History
It was formed sometime in 1971 as a production company and distributor.

The company had largely gone unnoticed for nearly twenty years when sometime in the late '80s, while filing for bankruptcy, it was purchased by Giancarlo Parretti. Parretti had also recently purchased Cannon Films, and he eventually handed 21st Century Film Corporation over to Israeli filmmaker Menahem Golan as part of Golan's severance package from Cannon.

Golan's goal was to release high-quality motion pictures to the American and worldwide film audiences, but 21st Century only enjoyed small-scale success releasing low-budget, art-house films like Eraserhead, as well as remakes of The Phantom of the Opera and Night of the Living Dead.

Rights to Marvel Comics characters
In 1990, 21st Century bought the film rights to two Marvel Comics heroes, Captain America and Spider-Man. Captain America was filmed and was given only a limited theatrical release worldwide, despite its major budget. 21st Century eventually lost the rights to filming Spider-Man.

Later years
After The Cannon Group's demise in 1993, it released a few more movies including, Deadly Heroes and most notably Death Wish V: The Face of Death, which was not only the last in the series but Charles Bronson's final theatrical film. At that time, it was under the 21st Century Group.

In 1996, it eventually went bankrupt. In 2001, Golan later returned to his native Israel and formed New Cannon, Inc.

Filmography
1989: The Phantom of the Opera
1989: Eraserhead
1989: Bullseye!
1989: Caged Fury
1990: Night of the Living Dead (released by Columbia Pictures)
1990: Captain America
1991: The Finest Hour
1991: Bloodmatch (now owned by MGM)
1992: Prison Planet
1992: Desert Kickboxer
1993: Deadly Heroes
1993: Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde
1994: Death Wish V: The Face of Death