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Major film studios

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command the significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue.[1][2][3][4] The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.[2]

Since the dawn of filmmaking, the U.S. major film studios have dominated both American cinema and the global film industry.[5][6] U.S. studios have benefited from a strong first-mover advantage in that they were the first to industrialize filmmaking and master the art of mass-producing and distributing high-quality films with broad cross-cultural appeal.[7] Today, the Big Five majors – Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios, and Sony Pictures – routinely distribute hundreds of films every year into all significant international markets (that is, where discretionary income is high enough for consumers to afford to watch films). The majors enjoy "significant internal economies of scale" from their "extensive and efficient [distribution] infrastructure",[8] while it is "nearly impossible" for a film to reach a broad international theatrical audience without being first picked up by one of the majors for distribution.[4] Today, all the Big Five major studios are also members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

(RKO) (1929–1959): one of the Big Five studios (originally incorporated as RKO Radio Pictures), bought by Howard Hughes in 1948, was mismanaged and dismantled and was largely defunct by the 1957 studio lot sale;[21] revived several times as an independent studio, with most recent film releases in 2012 and 2015.

RKO Pictures

(UA) (1919–1981): one of the "Little Three" (or "major minor") studios, originally only a distributor for independent film producers[21] acquired by MGM in 1981; brand name was resurrected in 2019 when Annapurna Pictures and MGM renamed a distribution company which was a joint venture between the two companies to United Artists Releasing.

United Artists

(MGM) (1924–1986): one of the Big Seven studios,[21] acquired by Ted Turner in 1986, who sold the studio back to Kirk Kerkorian later that year while retaining MGM's pre-May 1986 library; became a mini-major studio upon the sale; emerged from bankruptcy in 2010; now owned by Amazon, which also owns and operates Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon Prime Video, and Amazon Freevee.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

(TCF, 20CF, 20th, or Fox) (1935–2019): one of the Big Six studios,[21] became part of Walt Disney Studios when The Walt Disney Company acquired Fox's owner in 2019; 20th Century Fox was renamed 20th Century Studios the following year.

20th Century Fox

[34] – purchased in 1993 by Turner Broadcasting System; TBS merged with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery) in 1996

Castle Rock Entertainment

/Allied Artists Pictures, 1967[35] – the current entertainment company Allied Artists International is considered the successor to AAP; library rights are currently split mostly between Amazon (through MGM), Warner Bros. Discovery (through Warner Bros.), and Paramount Global (through Paramount Pictures)

Monogram Pictures

[24] – purchased in 1994 by Turner Broadcasting System; TBS merged with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery) in 1996; New Line merged with Warner Bros. in 2008

New Line Cinema

– filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 30, 2015.[36] Emerged from bankruptcy in 2016, only to re-file in May 2018, sold to UltraV Holdings

Relativity Media

[21] – in 1990, was considered the last of the mini-majors.[37] Purchased in 1988 by Kluge/Metromedia; purchased in 1997 by MGM.

Orion Pictures

– purchased by Content Partners LLC in 2017, focuses on distribution, remake, and sequel rights to its library, following the end of its six-year deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment

Revolution Studios

1967[35] – acquired by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio in 1982;[38] acquired by the Coca-Cola Company in 1985;[39] its theatrical division acquired by Dino DeLaurentiis in 1986. Sony Pictures currently owns the television rights to most of the theatrical library and the logo, names, and trademarks through its ELP Communications subsidiary

Avco Embassy

[21] – consolidated in 1987 into Columbia, one of the partners in the joint venture that created it.

TriStar Pictures

[29] – acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016[40]

DreamWorks Animation

– now a label of Amblin Partners of which NBCUniversal (through Universal Pictures) and Lionsgate owns their respective stake

DreamWorks Pictures

/Walt Disney Studios – became a major studio[21]

The Walt Disney Company

[41] – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but bought by Lantern Entertainment in 2018; assets transferred to Spyglass Media Group of which Warner Bros. Discovery (through Warner Bros.), Lantern Entertainment and Lionsgate, which currently holds distribution rights to most of the TWC library, owns their respective stake

The Weinstein Company

– originally a "poverty row" B-movie producer,[21] produced many serials and was formed by the consolidation of six minor production companies[42] in 1935. It was rebooted in 1985. Viacom then purchased it in the early 2000s.

Republic Pictures

[43] – merged into Focus Features (a subsidiary of Universal) in 2014; library acquired by Content Partners LLC in December 2020[44]

FilmDistrict

[24] – sold to Seagram and folded into Universal Pictures in 1999,[45][46][47] bulk of pre-March 31, 1996 library sold to MGM[48]

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

[49] – purchased in 2003 by Lions Gate Entertainment

Artisan Entertainment

[50] – distribution and marketing assets sold to Relativity Media in 2010; film library acquired by Lionsgate via its acquisition of Starz Inc. in December 2016

Overture Films

[50] – acquired by Lionsgate in 2012

Summit Entertainment

[51] – purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The Cannon Group

– formerly Open Road Films, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 6, 2018;[52] by November 2018, has reverted to Open Road, purchased by Raven Capital Management on approval as of December 19, 2018 by a Delaware bankruptcy judge.[53]

Global Road Entertainment

[24] – owned by The Walt Disney Company from 1993 to 2010, sold to Filmyard Holdings in 2010, then to beIN Media Group in 2016, which sold a 49% stake to Paramount Global (through Paramount Pictures) in 2020

Miramax Films

[54] – filed for bankruptcy September 1990, resulting in the company folding up operations; library now owned by Sony Pictures (through Columbia Pictures) with Paramount Global (through Paramount Pictures) owning television and streaming distribution rights

Weintraub Entertainment Group

[43] – folded into the CBS Entertainment Group on October 11, 2019, and absorbed into CBS Studios to produce TV films for CBS All Access (later Paramount+) [55]

CBS Films

[56] – filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 30, 2016

Alchemy

Historical organizational lineage[edit]

The eight Golden Age majors[edit]

The eight major film studios of the Golden Age have gone through significant ownership changes ("independent" meaning customarily identified as the primary commercial entity in its corporate structure; "purchased" meaning acquired anything from majority to total ownership). For instance, this does not include Walt Disney Studios, which despite being primarily an independent animation studio during the Golden Age, is the only current existing major studio to remain under continuous autonomous ownership since its founding.

Concentration of media ownership

Media conglomerate

Media cross-ownership in the United States

Motion Picture Association

List of film production companies

List of animation studios

List of streaming media services

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Media related to Film studios at Wikimedia Commons

Media related to Film production companies at Wikimedia Commons

Works cited