Cruel and Unusual Films, Inc. is an American production company

Production company

A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

 that was established in 2004 by filmmaker Zack Snyder

Zack Snyder

Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. After making his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comics...

, his wife Deborah Snyder

Deborah Snyder

Deborah Snyder is an American producer of feature films and television commercials. She is married to filmmaker Zack Snyder, and has worked as his frequent producing partner on films such as Watchmen and 300...

, and their producing partner Wesley Coller.

Company

Cruel and Unusual Films was founded in 2004 by Zack Snyder, his wife, Deborah, and producing partner Wesley Coller. The company is based at Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

, and is currently located in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

. The company signed a two-year production deal with Warner Bros. in 2007, prior to the theatrical release of 300

300 (film)

300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...

, a film in which Snyder served as director. Snyder and his wife, Deborah, are co-presidents of the company. Coller often serves a producing partner. Snyder launched the company's official website on January 30, 2009, and invited artists to submit versions of the company logo. Its most recent logo includes an animated Catholic schoolgirl named Baby Doll who is the heroine of Snyder’s 2011 film Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch (film)

Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac...

. Apart from producing feature films, Cruel and Unusual Films has also assisted in the marketing its films, based on the strong advertising backgrounds of Snyder and his wife, Deborah Snyder.

Films

To date, Cruel and Unusual has served as an uncredited co-producer for films in which Snyder and his wife served as director and producer respectively. Following its establishment in 2004, the company produced Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...

, a remake of George A. Romero

George A. Romero

George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

's 1978 film of the same name. In 2007, Cruel and Unusual Films produced 300, an adaptation of Frank Miller

Frank Miller (comics)

Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...

's graphic novel. In 2009, the company produced Watchmen

Watchmen (film)

Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...

, an adaptation of Alan Moore

Alan Moore

Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

 and Dave Gibbons

Dave Gibbons

Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...

' graphic novel of the same name

Watchmen

Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...

. Cruel and Unusual next produced Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, a computer-animated film based on the series of children's fantasy books Guardians of Ga'Hoole

Guardians of Ga'Hoole

Guardians of Ga’Hoole is a fantasy book series written by Kathryn Lasky and published by Scholastic. The series, which ended in 2008 with the publication of The War of the Ember, has a total of fifteen books. Apart from the main series there are a few more books and spin offs set in the same universe...

by Kathryn Lasky

Kathryn Lasky

Kathryn Lasky is an American author whose work includes several Dear America books, The Royal Diaries books, Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.-Biography:...

. Sucker Punch was co-written and directed by Snyder, who also produced the film with his wife Deborah Snyder. The film is the first that credits Cruel and Unusual as a producer. Sucker Punch was released on March 25, 2011.

Future projects

Snyder was hired to direct The Man of Steel, a Superman film reboot produced by Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan

Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...

. He will also direct a remake of the 1969 film The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man (film)

The Illustrated Man is a 1969 American science fiction film directed by Jack Smight and starring Rod Steiger. The film is based on three short stories from the 1951 collection The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury: "The Veldt", "The Long Rain", and "The Last Night of the World"...

. The company will also produce The Last Photograph, a film about a photograph that inspires two men to travel to war-torn Afghanistan. The film will be directed by Sergei Bodrov

Sergei Bodrov

Sergei Vladimirovich Bodrov is a two-time Academy Award-nominated Russian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer.Bodrov was born in Khabarovsk, Russian SFSR, USSR . In the post-Soviet period he emigrated to the United States. His son, actor Sergei Bodrov, Jr...

, with Zack and Deborah Snyder attached as producers. Army of the Dead is a forthcoming film, in which Zack Snyder will assist in developing the story, while his wife produces the film, and Joby Harold

Joby Harold

Joby Harold is an English film director and screenwriter currently living in Los Angeles. He wrote and directed Awake for The Weinstein Company starring Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard and Lena Olin...

 writes the screenplay. The story centers around a father trying to save his daughter in a zombie-infested Las Vegas. The film will mark the directing debut of commercial filmmaker and visual artist Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. is a Dutch filmmaker, writer and producer best known for his work on Red Rain, The Thing prequel and Army of the Dead.-Biography:Matthijs van Heijningen Jr...

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Notes
2004	Dawn of the Dead Dawn of the Dead (2004 film) Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...	Zack Snyder Zack Snyder Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. After making his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comics...	Uncredited
2007	300 300 (film) 300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
2009	Watchmen Watchmen (film) Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
2011	Sucker Punch Sucker Punch (film) Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac...		Co-production with Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures is an American film production company, whose parent company, Legendary Entertainment, is based in Burbank, California and was founded by Thomas Tull in 2004...
2013	The Man of Steel		Co-production with Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures is an American film production company, whose parent company, Legendary Entertainment, is based in Burbank, California and was founded by Thomas Tull in 2004... , DC Comics DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...  and Syncopy Films Syncopy Films Syncopy Films is a British production company founded by director, writer and producer Christopher Nolan and wife producer Emma Thomas. The name Syncopy Films derives from "syncope," the medical term for fainting.-History:...