Universal Pictures

American film and distribution company

This article is about the film studio. For the parent company, see Universal Studios, Inc. For the theme parks, see Universal Destinations & Experiences.

Universal City Studios LLC

Logo used since 2021

Trade name

| Universal Pictures
Formerly|

List

* Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912–1923)
* Universal Pictures Corporation (1923–1936)
* Universal Productions, Inc. (1936–1937)
* Universal Pictures Company, Inc. (1937–1963)
* Universal City Studios, Inc. (1964–1996)

Company type| Division
Industry| Film
Predecessor| Independent Moving Pictures
Founded| April 30, 1912; 112 years ago (1912-04-30)
Founders|

* Carl Laemmle
* Pat Powers
* David Horsley
* William Swanson
* Mark Dintenfass
* Charles Baumann
* Robert H. Cochrane
* Adam Kessel
* Jules Brulatour

Headquarters| 10 Universal City Plaza,

Universal City, California

U.S.

Number of locations

| 3

Area served

| Worldwide

Key people

* Donna Langley (chairwoman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group)
Peter Cramer (president)

Products| Motion pictures
Revenue|  US$11.622 billion (2022)
Parent|

* MCA Inc. (1962–1996)
* Universal Studios (1996–present)

Divisions|

* Focus Features
* Illumination
* Universal Animation Studios
* Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Subsidiaries|

* Amblin Partners (minority)
* DreamWorks Animation
* NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
* United International Pictures (50%)
* Working Title Films

Website|

* universalpictures.com
* universalstudios.com

Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal) is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, California, and is the flagship studio of Universal Studios, the film studio arm of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.

Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States and the fifth oldest globally after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus and Nordisk Film, and is one of the "Big Five" film studios.

Universal's most commercially successful film franchises include Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, and Despicable Me. Additionally, the studio's library includes many individual films such as Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, both of which became the highest-grossing films of all time during their initial releases. Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and was one of the "Little Three" majors during Hollywood's golden age.[4]

## History

[edit]

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### Early years

[edit]

Carl Laemmle (1867–1939)

Mark Dintenfass (1872–1933), co-founder of Universal

Universal Film Manufacturing Company print logo, 1912.

Universal was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane[a] and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons, and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Patents Company (or the "Edison Trust") meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Logo used from 1913 to 1914

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with his brothers-in-law[6] Abe Stern and Julius Stern.[7] That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America's first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century.[8][9][10][11] Laemmle broke with Edison's custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as "The Biograph Girl",[12] and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

Poster for Ivanhoe (1913)  Logo used from 1919 to 1923.

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York City on April 30, 1912.[13] Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. The company was established on June 8, 1912, formed in a merger of Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), the Powers Motion Picture Company, Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, Champion Film Company, Nestor Film Company, and the New York Motion Picture Company.[14] Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution, and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

Trademark for Universal Moving Pictures, September 12, 1916. Melodrama A Great Love (1916) by Clifford S. Elfelt for Universal Big U. Dutch intertitles, 12:33. Collection EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912, the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area.

Logo used in 1915

Universal Weekly and Moving Picture Weekly[15] were the alternating names of Universal's internal magazine that began publication in this era; the magazine was intended to market Universal's films to exhibitors.[16] Since much of Universal's early film output was destroyed in subsequent fires and nitrate degradation, the surviving issues of these magazines are a crucial source for film historians.[16]

Universal advertisement touting the benefit of the studio's short films to theater operators[17] Universal Pictures film sets photographed 1915

On March 15, 1915,[18]: 8 Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km2) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood.[19] Studio management became the third facet of Universal's operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns, and serials.

In 1916, Universal formed a three-tier branding system for their releases. Unlike the top-tier studios, Universal did not own any theaters to market its feature films. Universal branding their product gave theater owners and audiences a quick reference guide. Branding would help theater owners judge films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see. Universal released three different types of feature motion pictures:[20][21]

* Red Feather Photoplays – low-budget feature films
* Bluebird Photoplays – mainstream feature release and more ambitious productions
* Jewel – prestige motion pictures featuring high budgets using prominent actors

Directors of "Jewel" films included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall, and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.[18]: 13

Logo used from 1919 to 1923. Logo used from 1925 to 1928.

Starting in the mid-1920s, Universal branded its most expensive and heavily promoted feature films as "Super-Jewel" productions. These included films such as Erich von Stroheim's Foolish Wives (1922), Clarence Brown's The Acquittal (1923), Hobart Henley's A Lady of Quality (1924), Harry A. Pollard's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927), and Edward Sloman's Surrender (1927).

Logo used from 1923 to 1931.

Despite Laemmle's role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the mid-1910s, appearing steadily in dramas. However, Chaney left Universal in 1917 because of a salary dispute, and his two biggest hits for Universal were made as isolated returns to the studio: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).[22]

During the early 1920s Laemmle entrusted most of Universal's production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle's personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief in 1919, Thalberg made distinct improvements of quality and prestige in Universal's output in addition to dealing with star director Erich von Stroheim's increasing inability to control the expense and length of his films, eventually firing Stroheim on October 6, 1922, six weeks into the production of Merry-Go-Round (1923) and replacing him with Rupert Julian. Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal in late 1922 to his own growing studio, Louis B. Mayer Productions, as vice-president in charge of production, and when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924 Thalberg continued in the same position for the new company. Without Thalberg's guidance, Universal became a second-tier studio and would remain so for several decades.

Advertisement for comedy short films with Arthur Lake and Olive Hasbrouck Share of the Deutsche Universal-Film AG, issued March 4, 1930

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary's films. Still, some of them were exhibited through other independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York City without the benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In the early years, Universal had a "clean picture" policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this a mistake as "unclean pictures" from other studios generated more profit while Universal lost money.[23]

### Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

[edit]

In early 1927, Universal had been negotiating deals with cartoon producers since they wanted to get back into producing them. On March 4, Charles Mintz signed a contract with Universal in the presence of its vice president, R. H. Cochrane. Mintz's company, Winkler Pictures, was to produce 26 "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" cartoons for Universal.[24] Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created the character and the Walt Disney Studio provided the animation for the cartoons under Winkler's supervision.

The films enjoyed a successful theatrical run, and Mintz would sign a contract with Universal ensuring three more years of Oswald cartoons.[25] However, after Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the films, Mintz took most of Walt's animators to work at his own studio. Disney and Iwerks would create Mickey Mouse in secret while they finished the remaining Oswald films they were contractually obligated to finish. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz, which would later result in the creation of Woody Woodpecker in 1940.

In February 2006, NBCUniversal sold all the Disney-animated Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, to The Walt Disney Company. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC's recently acquired Sunday night NFL football package. Universal retained ownership of the remaining Oswald cartoons.

### Keeping leadership of the studio in the family

[edit]

Logo version from 1931 Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931) Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

In 1928, Laemmle Sr. made his son, Carl Jr., head of Universal Pictures, a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl Sr.'s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl Sr. being known around the studios as "Uncle Carl". Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, "Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle". Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler.

"Junior," Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) won its year's Best Picture Oscar.

Logo used from 1931 to 1936.

Laemmle Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal horror. Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Tay Garnett's Destination Unknown (1933), John M. Stahl's Imitation of Life (1934) and William Wyler's The Good Fairy (1935).

### The Laemmles lose control

[edit]

Universal's forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the Great Depression was risky, and for a time, Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl Jr. held fast to distribution, studio, and production operations.

Logo used from 1936 to 1947.

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film, was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl Jr.'s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family's controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, and Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Although Universal's 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles' involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded, with studio advertisements referring to "the new Universal". Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.'s names on the credits and in the film's advertising campaign. Standard Capital's J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Joining him were British entrepreneurs C.M. Woolf and J. Arthur Rank, who bought a significant stake in the studio.[26] Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal's German subsidiary, repeated his formula in the United States. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak's first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio's financial problems. The film's success led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career, produced her most successful pictures.

James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again (1939)

When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin's pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O'Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount.

By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company's main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials, and sequels to the studio's horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars and often borrowed talent from other studios or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello's military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

During the war years, Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal's core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio's Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

As Universal's main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. Technicolor was also used for the studio's remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget Technicolor films followed.

### Universal-International and Decca Records

[edit]

In 1945, J. Arthur Rank, who had already owned a stake in the studio almost a decade before, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. However, Rank and International remained interested in Universal, culminating in the studio's reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946.[27] William Goetz, a founder of International along with Leo Spitz, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Company, Inc. which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm's films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer, decided to bring "prestige" to the new company. He stopped the studio's low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal's horror and "Arabian Nights" cycles. He also reduced the studio's output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (nearly twice the major studio's output) to thirty-five films a year.[28] Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.

Universal International Studio, 1955

Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank's British productions, including such classics as David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947 and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer "highlights" reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal's pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder's Realart Pictures for cinema re-release, but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

Logo used from 1947 to 1963.

The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), both produced by Mark Hellinger, Universal-International's new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out. The studio returned to low-budget and series films such as Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), a spin-off of the studio's 1947 hit The Egg and I and the inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio's top-grossing productions. But at this point, Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International's films.

In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold and starring John Agar. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, which were critically reassessed more positively years later. Among Universal-International's stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman's deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester '73 (1950), proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal and eventually at other studios as well.

### MCA takes over

[edit]

Ceremonial gate to Universal Studios Hollywood (the theme park attached to the studio lot)

In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France. In the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol's Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders, 1967) and Romain Gary's Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (English title Going Places, 1974), and Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain breakup and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), the world's largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km2) studio lot to MCA in 1958 for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal's products. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts.

Logo sed in 1963. Logo used from 1963 to 1990.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1963, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of the formerly Universal Pictures Company and Revue Studios (which was officially renamed as Universal Television). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964.

Television production made up much of the studio's output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear's Tandem Productions/Embassy Television, including Diff'rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall.

At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson's Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).[29] Although neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

In 1983, Universal Pictures launched an independent film arm designed to release specialty films, Universal Classics, and the division has sights on separation.[30] In 1987, Universal Pictures, MGM/UA Communications Co., and Paramount Pictures teamed up to market feature film and television products to China. Consumer reach was measured in terms of the 25 billion admission tickets that were clocked in China in 1986, and Worldwide Media Sales, a division of the New York-based Worldwide Media Group, had been placed in charge of the undertaking.[31]

In the early 1980s, the company had its own pay television arm Universal Pay Television (a.k.a. Universal Pay TV Programming, Inc.), which spawned in 1987, an 11-picture cable television agreement with then-independent film studio New Line Cinema.[32]

Logo used from 1990 to 1997.

In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company's fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA's international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Animal House (1978), The Jerk (1979), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Four Seasons (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Breakfast Club (1985), Back to the Future (also 1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), Jurassic Park (1993) and Casper (1995), but the film business was financially unpredictable with some films like The Thing (1982), Scarface (1983), Dune (1984), Howard the Duck (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) or Waterworld (1995), which turned out to be big box office disappointments despite their high budget, however, fortunately, these films became cult films in later years. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997 due to the founders' connections with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox's international arm to handle the distribution of their titles, an ongoing arrangement. UIP nearly lost its connection with Universal Pictures in 1999 when Universal started Universal Pictures International to take over the assets of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and wanted UPI to distribute their films starting in 2001.[33] Only a small handful of films were released theatrically by Universal Pictures International, up until the release of the film Mickey Blue Eyes. UIP then took over the theatrical distribution inventory of future films planned to be released by Universal Pictures International, such as The Green Mile and Angela's Ashes.[34] On October 4, 1999, Universal renewed its commitments to United International Pictures to release its films internationally through 2006.[35][36]

### Matsushita and Seagram

[edit]

Logo used from 1997 to 2012. The logo is still used on some properties, such as the independent company Universal Music Group

Anxious to expand the company's broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990.

On December 9, 1996, the new owners dropped the MCA name; the company became Universal Studios, Inc.[37] and MCA's music division, MCA Music Entertainment Group, was renamed Universal Music Group. MCA Records continued to live on as a label within the Universal Music Group. The following year, G. P. Putnam's Sons was sold to the Penguin Group subsidiary of Pearson PLC.

Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later, Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion.[38] Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram from Philips in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

### Extensions

[edit]

Gate 2, Universal Studios (as it appears when closed on weekends)

Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal's films, such as David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) which became the sixth-highest-grossing French-language film of all time in the United States.[39][40] Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (2003); a $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide.[41] In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.[42]

In late 2005, Viacom's Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal's long-time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted, and their co-chairperson jobs were consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson, becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson.[43] In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal.[44]

In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to the sole chairperson. In addition, NBCUniversal International chairman Jeff Shell would be appointed as chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed vice chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company's operations. Meyer retained oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.[45]

Universal's multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013.[46] In summer 2013, Universal made an agreement with Thomas Tull's Legendary Pictures to distribute their films for five years starting in 2014 (the year that Legendary's similar agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures ended).[47]

In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with the expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal.[44]

2012 version of the logo with the Comcast byline.

In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label concentrating on action, sci-fi, and horror films.[48]

On December 16, 2015, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films will be distributed and marketed by either Universal or Focus Features.[49][50]

In early 2016, Perfect World Pictures announced a long-term co-financing deal with Universal, representing the first time a Chinese company directly invests in a multi-year slate deal with a major U.S. studio.[51]

On April 28, 2016, Universal's parent company, NBCUniversal, announced a $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation.[52] On August 22, 2016, the deal was completed.[53] Universal took over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation starting in 2019 with the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, after DreamWorks Animation's distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended.

On February 15, 2017, Universal Pictures acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin.[54]

In December 2019, Universal Pictures entered early negotiations to distribute upcoming feature films based on the Lego toys. Although the original The Lego Movie characters and projects are still owned by Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures will serve as a distributor of future releases and will develop additional Lego films. The first Lego film under Universal Pictures' run of their film rights is Piece by Piece (2024).[55]

In June, it was announced longtime Universal International Distribution President Duncan Clark would be stepping down. He would transition to a consulting role with the studio in August and would be replaced by Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.[56]

## Units

[edit]

* Universal Pictures International
* Universal International Distribution

* Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
* Universal Home Entertainment Productions
* Universal 1440 Entertainment
* DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment
* Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia (joint venture with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
* Universal Playback
* Studio Distribution Services (joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment)
* Focus Features
* Universal Pictures International Entertainment
* NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
* Working Title Films
* WT2 Productions
* Working Title Television
* Rede Telecine (12.5%, joint venture with Canais Globo, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
* Illumination
* Illumination Studios Paris
* Illumination Labs
* Moonlight
* DreamWorks Animation
* DreamWorks Animation Television
* DreamWorks Classics
* Big Idea Entertainment (in-name-only unit of DreamWorks Animation)
* Bullwinkle Studios (JV)
* Harvey Entertainment (in-name-only unit of DreamWorks Animation)
* DreamWorks Theatricals
* DreamWorks New Media
* DreamWorksTV
* DreamWorks Press
* Back Lot Music
* Universal Products & Experiences
* United International Pictures (50%, joint venture with Paramount Global's Paramount Pictures)
* Amblin Partners (minority stake)[49][50] (JV)[54]
* Amblin Entertainment
* Amblin Television
* DreamWorks Pictures
* Storyteller Distribution[57]
* Blumhouse Holdings, LLC (minority stake with Jason Blum and James Wan)[58]
* Blumhouse Productions
* Atomic Monster
* BH Tilt (with Neon)
* BlumHansonAllen Films
* Blumhouse Books
* Blumhouse Games
* Blumhouse International
* Blumhouse Television (55%)
* Haunted Movies

## Filmography

[edit]

Main article: Lists of Universal Pictures films

In addition to its own library, Universal releases the EMKA, Ltd. catalog of 1929–1949 Paramount Pictures, owned by sister company Universal Television.

### Film series

[edit]

Title  | Release date  | No. Films  | Notes

|
|
|

Universal Monsters | 1931–56  | 31
The Mummy | 1932–2017; TBA  | 11  | Co-production with Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K/O Paper Products, and Perfect World Pictures
Abbott and Costello | 1940–55  | 3  |
Woody Woodpecker | 1940–present  | 2  | Co-production with Universal Animation Studios
Sherlock Holmes | 1942–46  | 12
Ma and Pa Kettle | 1947–57  | 10
Francis the Talking Mule | 1950–56  | 7
Cape Fear | 1962–91  | 2
The Birds | 1963–94
McHale's Navy | 1964–97  | 3
Airport | 1970–79  | 4
American Graffiti | 1973–79  | 2  | Co-production with Lucasfilm, Ltd.
The Jackal | 1973–97  | Co-production Warwick Films, Alphaville, and Mutual Film Company
Jaws | 1975–87  | 4
Smokey and the Bandit | 1977–83  | 3  | Co-production with Rastar (1-2)
The Car | 1977–2019  | 2  |
The Blues Brothers | 1980–98  | Co-production with SNL Studios
Halloween | 1981–82, 2018–present  | 5  | Co-production with Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Miramax, and Blumhouse Productions
Endless Love | 1981–2014  | 2
Conan the Barbarian | 1982–84; TBA
The Thing | 1982–2011; TBA  | Co-production with the Turman-Foster Company, Morgan Creek Productions, and Strike Entertainment
Psycho | 1983–98  | 5
Firestarter | 1984–2022  | 2
Back to the Future | 1985–90  | 3  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment
An American Tail | 1986–99  | 4  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation, and Sullivan Bluth Studios
The Land Before Time | 1988–2016  | 14  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and Sullivan Bluth Studios
K-9 | 1989–2002  | 3
Tremors | 1990–present  | 7
Problem Child | 1990–95  | 3
Darkman | 1990–96  | Co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Buried Alive | 1990–97  | 2
Child's Play / Chucky | 1990–98; 2013–present  | 5
Kindergarten Cop | 1990–2016  | 2  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Knight Rider | 1991–2008  | 3
The Little Engine That Could | 1991–2011  | 2
Backdraft | 1991–2019  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Trilogy Entertainment Group
Beethoven | 1992–2014  | 8
Jurassic Park | 1993–present  | 7  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Carlito's Way | 1993–2005  | 2
Hard Target | 1993–2016
The Flintstones | 1994–2000  | Co-production with Hanna-Barbera and Amblin Entertainment
Timecop | 1994–2003  | Co-production with Renaissance Pictures
The Little Rascals | 1994–2014  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment
Babe | 1995–98
Casper | 1995–2000  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, and Saban Ltd.
Balto | 1995–2005  | 3  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Amblimation
Apollo films  | 1995–2019  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment, Statement Pictures, CNN Films, and Neon
Sudden Death | 1995–2020  | 2
Dragonheart | 1996–present  | 5
Twister | 1996–2024  | 2  | Co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures (both 1996), The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Domain Pictures (both 2024)
Mr. Bean | 1997–2007  | Co-production with PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, and Tiger Aspect Productions
Alvin and the Chipmunks | 1999–2000
Jay Ward films  | From Dudley Do-Right to The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
The Best Man | 1999–2013
American Pie | 1999–2020  | 9  | (including the spin-off series)
Meet the Parents | 2000–10  | 3  | Co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and TriBeCa Productions
The Chronicles of Riddick | 2000–13  | Co-production with Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film, and Relativity Media
Dr. Seuss films  | 2000–18  | 4  | From How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Grinch; Co-production with Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, and Illumination
Bring It On | 2000–22  | 6  | coproduction with Strike Entertainment
Hannibal Lecter | 2001–02  | 2  | Co-production with the Weinstein Company and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Fast & Furious | 2001–present  | 10  | Co-production with Original Film, Relativity Media, and One Race Films
Bourne | 2002–present  | 5  | Co-production with the Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media
The Scorpion King | coproduction with Alphaville and WWE Studios
Blue Crush | 2002–11  | 2  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Undercover Brother | 2002–19  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Hal Lieberman Company
Almighty | 2003–07  | Co-production with Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Original Film
Hulk | 2003–08  | including MCU's The Incredible Hulk (distribution only), right of first refusal holders (distribution only) of any future MCU solo Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Johnny English | 2003–18  | 3  | Co-production with StudioCanal and Working Title Films
Honey | 4
Night of the Living Dead | 2004–05  | 2  | Co-production with Atmosphere Entertainment, Romero/Grunwald Films, Cruel and Unusual Films, and Strike Entertainment
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy | 2004–13  | 3  | Co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Working Title Films, and StudioCanal
White Noise | 2005–07  | 2  | Co-production with Gold Circle Films
Nanny McPhee | 2005–10  | Co-production with Working Title Films
Doom | 2005–19  | Co-production with Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software
Smokin' Aces | 2006–10  | Co-production with Relativity Media
Step Up | 2006–14  | 5  | select international distribution only; produced by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (1–2) and Lionsgate (3-5)
Curious George | 2006–21  | 6  | Co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Battlestar Galactica | 2007–09  | 2
Mamma Mia! | 2008–18  | Co-production with Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment, and Perfect World Pictures
Death Race | 5  | Co-production with New Horizons, Cruise/Wagner Productions, and Relativity Media
Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass | 2010–13  | 2  | Co-production with Lionsgate and Marv Films
Despicable Me | 2010–present  | 5  | Co-production with Illumination
Ted | 2012–present  | 2  | Co-production with Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films, and Fuzzy Door Productions
The Man with... | Co-production with Strike Entertainment and Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect | 2012–17  | 3  | Co-production with Gold Circle Films and Brownstone Productions
The Purge | 2013–present  | 5  | Co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes
R.I.P.D. | 2013–22  | 2  | Co-production with Dark Horse Entertainment and Original Film
Ouija | 2014–16  | Co-production with Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films, and Platinum Dunes
Neighbors | Co-production with Point Grey, Relativity Media, and Good Universe
Ride Along | Co-production with Relativity Media and Perfect World Pictures
Insidious | 2015–18  | Co-production with FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Films, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One, and Blumhouse Productions
Fifty Shades | 3  | Co-production with Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions
The Secret Life of Pets | 2016–present  | 2  | Co-production with Illumination
Sing
Unbreakable | 2016–19  | Co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
My Big Fat Greek Wedding | 2016–23  | Co-production with HBO Films, Playtone Films, Gold Circle Films, and Focus Features
Happy Death Day | 2017–present  | Co-production with Blumhouse Productions
The Addams Family | 2019–21  | International distributor; co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Bron Creative
How to Train Your Dragon | 2019–present  | 1  | Co-production with DreamWorks Animation (2019) and Marc Platt Productions
Trolls | 2020–23  | 2  | Co-production with DreamWorks Animation
Nobody | 2021–present  | 1  | Co-production with 87North Productions, Eighty Two Films and Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment
The Bad Guys | 2022–present  | Co-production with DreamWorks Animation
Shrek
M3GAN | Co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 2023–present  | Co-production with Illumination and Nintendo
Five Nights at Freddy's | Co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Scott Cawthon Productions
Kung Fu Panda | 2024–present  | Co-production with DreamWorks Animation
Wicked | Co-production with Marc Platt Productions

### Highest-grossing films

[edit]

Universal was the first studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World, and Minions.[59]

† Indicates films currently in theatrical release in the week commencing 10 January 2025.

Highest-grossing films in North America[60] | Rank | Title | Year | Gross

|
|
|

1  | Jurassic World | 2015  | $652,270,625
2  | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 2023  | $574,939,710
3  | Wicked†  | 2024  | $453,900,060
4  | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ | 1982  | $439,251,124
5  | Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | 2018  | $417,719,760
6  | Jurassic Park ‡ | 1993  | $415,248,873
7  | Jurassic World Dominion | 2022  | $376,851,080
8  | Minions: The Rise of Gru | $369,695,210
9  | The Secret Life of Pets | 2016  | $368,384,330
10  | Despicable Me 2 | 2013  | $368,061,265
11  | Despicable Me 4 | 2024  | $361,004,205
12  | Furious 7 | 2015  | $353,007,020
13  | Minions | $336,045,770
14  | Oppenheimer | 2023  | $329,862,540
15  | Meet the Fockers | 2004  | $279,261,160
16  | The Grinch | 2018  | $270,620,950
17  | Sing | 2016  | $270,329,045
18  | Twisters | 2024  | $267,762,265
19  | Despicable Me 3 | 2017  | $264,624,300
20  | Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas | 2000  | $260,044,825
21  | Jaws | 1975  | $260,000,000
22  | Despicable Me | 2010  | $251,513,985
23  | Bruce Almighty | 2003  | $242,829,261
24  | Fast & Furious 6 | 2013  | $238,679,850
25  | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | 1997  | $229,086,679
Highest-grossing films worldwide  | Rank | Title | Year | Gross

|
|
|

1  | Jurassic World | 2015  | $1,670,400,637
2  | Furious 7 | $1,516,045,911
3  | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 2023  | $1,361,767,338
4  |  Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | 2018  | $1,308,534,046
5  | The Fate of the Furious | 2017  | $1,238,764,765
6  | Minions | 2015  | $1,159,398,397
7  | Jurassic Park ‡ | 1993  | $1,058,298,560
8  | Despicable Me 3 | 2017  | $1,034,800,131
9  | Jurassic World Dominion | 2022  | $1,003,700,664
10  | Oppenheimer | 2023  | $976,120,348
11  | Despicable Me 2 | 2013  | $970,761,885
12  | Despicable Me 4 | 2024  | $961,635,692
13  | Minions: The Rise of Gru | 2022  | $939,628,210
14  | The Secret Life of Pets | 2016  | $875,457,937
15  | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ | 1982  | $797,103,542
16  | Fast & Furious 6 | 2013  | $788,679,850
17  | No Time to Die | 2021  | $774,153,007
18  | F9 | $726,229,501
19  | Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw | 2019  | $721,040,050
20  | Fast X | 2023  | $720,165,774
21  | Wicked†  | 2024  | $683,947,060
22  | Sing | 2016  | $631,214,341
23  | Fast Five | 2011  | $626,137,675
24  | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | 1997  | $618,638,999
25  | Mamma Mia! | 2008  | $611,452,132

‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

## See also

[edit]

* DreamWorks
* Woody Woodpecker

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Robert H. Cochrane (1879–1973) formed the Cochrane Advertising Agency in Chicago in 1904. He joined the Laemmle Film Service as advertising manager in 1906 and, for the next 30 years, devoted himself to promoting Carl Laemmle as the "star" of various motion picture enterprises. In 1912 Cochrane was elected vice-president of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company and served as president of Universal in 1936–37 after Laemmle sold his interests.[5]

1. ^ International and US distribution only. Released by Warner Bros. domestically in North America and other countries.

## References

[edit]

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4. ^ "Our Story". MPAA.
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21. ^ B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)#Roots of the B movie: 1910s–1920s
22. ^ Opam, Kwame (June 6, 2017). "Universal is adding The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to its cinematic universe". The Verge. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
23. ^ Leonard Leff and Jerold Simmons The Dame in the Kimono, 1990 (original edition)
24. ^ "Universal Announces Release Of "Oscar, the Rabbit" Cartoons". Moving Picture World. March 12, 1927. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
25. ^ "Universal Signs for 3 More Years of Oswald". Motion Picture News. February 18, 1928. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
26. ^ "Linked to British Company". The New York Times. March 15, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
27. ^ "International Pictures and the merger with Universal Pictures". cobbles.com. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
28. ^ "Universal-International and the Early MCA Years". Film Reference. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
29. ^ Page, Tim (October 8, 1986). "Hal B. Wallis, Film Producer, is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
30. ^ "Classics "On Line" with Universal As Unit Has Sights on Separation". Variety. March 2, 1983. p. 8.
31. ^ "MGM/UA, Par, Universal Team To Market U.S. Products In China". Variety. June 3, 1987. p. 6.
32. ^ "New Line, Universal Pay TV Sign Cable Deal For Theatrical Pics". Variety. June 10, 1987. p. 46.
33. ^ Carver, Benedict; Dawtrey, Adam (February 10, 1999). "U to start int'l distrib". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
34. ^ Groves, Don (October 8, 1999). "'Eyes' to close UPI slate". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
35. ^ Dawtrey, Adam; Petrikin, Chris (October 4, 1999). "A Universal appeal". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
36. ^ Petrikin, Chris (October 15, 1999). "U, Par extend UIP pact". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
37. ^ Reckard, E. Scott (December 9, 1996). "MCA changes name to Universal Studios Inc". Orlando Business Journal.
38. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (April 10, 1995). "The MCA Sale: The Deal; Seagram Puts the Finishing Touches on Its $5.7 Billion Acquisition of MCA". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
39. ^ "Genre Keyword, Foreign Language". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
40. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 21, 2000). "ALL-TIME FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILMS IN NORTH AMERICA". Variety. p. 16.
41. ^ "Love Actually (2003) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo.
42. ^ "New York Film Academy – Los Angeles". nyfa.edu.
43. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 5, 2009). "'Two And A Half Men' Cast's Holiday Gifts For The Show's Crew And Staff". Deadline.
44. ^ a b Goldstein, Lindsay (June 19, 2014). "Universal Partnerships & Licensing to Expand to Consumer Products Covering NBC and Sprout". The Wrap. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
45. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 9, 2013). "Universal Shakeup: Adam Fogelson Out, Donna Langley Sideways, Jeff Shell In, And Ron Meyer Up As Studio Taken By Surprise". Deadline. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
46. ^ Masters, Kim (December 13, 2012). "Why Studios Don't Pay to Make Movies Anymore". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 4. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
47. ^ Faughnder, Ryan (July 10, 2013). "Legendary Entertainment strikes five-year deal with NBCUniversal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
48. ^ "Focus Revives Gramercy Pictures Label For Genre Films". Deadline Hollywood. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
49. ^ a b Lang, Brent (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Bring Amblin Partners to Universal". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
50. ^ a b Busch, Anita (December 16, 2015). "It's Official: Spielberg, DreamWorks, Participant, eOne, Others Pact For Amblin Partners". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
51. ^ Rainey, James (February 17, 2016). "Universal and Perfect World Pictures of China Complete $500 Million Film Slate Deal".
52. ^ "Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks Animation in $3.8-billion deal". Los Angeles Times. April 28, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
53. ^ James Rainey (August 23, 2016). "NBCUniversal Sets New DreamWorks Animation Chain of Command". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
54. ^ a b Perry, Spencer (February 15, 2017). "Universal Studios Buys a Minority Stake in Amblin Partners". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
55. ^ Matt Donnelly (December 19, 2019). "Universal in Talks With Lego Group to Develop New Films Based on Toys (Exclusive)". Variety.
56. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (June 9, 2020). "Duncan Clark To Exit Universal As President Of International Distribution; Former WB Exec Veronika Kwan Vandenberg Will Take Over Role". Deadline. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
57. ^ Fritz, Ben (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Relaunches as Amblin Partners". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
58. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 2, 2024). "Jason Blum's Blumhouse and James Wan's Atomic Monster Close Merger Deal". The Hollywood Reporter.
59. ^ Nancy Tartaglione (August 28, 2015). "'Minions' Tops $1 Billion Worldwide; Universal Sets Another Industry Record – Deadline". Deadline.
60. ^ "Universal All Time Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 9, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Universal Pictures.

* Official website

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NBCUniversal

A division of Comcast

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* Golf Channel
* NBC Sports Digital
* GolfNow
* NBC Sports
* part owner
* MLB Network
* NHL Network
* Regional Networks
* Bay Area (45%)
* Boston
* California
* Philadelphia
* SNY (8%)

International
Networks|

* v
* t
* e

NBCUniversal International Networks

A division of NBCUniversal

Asia|

* DreamWorks Channel
* Golf Channel (Indonesia)

Australia & New Zealand|

* Bravo
* New Zealand
* Australia
* Universal TV
* Australia
* New Zealand

Europe, Middle East and Africa|

* 13th Street
* France
* Germany
* Spain
* Poland
* DreamWorks
* Diva
* E!
* Golf Channel
* Movies 24
* Syfy
* France
* Germany
* Poland
* Balkans
* Portugal
* Spain
* Studio Universal
* Telemundo Africa
* Universal TV Germany

Latin America & Brazil|

* Universal TV
* E!
* Golf Channel
* Studio Universal
* USA Network
* Telemundo Internacional
* DreamWorks Channel
* Universal+ (outside of Brazil)

Canada
(licensed)|

* Bravo
* E!
* Oxygen
* USA Network

Defunct|

* 13th Street Netherlands and Flanders
* 13th Street Australia
* Diva TV
* Diva Universal Italy
* Diva Asia
* E! Asia
* E! Australia and New Zealand
* Hallmark Channel International
* Hallmark Channel Benelux & Scandinavia
* KidsCo
* Sci Fi Romania
* Steel
* Style Network Australia
* Syfy Netherlands and Flanders
* Syfy Russia
* Syfy Asia
* Syfy Australia
* Syfy Latin America
* Universal Channel Greece
* Universal Channel Poland
* Universal Channel Turkey
* Universal Channel Japan
* Universal Channel Asia
* Universal TV UK & Ireland

Other assets|

* Distribution
* Domestic
* International

Telemundo Enterprises Group|

* Telemundo
* Puerto Rico Studios
* Telemundo Studios
* Universo
* Telemundo Deportesw/NBC Sports Group
* Noticias Telemundo

Local Group
O&Os|

| NBC Owned
TV Stations|

* KNBC
* KNSD
* KNTV
* KXAS-TV
* WBTS-CD
* WCAU
* WMAQ-TV
* WNBC
* WRC-TV
* WTVJ
* WVIT
* K15CU-D
* KTEL-TV
* Other properties
* Cozi TV
* NBC LX
* NBC LX Home
* NECN

|

Telemundo
Station Group|

* KASA-TV/KTEL-CD/KUPT
* KBLR
* KCSO
* KDEN-TV
* KHRR
* KNSO
* KSTS
* KTAZ
* KTDO
* KTLM
* KTMD
* KTMW
* KUAN
* KVDA
* KVEA
* KXTX-TV
* WKAQ-TV
* WNEU
* WNJU
* WRDM-CD/WDMR-LP
* WRIW-CD
* WRMD-CD
* WRTD-CD
* WSCV
* WSNS-TV
* WTMO-CD
* WWSI
* WWDT-CD
* WYCN-LD
* WZTD-LD
* WZDC-CD
* Other properties: TeleXitos

Other units|

* Affiliate relations
* NBC
* Telemundo
* EMKA, Ltd.
* International Media Distribution

News Group|

| Main divisions|

* NBC News
* NBCNews.com
* NBC Out
* MSNBC

|

CNBC global channels|

* CNBC
* Africa (licensee)
* Asia
* Brazil (licensee)
* Europe
* World

CNBC Europe branches|

* Class CNBC (20%)
* CNBC-e
* Africa (licensee)
* Arabia

CNBC Asia branches|

* CNBC TV18
* CNBC Awaaz
* CNBC Indonesia
* JKN-CNBC
* Nikkei CNBC

Former/defunct
properties|

* 13th Street (Australia)
* A&E Networks (A&E)*
* Canal+ Group
* Castle Films
* Chapman Entertainment
* Chiller
* Chiller Films
* CIC Video
* Cloo
* Comcast Network
* Craftsy
* Diva
* Diva Universal (Italy)
* E! (Asia)
* Entertainment Rights
* Esquire Network
* Fearnet
* Filmation
* FilmDistrict
* G4
* Good Machine
* Gramercy Pictures
* Hallmark Channel (international)
* ITC Entertainment
* Interscope Communications
* Miss Universe*
* Multimedia Entertainment
* NBBC
* NBCSN
* NBC Sports (Chicago (25%)
* Northwest)
* NBC Weather Plus
* October Films
* Olympic Channel
* Pacific Data Images
* Peacock Productions
* PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
* Propaganda Films
* Savoy Pictures
* SBS CNBC
* Shift
* Seeso
* Spencer Gifts
* Style Network (Australia)
* Syfy (Asia)
* Syfy (Australia)
* Tell-Tale Productions
* The Entertainment Channel*
* Total Television
* UPA
* Universal Channel (Asia)
* Universal Channel (Greece)
* Universal Channel (Japan)
* Universal Channel (Poland)
* Universal TV (UK and Ireland)
* Universal Interactive
* Universal Music Group
* Universal Channel (Turkey)
* Vivendi Universal Games
* Walter Lantz Productions
* Western Publishing
* Gold Key Comics
* Whitman Publishing
* Golden Books Family Entertainment
* Golden Book Video
* Woodland Animations
* ZGS Communications

Related|

* History of NBC
* History of NBC Sports
* Report on Chain Broadcasting (1941)
* National Broadcasting Co. v. United States (1943)

* Denotes joint ventures

* v
* t
* e

Comcast

Comcast Cable|

* Xfinity
* Xfinity Streampix
* Comcast Business
* Comcast Technology Solutions
* HITS
* thePlatform
* Xumo

Spectacor|

* Philadelphia Flyers
* Maine Mariners
* Wells Fargo Center
* New South Philadelphia Arena
* Spectra
* ComcastTIX
* T1 (32%)

Media assets|

* v
* t
* e

NBCUniversal

A division of Comcast

Predecessors|

* MCA Inc.
* PolyGram
* RCA
* Seagram Company Ltd.
* Vivendi Universal

Executives|

* Dick Ebersol
* Bonnie Hammer
* Donna Langley
* Steve Burke
* Pearlena Igbokwe
* Noah Oppenheim
* Cesar Conde

Studio Group|

| Universal Filmed
Entertainment Group|

* Universal Pictures
* Back Lot Music
* DreamWorks Animation
* Focus Features
* Illumination
* Illumination Studios Paris
* NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
* United International Pictures*
* Universal Animation Studios
* Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
* Working Title Films
* Amblin Partners
* Amblin Entertainment
* DreamWorks Pictures

|

Universal
Studio Group|

* Universal Television
* Universal Content Productions
* Universal International Studios
* Carnival Films
* Matchbox Pictures
* DreamWorks Animation Television
* DreamWorks Classics
* Big Idea Entertainment
* Bullwinkle Studios*
* Harvey Entertainment

Destinations
& Experiences Group|

| United States|

* Universal Studios Hollywood
* CityWalk
* Universal Orlando
* Universal Studios Florida
* Islands of Adventure
* CityWalk
* Epic Universe
* Universal Kids Resort
* Universal Horror Unleashed

|

International|

* Universal Studios Japan
* Universal Studios Singapore
* Universal Beijing Resort
* Universal Studios Beijing
* Universal Studios United Kingdom (planned)

Media Group|

| Television networks|

* NBC
* Bravo
* E!
* Syfy
* USA Network
* Universal Kids
* Oxygen

|

Streaming|

* Hayu
* Peacock
* PictureBox Films
* Fandango Media (70%)
* Fandango at Home

NBC
Sports Group|

* NBC Olympics
* NBC Sports Ventures
* Alli
* Golf Channel
* NBC Sports Digital
* GolfNow
* NBC Sports
* part owner
* MLB Network
* NHL Network
* Regional Networks
* Bay Area (45%)
* Boston
* California
* Philadelphia
* SNY (8%)

International
Networks|

* v
* t
* e

NBCUniversal International Networks

A division of NBCUniversal

Asia|

* DreamWorks Channel
* Golf Channel (Indonesia)

Australia & New Zealand|

* Bravo
* New Zealand
* Australia
* Universal TV
* Australia
* New Zealand

Europe, Middle East and Africa|

* 13th Street
* France
* Germany
* Spain
* Poland
* DreamWorks
* Diva
* E!
* Golf Channel
* Movies 24
* Syfy
* France
* Germany
* Poland
* Balkans
* Portugal
* Spain
* Studio Universal
* Telemundo Africa
* Universal TV Germany

Latin America & Brazil|

* Universal TV
* E!
* Golf Channel
* Studio Universal
* USA Network
* Telemundo Internacional
* DreamWorks Channel
* Universal+ (outside of Brazil)

Canada
(licensed)|

* Bravo
* E!
* Oxygen
* USA Network

Defunct|

* 13th Street Netherlands and Flanders
* 13th Street Australia
* Diva TV
* Diva Universal Italy
* Diva Asia
* E! Asia
* E! Australia and New Zealand
* Hallmark Channel International
* Hallmark Channel Benelux & Scandinavia
* KidsCo
* Sci Fi Romania
* Steel
* Style Network Australia
* Syfy Netherlands and Flanders
* Syfy Russia
* Syfy Asia
* Syfy Australia
* Syfy Latin America
* Universal Channel Greece
* Universal Channel Poland
* Universal Channel Turkey
* Universal Channel Japan
* Universal Channel Asia
* Universal TV UK & Ireland

Other assets|

* Distribution
* Domestic
* International

Telemundo Enterprises Group|

* Telemundo
* Puerto Rico Studios
* Telemundo Studios
* Universo
* Telemundo Deportesw/NBC Sports Group
* Noticias Telemundo

Local Group
O&Os|

| NBC Owned
TV Stations|

* KNBC
* KNSD
* KNTV
* KXAS-TV
* WBTS-CD
* WCAU
* WMAQ-TV
* WNBC
* WRC-TV
* WTVJ
* WVIT
* K15CU-D
* KTEL-TV
* Other properties
* Cozi TV
* NBC LX
* NBC LX Home
* NECN

|

Telemundo
Station Group|

* KASA-TV/KTEL-CD/KUPT
* KBLR
* KCSO
* KDEN-TV
* KHRR
* KNSO
* KSTS
* KTAZ
* KTDO
* KTLM
* KTMD
* KTMW
* KUAN
* KVDA
* KVEA
* KXTX-TV
* WKAQ-TV
* WNEU
* WNJU
* WRDM-CD/WDMR-LP
* WRIW-CD
* WRMD-CD
* WRTD-CD
* WSCV
* WSNS-TV
* WTMO-CD
* WWSI
* WWDT-CD
* WYCN-LD
* WZTD-LD
* WZDC-CD
* Other properties: TeleXitos

Other units|

* Affiliate relations
* NBC
* Telemundo
* EMKA, Ltd.
* International Media Distribution

News Group|

| Main divisions|

* NBC News
* NBCNews.com
* NBC Out
* MSNBC

|

CNBC global channels|

* CNBC
* Africa (licensee)
* Asia
* Brazil (licensee)
* Europe
* World

CNBC Europe branches|

* Class CNBC (20%)
* CNBC-e
* Africa (licensee)
* Arabia

CNBC Asia branches|

* CNBC TV18
* CNBC Awaaz
* CNBC Indonesia
* JKN-CNBC
* Nikkei CNBC

Former/defunct
properties|

* 13th Street (Australia)
* A&E Networks (A&E)*
* Canal+ Group
* Castle Films
* Chapman Entertainment
* Chiller
* Chiller Films
* CIC Video
* Cloo
* Comcast Network
* Craftsy
* Diva
* Diva Universal (Italy)
* E! (Asia)
* Entertainment Rights
* Esquire Network
* Fearnet
* Filmation
* FilmDistrict
* G4
* Good Machine
* Gramercy Pictures
* Hallmark Channel (international)
* ITC Entertainment
* Interscope Communications
* Miss Universe*
* Multimedia Entertainment
* NBBC
* NBCSN
* NBC Sports (Chicago (25%)
* Northwest)
* NBC Weather Plus
* October Films
* Olympic Channel
* Pacific Data Images
* Peacock Productions
* PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
* Propaganda Films
* Savoy Pictures
* SBS CNBC
* Shift
* Seeso
* Spencer Gifts
* Style Network (Australia)
* Syfy (Asia)
* Syfy (Australia)
* Tell-Tale Productions
* The Entertainment Channel*
* Total Television
* UPA
* Universal Channel (Asia)
* Universal Channel (Greece)
* Universal Channel (Japan)
* Universal Channel (Poland)
* Universal TV (UK and Ireland)
* Universal Interactive
* Universal Music Group
* Universal Channel (Turkey)
* Vivendi Universal Games
* Walter Lantz Productions
* Western Publishing
* Gold Key Comics
* Whitman Publishing
* Golden Books Family Entertainment
* Golden Book Video
* Woodland Animations
* ZGS Communications

Related|

* History of NBC
* History of NBC Sports
* Report on Chain Broadcasting (1941)
* National Broadcasting Co. v. United States (1943)

* Denotes joint ventures

* v
* t
* e

Sky Group

A subsidiary of Comcast

UK and Ireland|

| Channels|

* Challenge
* Sky Arts
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Sky Comedy
* Sky Crime
* Sky Documentaries
* Sky Kids
* Sky Max
* Sky Mix
* Sky Nature
* Sky News
* Sky Replay
* Sky Sci-Fi
* Sky Showcase
* Sky Sports
* Box Office
* F1
* News
* Sky Witness

|

Defunct channels|

* Now
* Galaxy
* The Power Station
* The Sports Channel
* The Comedy Channel
* Sky Arts
* Sky 2
* The Movie Channel
* Sky Scottish
* Sky Soap
* .tv
* PremPlus
* Sky News Ireland
* The Amp
* Sky One
* Sky Travel
* Sky Real Lives
* Bravo
* 2
* Challenge Jackpot
* Channel One
* Sky Living
* Loves
* Sky 3D
* Real Lives
* Merit

Joint ventures|

* Sky Sports Racing
* A&E Networks UK
* History
* H2
* Blaze
* Crime & Investigation
* Ginx TV
* Paramount UK Partnership
* Comedy Central
* Extra
* Sky News Arabia

Defunct JVs|

* A&E Networks UK
* Lifetime
* Bio

Defunct magazines|

* Sky Magazine
* Sky Kids

Other|

* Amstrad
* Diagonal View
* Freesat from Sky
* On Demand
* Sky Sports Active
* Digibox
* Minidish
* Sky+
* HD
* Sky Q
* Sky Betting & Gaming
* Sky Broadband
* Sky Active
* Sky Go
* Sky News Radio
* Sky Store
* Sky Text
* Sky Vision
* Now
* The Cloud
* Open....
* Sky Multichannels

Germany and Austria|

| Channels|

* Sky One
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Sky Krimi
* Sky Crime
* Sky Sport
* Sky Sport News
* Sky Sport Bundesliga
* Sky Sport F1

|

Defunct|

* Sky 3D
* Sky Arts
* Sky Select
* Sky Comedy

Other|

* Sky Store

Italy|

| Channels|

* Sky Uno
* Sky Arte
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Due
* Sky Meteo 24
* Sky Primafila
* Sky Sport
* Sky Sport F1
* Sky Sport MotoGP
* Sky Sport 24
* Sky Calcio
* Sky TG24
* Cielo
* TV8
* Sky Documentaries
* Sky Investigation
* Sky Nature
* Sky Serie

|

Defunct|

* Sky Vivo
* Sky Show
* Sky 3D
* Sky Music
* Sky Radio

History|

* Timeline
* Criticisms
* British Satellite Broadcasting
* Sky Television (1984–1990)
* Living TV Group
* Former joint ventures & properties
* Australian News Channel
* Granada Sky Broadcasting
* Japan Sky Broadcasting
* Sky México
* Sky Brasil
* Stream TV

See also|

* Sky Campus
* Sky Studios
* Jupiter Entertainment (60%)
* Love Productions
* Sky España
* Sky Switzerland

Other holdings|

| Current|

* Comcast Ventures
* Fandango Media (70%)
* In Demand (33.3%)
* Leisure Arts
* Midco (49%)

|

Former|

* Comcast Entertainment TV
* GuideWorks
* Plaxo
* G4

Related|

* Comcast Corp. v. FCC (2010)

See also: Acquisition of NBC Universal

* v
* t
* e

Comcast franchises and series

Universal Pictures†|

* Universal Monsters◈
* Dracula
* Frankenstein
* The Invisible Man
* The Mummy
* The Wolf Man
* Back to the Future¶
* Jaws
* Johnny English
* Jurassic Park¶◈
* K-9
* The Munsters
* The Nutty Professor
* Pitch Perfect
* Psych
* Psycho
* The Purge
* The Scorpion King
* Step Up+
* Ted
* Tremors
* Unbreakable§
* Wet Hot American Summer
* The Little Rascals¶
* Fifty Shades
* Fast & Furious◈
* Meet the Parents
* Bourne
* Bring It On
* Despicable Me
* Sing
* The Secret Life of Pets
* Child's Play
* Dragonheart
* American Pie
* American Pie Presents
* Beethoven
* Casper the Friendly Ghost
* Hulk#
* Airport

Universal Television|

* Knight Rider
* The Equalizer
* The Office
* Chicago
* Battlestar Galactica
* Law & Order
* Dragnet

Universal Animation Studios|

* Woody Woodpecker
* Chilly Willy
* The Land Before Time¶
* Curious George
* An American Tail
* The LEGO Movie

DreamWorks Animation|

* Madagascar
* Megamind
* The Bad Guys
* The Boss Baby
* The Croods
* How to Train Your Dragon
* Kung Fu Panda
* Monsters vs. Aliens
* Shrek
* Spirit
* Tales of Arcadia
* Trolls

* † Includes Illumination and Focus Features
* ¶ Co-owned with Amblin Entertainment
* ◈ Shared with DreamWorks Animation
* # Shared with Marvel Studios
* § Shared with Walt Disney Pictures
* \+ Shared with Lionsgate
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Film studios in the United States and Canada

Majors|

| Universal Studios|

* Universal Pictures
* Focus Features
* Carnival Films
* Working Title Films
* United International Pictures (50%)
* Amblin Partners (minority)
* Amblin Entertainment
* DreamWorks Pictures

|

Paramount Pictures|

* Paramount Players
* Republic Pictures
* Miramax (49%)
* Awesomeness Films
* BET Films
* MTV Entertainment Studios
* Nickelodeon Movies
* United International Pictures (50%)
* Viacom18 Studios (13.01%)

|

Walt Disney Studios|

* Walt Disney Pictures
* 20th Century Studios
* 20th Century Family
* Marvel Studios
* Lucasfilm
* Star Studios
* Regency Enterprises (20%)
* Searchlight Pictures
* Disneynature
* ESPN Films (80%)
* National Geographic Partners (73%)
* A&E Networks (50%)
* Vice Media (16%)
* Hulu

|

Warner Bros.|

* Warner Bros. Pictures
* New Line Cinema
* Castle Rock Entertainment
* CNN Films
* DC Studios
* Flagship Entertainment Group (49%)
* HBO Films
* HBO Documentary Films
* Spyglass Media Group (minority)

|

Sony Pictures|

* Columbia Pictures
* TriStar Pictures
* Sony Pictures Releasing
* 3000 Pictures
* PlayStation Productions
* Screen Gems
* Sony Pictures Classics
* TriStar Productions
* Worldwide Acquisitions
* Affirm Films
* Crunchyroll
* Destination Films
* Stage 6 Films
* Ghost Corps
* Sony Pictures Kids Zone
* Left Bank Pictures
* Silvergate Media

|

Mini-majors|

| Amazon MGM Studios|

* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
* United Artists
* Orion Pictures
* Orion Classics
* American International Pictures
* Lightworkers Media

|

Lionsgate Studios|

* Lionsgate Films
* Lionsgate Premiere
* Summit Entertainment
* Lionsgate Canada
* eOne Films
* Roadside Attractions (43%)
* Pantelion Films (50%)
* Good Universe
* 3 Arts Entertainment (majority)
* Spyglass Media Group (18.9%)
* Amblin Partners (minority)
* Amblin Entertainment
* DreamWorks Pictures

|

Others|

* A24
* 2AM (backing)
* STX Entertainment

|

Horizontal
production/
distribution
companies|

* Apple Studios
* Condé Nast Entertainment
* Dark Horse Entertainment
* Hasbro Entertainment
* Mattel Films
* Netflix
* Random House Studio
* Roku
* Scholastic Corporation
* Square Enix
* Ubisoft Film & Television

Slate
partners|

* AGC Studios
* Atlas Entertainment
* Black Bear Pictures
* Black Label Media
* Black List
* Bron
* Mad Solar
* Escape Artists
* Endeavor
* FilmNation Entertainment
* Gotham Group
* Grosvenor Park
* H Collective
* ICM Partners
* Ingenious Media
* LAMF
* Lantern Entertainment
* Legendary Pictures
* MRC
* New Republic Pictures
* PalmStar Media
* Prospect Park
* Skydance Media
* TSG Entertainment
* Village Roadshow Pictures
* Voltage Pictures

Production/
distribution
companies|

* 2929 Entertainment
* Magnolia Pictures
* Truly Indie
* Allied Artists Film Group
* American Zoetrope
* Angel Studios
* Annapurna Pictures
* Anonymous Content
* The Asylum
* Artemis Rising Foundation
* BayView Entertainment
* Beacon Pictures
* Berlanti Productions
* Bleecker Street
* Blue Fox Entertainment
* Blumhouse Productions
* Bold Films
* Brainstorm Media
* Brillstein Entertainment
* Broadway Video
* Brookstreet Pictures
* Chicken & Egg Pictures
* Cinelou Films
* CineTel Films
* Darius Films
* Dolphin Entertainment
* Drafthouse Films
* Decal
* Elevation Pictures
* Emmett/Furla Oasis
* Entertainment Studios
* Freestyle Releasing
* Film Arcade
* Fork Films
* FotoKem
* Fox Entertainment
* MarVista Entertainment
* Giant Pictures
* Gunpowder & Sky
* IFC Films
* Indican Pictures
* Impact Partners
* Jim Henson Company
* Lakeshore Entertainment
* LD Entertainment
* levelFILM
* Likely Story
* Louverture Films
* Mandalay Pictures
* Mandeville Films
* Maximum Effort
* Millennium Media
* Morgan Creek Entertainment
* Motion Picture Corporation of America
* Myriad Pictures
* Neon
* Open Road Films
* Oscilloscope
* Picturehouse
* Quiver Distribution
* RadicalMedia
* Relativity Media
* Rogue Pictures
* Revolution Studios
* RKO Pictures
* Saban Films
* Samuel Goldwyn Films
* Screen Media
* Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
* Silver Pictures
* Dark Castle Entertainment
* Shout! Studios
* Solstice Studios
* Strand Releasing
* Sycamore Pictures
* TLA Releasing
* Topic Studios
* Utopia
* Vertical
* Virgin Produced
* Walden Media
* Wolfe Video
* WWE Studios
* XTR
* XYZ Films
* 21 Laps Entertainment
* 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
* 87North
* 1492 Pictures
* A Very Good Production
* Abso Lutely
* After Dark Films
* AGBO
* Alcon Entertainment
* Apatow
* Appian Way
* Atomic Monster
* Bad Hat Harry Productions
* Bad Robot
* Bazelevs Company
* Bedford Falls Productions
* Big Beach
* Blinding Edge Pictures
* Brandywine
* Brownstone
* Bubble Factory
* Centropolis
* Cha Cha Cha Films
* Chernin Entertainment
* Cheyenne Enterprises
* Color Force
* Cross Creek Pictures
* Crystal Sky Pictures
* Cube Vision
* Darko Entertainment
* Davis Entertainment
* Di Bonaventura Pictures
* District
* Donners' Company
* Double R Productions
* Echo Films
* Electric
* Evolution Entertainment
* Twisted Pictures
* Excellent Cadaver
* Flower Films
* Freckle Films
* Fruit Tree
* Fuzzy Door
* Gary Sanchez
* Gloria Sanchez
* Genre Films
* Ghost House Pictures
* GK Films
* Gracie Films
* Happy Madison
* Haxan Films
* Hello Sunshine
* Hoorae Media
* Icon
* Identity Films
* ImageMovers
* Imagine
* Jax Media
* Indian Paintbrush
* Infinitum Nihil
* Intrepid Pictures
* Jerry Bruckheimer Films
* Judgemental Films
* KatzSmith
* Kennedy/Marshall Company
* Ketchup Entertainment
* Killer Films
* Kingdom Story Company
* Lightstorm Entertainment
* LuckyChap Entertainment
* Malpaso
* Marv
* Monkeypaw
* Montecito Picture Company
* Mr. Mudd
* Music Box
* Mutant Enemy
* MWM
* Nine Stories
* One Race Films
* Original Film
* Our Stories Films
* Outerbanks Entertainment
* Overbrook Entertainment
* Paper Kite
* Phoenix Pictures
* Picture Company
* Plan B Entertainment
* Platinum Dunes
* Playtone
* Point Grey Pictures
* Protozoa Pictures
* Red Hour Films
* Rideback
* Roth/Kirschenbaum Films
* Scott Free
* Seven Bucks
* Shangri-La Entertainment
* Shondaland
* Smokehouse Pictures
* Stone Quarry
* Studio 8
* Story Syndicate
* Sunday Night
* Syncopy Inc.
* Tango Entertainment
* Team Downey
* Temple Hill
* The Hideaway Entertainment
* Thunder Road Films
* Tim Burton
* Tyler Perry Studios
* Valhalla Entertainment
* Vertigo Entertainment
* View Askew
* SModcast Pictures
* Vinyl Films
* WingNut Films
* 30West
* Wonderland Sound and Vision

Defunct/former|

| Disney|

* Caravan Pictures
* Cinergi Pictures
* Fox 2000 Pictures
* Fox Atomic
* Fox Faith
* Fox Film
* Hollywood Pictures
* New World Pictures
* Selznick International Pictures
* Touchstone Pictures
* Twentieth Century Pictures
* UTV Motion Pictures

|

Lionsgate|

* Anchor Bay Films
* Artisan Entertainment
* Christal Films
* Mandate Pictures
* Maple Pictures
* Momentum Pictures
* Overture Films
* Trimark Pictures
* Vestron Pictures

MGM|

* 21st Century Film Corporation
* Atlantic Entertainment Group
* Cannon Films
* Cinecom
* Dimension Pictures (1970s)
* Epic Productions
* Filmways
* G2 Pictures
* Goldwyn Pictures
* Hemdale Film Corporation
* Island Pictures
* Louis B. Mayer Pictures
* Metro Pictures Corporation
* Mirisch Company
* Samuel Goldwyn Company
* Samuel Goldwyn Productions
* Trans World Entertainment
* United Artists Releasing

Universal|

* FilmDistrict
* Good Machine
* Gramercy Pictures
* Independent Moving Pictures
* Interscope Communications
* Propaganda Films
* Savoy Pictures

Paramount|

* CBS Theatrical Films
* Cinema Center Films
* Comedy Central Films
* Commonwealth United Entertainment
* Famous Players Film Company
* Famous Players–Lasky
* Go Fish Pictures
* Liberty Films
* Mascot Pictures
* Paramount Famous Productions
* Paramount Vantage
* Rysher Entertainment
* Sunn Classic Pictures
* United States Pictures

Sony|

* Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation
* Embassy Pictures
* Empire International Pictures
* First Independent Films
* Triumph Films

Warner Bros.|

* Fine Line Features
* First National Pictures
* Lorimar Film Entertainment
* Monogram Pictures
* National General Pictures
* Nelson Entertainment
* Rooster Teeth
* Seven Arts Productions
* Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
* Warner Independent Pictures

Others|

* Alchemy
* American Film Manufacturing Company
* Art Star Scene Studios
* Astor Pictures
* Aviron Pictures
* Aurora Productions
* Biograph Company
* Bison Film Company
* Bluebird Photoplays
* Boxoffice International Pictures
* Bryanston Pictures
* C2 Pictures
* Calvin Company
* Carolco Pictures
* Castle Hill Productions
* Centaur Film Company
* Champion Film Company
* Christie Film Company
* Cinemation Industries
* Cinerama Releasing Corporation
* Compass International Pictures
* Crown International Pictures
* De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
* DEJ Productions
* Distributors Corporation of America
* Eaco Films
* Eagle-Lion Films
* Edison Studios
* Educational Pictures
* Essanay Studios
* Dramatic Feature Films
* Fireworks Entertainment
* First Look Studios
* Franchise Pictures
* Geffen Film Company
* Global Road Entertainment
* Grand National Pictures
* Hal Roach Studios
* Hasbro Entertainment
* Allspark
* Jensen Farley Pictures
* Ladd Company
* Largo Entertainment
* Lippert Pictures
* Lubin Manufacturing Company
* Madison 23 Productions
* Manson International
* Newmarket Films
* OddLot Entertainment
* Pacific International Enterprises
* Participant
* PM Entertainment
* Producers Releasing Corporation
* RatPac Entertainment
* Red Granite Pictures
* Regent Releasing
* Schneider's Bakery
* Scotti Bros. Pictures
* Section Eight Productions
* Seed Productions
* Strike Entertainment
* ThinkFilm
* This Is That Productions
* Virtual Studios
* Weinstein Company
* Dimension Films
* Weintraub Entertainment Group

List of American animation studios

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Academy Award for Best Picture

1951–1975|

* Arthur Freed (1951)
* Cecil B. DeMille (1952)
* Buddy Adler (1953)
* Sam Spiegel (1954)
* Harold Hecht (1955)
* Michael Todd (1956)
* Sam Spiegel (1957)
* Arthur Freed (1958)
* Sam Zimbalist (1959)
* Billy Wilder (1960)
* Robert Wise (1961)
* Sam Spiegel (1962)
* Tony Richardson (1963)
* Jack L. Warner (1964)
* Robert Wise (1965)
* Fred Zinnemann (1966)
* Walter Mirisch (1967)
* John Woolf (1968)
* Jerome Hellman (1969)
* Frank McCarthy (1970)
* Philip D'Antoni (1971)
* Albert S. Ruddy (1972)
* Tony Bill, Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips (1973)
* Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos (1974)
* Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz (1975)

1976–2000|

* Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler (1976)
* Charles H. Joffe (1977)
* Michael Cimino, Michael Deeley, John Peverall and Barry Spikings (1978)
* Stanley R. Jaffe (1979)
* Ronald L. Schwary (1980)
* David Puttnam (1981)
* Richard Attenborough (1982)
* James L. Brooks (1983)
* Saul Zaentz (1984)
* Sydney Pollack (1985)
* Arnold Kopelson (1986)
* Jeremy Thomas (1987)
* Mark Johnson (1988)
* Lili Fini Zanuck and Richard D. Zanuck (1989)
* Kevin Costner and Jim Wilson (1990)
* Ron Bozman, Edward Saxon and Kenneth Utt (1991)
* Clint Eastwood (1992)
* Branko Lustig, Gerald R. Molen and Steven Spielberg (1993)
* Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey and Steve Tisch (1994)
* Bruce Davey, Mel Gibson and Alan Ladd Jr. (1995)
* Saul Zaentz (1996)
* James Cameron and Jon Landau (1997)
* Donna Gigliotti, Marc Norman, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein and Edward Zwick (1998)
* Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks (1999)
* David Franzoni, Branko Lustig and Douglas Wick (2000)

2001–present|

* Brian Grazer and Ron Howard (2001)
* Martin Richards (2002)
* Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne and Fran Walsh (2003)
* Clint Eastwood, Tom Rosenberg and Albert S. Ruddy (2004)
* Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman (2005)
* Graham King (2006)
* Ethan Coen, Joel Coen and Scott Rudin (2007)
* Christian Colson (2008)
* Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro (2009)
* Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin (2010)
* Thomas Langmann (2011)
* Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov (2012)
* Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Brad Pitt (2013)
* Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole (2014)
* Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Michael Sugar (2015)
* Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Adele Romanski (2016)
* J. Miles Dale and Guillermo del Toro (2017)
* Jim Burke, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga and Charles B. Wessler (2018)
* Bong Joon-ho and Kwak Sin-ae (2019)
* Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears and Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Fabrice Gianfermi, Philippe Rousselet, Patrick Wachsberger (2021)
* Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang (2022)
* Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan (2023)

Portals:

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Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* 2
* VIAF
* 2

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* 2
* Israel
* Catalonia

Artists|

* Museum of Modern Art

People|

* Trove

Other|

* MusicBrainz label

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