Snatcher—is ripe for either careful restoration or complete reimagining, and Concord’s made it clear they’re down for both.
Sure, RKO has changed hands more than a cursed artifact—Joseph Kennedy, Howard Hughes, and even a tire company took a crack at owning it. But now, with a creative-forward indie like Concord at the helm, there’s real potential to dust off these old reels and give them a second life without sanding off all the weird edges that made them iconic in the first place.
In a town where the majors are gobbling up everything in sight just to shelve it, it’s good to see an independent like Concord taking over a legacy studio with a plan that doesn’t involve algorithmically designed sludge. Here’s hoping they let the ghosts of old Hollywood do more than just haunt the vault.
