History
Planet Hollywood was the brainchild of Robert Earl, former President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe and Keith Barish, financier, real estate developer and film producer (Sophie’s Choice, The Fugitive, Running Man, Nine ½ weeks, Monster Squad). Planet Hollywoods were modeled after the Hard Rock formula. Earl recruited many former Hard Rock veterans to open new PH stores. Movie star "owners" received stock options at rock bottom price in exchange for their endorsement, thus they could be billed as legal owners.
In 1994, Planet Hollywood founded the Official All Star Café sports-themed restaurant chain. In April 1996, Planet Hollywood went public. The company's share price reached all time high of $32 on the first day of trading and went down to less than $1 by 1999. The company has gone bankrupt twice. Nearly 100 stores have closed worldwide, leaving about 15 Planet Hollywood restaurants currently open.
In 1997, Planet Hollywood entered a joint partnership with AMC Theaters to develop Planet Movies by AMC. In 1998, Planet Hollywood entered the ice cream business when it launched Cool Planet. The business was scrapped later that year. Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the business in early 2000. Schwarzenegger said the company had not had the success he had hoped for, claiming he wanted to focus his attention on "new U.S. and global business ventures" and his movie career.
Marvel Mania Restaurant opened on February 18, 1998 near Universal Studios, California with Marvel being a co-owner with Universal Studios Hollywood and Planet Hollywood. However, Planet Hollywood had financial problems due to expanding too quickly and had to close Marvel Mania.
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