Jump to content

Columbia Pictures

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Columbia Studios)
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Columbia Pictures
FormerlyColumbia Pictures Corporation (1924–1968)
Company typeDivision
IndustryFilm
PredecessorCohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation (1918–1924)
Founded
  • June 19, 1918; 106 years ago (1918-06-19) (as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation) in New York City, United States
  • January 10, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-01-10) (as Columbia Pictures) in Los Angeles, United States
FoundersHarry and Jack Cohn
Joe Brandt
HeadquartersThalberg Building, 10202 West Washington Boulevard,
Culver City, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Sanford Panitch (president)
Michael Marshall (president, Business Affairs & Administration)
ProductsMotion pictures
ParentThe Coca-Cola Company (1982–1987)
Sony Pictures Entertainment (1987–1998)
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group (1998–present)
SubsidiariesGhost Corps[1]
Websitesonypictures.com
Footnotes / references
[2]

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., commonly known as Columbia Pictures, is an American film production and distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group,[2] a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.[3]

On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded the studio as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation.[4] It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use the image of Columbia, the female personification of the United States, as its logo.

In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra. With Capra and others such as the most successful two reel comedy series, The Three Stooges, Columbia became one of the primary homes of the screwball comedy. In the 1930s, Columbia's major contract stars were Jean Arthur and Cary Grant. In the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studio's premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell, Glenn Ford and William Holden also became major stars at the studio.

It is one of the leading film studios in the world, and was one of the so-called "Little Three" among the eight major film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age.[5] Today, it has become the world's third largest major film studio.

The company was also primarily responsible for distributing Disney's Silly Symphony film series as well as the Mickey Mouse cartoon series from 1929 to 1932. The studio is presently headquartered at the Irving Thalberg Building on the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (currently known as the Sony Pictures Studios) lot in Culver City, California since 1990.

Columbia Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), under Sony Pictures Entertainment,[6] and is currently one of six live-action labels of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, the others being TriStar Pictures, Affirm Films, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics, and Stage 6 Films. Columbia's most commercially successful franchises include Spider-Man, Jumanji, Bad Boys, Men in Black, The Karate Kid, Robert Langdon, and Ghostbusters, and the studio's highest-grossing film worldwide is Spider-Man: No Way Home with box office of $1.92 billion.

History

[edit]

Early years as CBC

[edit]
The original CBC Film Sales logo used from 1919 through 1924

The studio was founded on June 19, 1918, as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jack's best friend Joe Brandt, and released its first feature film More to Be Pitied Than Scorned on August 20, 1922. The film, with a budget of $20,000, was a success, bringing in $130,000 in revenue for the company.[7] Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studio's early productions were low-budget short subjects: Screen Snapshots, the Hallroom Boys (the vaudeville duo of Edward Flanagan and Neely Edwards), and the Charlie Chaplin-imitator Billy West.[8] The start-up CBC leased space in a Poverty Row studio on Hollywood's famously low-rent Gower Street. Among Hollywood's elite, the studio's small-time reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage".[4]

Reorganization and new name

[edit]

CBC was reorganized as Columbia Pictures Corporation by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn and best friend Joe Brandt on January 10, 1924.[9] Harry Cohn became president in 1932 and remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for a total of 34 years, one of the longest tenures of any studio chief (Warner Bros.' Jack L. Warner was head of production or CEO longer but did not become CEO until 1956). Even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jack's relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, "because it has so many Cohns".[10]

Brandt eventually tired of dealing with the Cohn brothers, and in 1932 sold his one-third stake to Jack and Harry Cohn, who took over from him as president.

Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the second tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists and Universal. Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia was a horizontally integrated company. It controlled production and distribution; it did not own any theaters.

Helping Columbia's climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra. Between 1927 and 1939, Capra constantly pushed Cohn for better material and bigger budgets. A string of hits he directed in the early and mid 1930s solidified Columbia's status as a major studio. In particular, It Happened One Night, which nearly swept the 1934 Oscars, put Columbia on the map. Until then, Columbia's business had depended on theater owners willing to take its films, since it did not have a theater network of its own. Other Capra-directed hits followed, including the original version of Lost Horizon (1937), with Ronald Colman, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), which made James Stewart a major star.[citation needed]

In 1933, Columbia hired Robert Kalloch to be its chief fashion and women's costume designer. He was the first contract costume designer hired by the studio,[11] and he established the studio's wardrobe department.[12] Kalloch's employment, in turn, convinced leading actresses that Columbia Pictures intended to invest in their careers.[13]

In 1938, the addition of B. B. Kahane as vice president would produce Charles Vidor's Those High Grey Walls (1939), and The Lady in Question (1940), the first joint film of Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Kahane would later become the President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1959, until his death a year later.

Columbia could not afford to keep a huge roster of contract stars, so Jack Cohn usually borrowed them from other studios. At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the industry's most prestigious studio, Columbia was nicknamed "Siberia", as Louis B. Mayer would use the loan-out to Columbia as a way to punish his less-obedient signings. In the 1930s, Columbia signed Jean Arthur to a long-term contract, and after The Whole Town's Talking (1935), Arthur became a major comedy star. Ann Sothern's career was launched when Columbia signed her to a contract in 1936. Cary Grant signed a contract in 1937 and soon after it was altered to a non-exclusive contract shared with RKO.

Many theaters relied on westerns to attract big weekend audiences, and Columbia always recognized this market. Its first cowboy star was Buck Jones, who signed with Columbia in 1930 for a fraction of his former big-studio salary. Over the next two decades Columbia released scores of outdoor adventures with Jones, Tim McCoy, Ken Maynard, Jack Luden, Bob Allen (Robert (Tex) Allen), Russell Hayden, Tex Ritter, Ken Curtis, and Gene Autry. Columbia's most popular cowboy was Charles Starrett, who signed with Columbia in 1935 and starred in 131 western features over 17 years.[citation needed]

Short subjects

[edit]

At Harry Cohn's insistence, the studio signed the Three Stooges in 1934. Rejected by MGM (which kept straight-man Ted Healy but let the Stooges go),[14] the Stooges made 190 shorts for Columbia between 1934 and 1957. Columbia's short-subject department employed many famous comedians, including Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Andy Clyde, and Hugh Herbert. Almost 400 of Columbia's 529 two-reel comedies were released to television between 1958 and 1961; to date, all of the Stooges, Keaton, Charley Chase, Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita subjects have been released to home video.[15]

Columbia incorporated animation into its studio in 1929, distributing Krazy Kat cartoons, taking over from Paramount. The following year, Columbia took over distribution of the Mickey Mouse series from Celebrity Productions until 1932. In 1933, The Mintz studio was re-established under the Screen Gems brand; Columbia's leading cartoon series were Krazy Kat, Scrappy, The Fox and the Crow, and (very briefly) Li'l Abner.[16] Screen Gems was the last major cartoon studio to produce black-and-white cartoons, producing them until 1946. That same year, Screen Gems shut down but had completed enough cartoons for the studio to release until 1949. In 1948, Columbia agreed to release animated shorts from United Productions of America; these new shorts were more sophisticated than Columbia's older cartoons, and many won critical praise and industry awards. In 1957, two years before the UPA deal was terminated, Columbia distributed the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Loopy De Loop from 1959 to 1965, which was Columbia's final theatrical cartoon series. In 1967, the Hanna-Barbera deal expired and was not renewed.

According to Bob Thomas' book King Cohn, studio chief Harry Cohn always placed a high priority on serials. Beginning in 1937, Columbia entered the lucrative serial market and kept making these weekly episodic adventures until 1956, after other studios had discontinued them. The most famous Columbia serials are based on comic-strip or radio characters: Mandrake the Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Terry and the Pirates (1940), Captain Midnight (1942), The Phantom (1943), Batman (1943), and the especially successful Superman (1948), among many others.

Columbia also produced musical shorts, sports reels (usually narrated by sportscaster Bill Stern), and travelogues. Its "Screen Snapshots" series, showing behind-the-scenes footage of Hollywood stars, was a Columbia perennial that the studio had been releasing since the silent-movie days; producer-director Ralph Staub kept this series going through 1958.

1940s

[edit]
The logo that Columbia used starting in 1936 and ending in 1976; this version was used on the Color Rhapsody cartoons.

In the 1940s, propelled in part by the surge in audiences for their films during World War II, the studio also benefited from the popularity of its biggest star, Rita Hayworth. Columbia maintained a long list of contractees well into the 1950s; Glenn Ford, Penny Singleton, William Holden, Judy Holliday, The Three Stooges, Ann Miller, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Doran, Jack Lemmon, Cleo Moore, Barbara Hale, Adele Jergens, Larry Parks, Arthur Lake, Lucille Ball, Kerwin Mathews and Kim Novak.

Harry Cohn monitored the budgets of his films, and the studio got the maximum use out of costly sets, costumes, and props by reusing them in other films. Many of Columbia's low-budget "B" pictures and short subjects have an expensive look, thanks to Columbia's efficient recycling policy. Cohn was reluctant to spend lavish sums on even his most important pictures, and it was not until 1943 that he agreed to use three-strip Technicolor in a live-action feature. Columbia was the last major studio to employ the expensive color process. Columbia's first Technicolor feature was the western The Desperadoes, starring Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford. Cohn quickly used Technicolor again for Cover Girl, a Hayworth vehicle that instantly was a smash hit, released in 1944, and for the fanciful biography of Frédéric Chopin, A Song to Remember, with Cornel Wilde, released in 1945. Another biopic, 1946's The Jolson Story with Larry Parks and Evelyn Keyes, was started in black-and-white, but when Cohn saw how well the project was proceeding, he scrapped the footage and insisted on filming in Technicolor.

In 1948, the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust decision forced Hollywood motion picture companies to divest themselves of the theater chains that they owned. Since Columbia did not own any theaters, it was now on equal terms with the largest studios. The studio soon replaced RKO on the list of the "Big Five" studios.

Screen Gems

[edit]
Screen Gems' logo of the 1960s

In 1946, Columbia dropped the Screen Gems brand from its cartoon line, but retained the Screen Gems name for various ancillary activities, including a 16 mm film-rental agency and a TV-commercial production company. On November 8, 1948, Columbia adopted the Screen Gems name for its television production subsidiary when the studio acquired Pioneer Telefilms, a television commercial company founded by Jack Cohn's son, Ralph.[17] Pioneer had been founded in 1947, and was later reorganized as Screen Gems.[17] The studio opened its doors for business in New York on April 15, 1949.[17] By 1951, Screen Gems became a full-fledged television studio and became a major producer of sitcoms for TV, beginning with Father Knows Best and followed by The Donna Reed Show, The Partridge Family, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Monkees.

On July 1, 1956, studio veteran Irving Briskin stepped down as manager of Columbia Pictures and formed his own production company Briskin Productions, Inc. to release series through Screen Gems and supervise all of its productions.[18] On December 10, Screen Gems expanded into television syndication by acquiring Hygo Television Films (a.k.a. "Serials Inc.") and its affiliated company United Television Films, Inc. Hygo Television Films was founded in 1951 by Jerome Hyams, who also acquired United Television Films in 1955 that was founded by Archie Mayers.[19]

In 1957, two years before its parent company Columbia dropped UPA, Screen Gems entered a distribution deal with Hanna-Barbera Productions, which produced classic TV cartoon shows such as The Flintstones, Ruff and Reddy, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Yogi Bear, Jonny Quest, The Jetsons and Top Cat among others. Screen Gems were distributed until 1967 when Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting. In 1960, the cartoon studio became a publicly traded company under the name Screen Gems, Inc., when Columbia spun off an 18% stake.

1950s

[edit]

By 1950, Columbia had discontinued most of its popular series films (Boston Blackie, Blondie, The Lone Wolf, The Crime Doctor, Rusty, etc.) Only Jungle Jim, launched by producer Sam Katzman in 1949, kept going through 1955. Katzman contributed greatly to Columbia's success by producing dozens of topical feature films, including crime dramas, science-fiction stories, and rock'n'roll musicals. Columbia kept making serials until 1956 and two-reel comedies until 1957, after other studios had abandoned these mediums.

As the larger studios declined in the 1950s, Columbia's position improved. This was largely because it did not suffer from the massive loss of income that the other major studios suffered from the loss of their theaters (well over 90 percent, in some cases). Columbia continued to produce 40-plus pictures a year, offering productions that often broke ground and kept audiences coming to theaters. Some of its significant films from this era include the studio's adaptation of the controversial James Jones novel From Here to Eternity (1953), On the Waterfront (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with William Holden and Alec Guinness, all of which won the Best Picture Oscar. Another significant film of the studio was the free adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1956).

Columbia also released the productions of the English studio Warwick Films (by producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli), as well as many films by producer Carl Foreman, who resided in England. Columbia distributed some films made by Hammer, which was also based in England.

In December 1956, Jack Cohn, co-founder and executive vice-president, died.[20] In 1958, Columbia established its own record label, Colpix Records, initially run by Jonie Taps, who headed Columbia's music department, and later Paul Wexler and Lester Sill. Colpix was active until 1966 when Columbia entered into a joint agreement with RCA Victor and discontinued Colpix in favor of its new label, Colgems Records.

1960s: After Harry Cohn's death

[edit]

Shortly after closing their short subjects department, Columbia president Harry Cohn died of a heart attack in February 1958. His nephew Ralph Cohn died in 1959, ending almost four decades of family management.[21]

The new management was headed by Abe Schneider, who had joined the company as an office boy out of high school and become a director in 1929, rising through the financial side of the business.[22] In 1963, Columbia acquired music publisher Aldon Music.[23]

By the late 1960s, Columbia had an ambiguous identity, offering old-fashioned fare such as A Man for All Seasons and Oliver! along with the more contemporary Easy Rider and The Monkees. After turning down releasing Albert R. Broccoli's Eon Productions James Bond films, Columbia hired Broccoli's former partner Irving Allen to produce the Matt Helm series with Dean Martin. Columbia also produced a James Bond spoof, Casino Royale (1967), in conjunction with Charles K. Feldman, which held the adaptation rights for that novel.

By 1966, the studio was suffering from box-office failures, and takeover rumors began surfacing. Columbia was surviving solely on the profits made from Screen Gems, whose holdings also included radio and television stations.[24] On December 23, 1968, Screen Gems merged with Columbia Pictures Corporation and became part of the newly formed Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. for $24.5 million.[25] Schneider was chairman of the holding company and Leo Jaffe president. Following the merger, in March 1969, CPI purchased Bell Records for $3.5 million (mainly in CPI stock), retaining Larry Uttal as label president.

1970s

[edit]
Stock certificate in 1965

Nearly bankrupt by the early 1970s, the studio was saved via a radical overhaul: the Gower Street Studios (now called "Sunset Gower Studios") were sold and a new management team was brought in. In 1972, Columbia and Warner Bros. formed a partnership called The Burbank Studios, in which both companies shared the Warner studio lot in Burbank.

In 1971, Columbia Pictures established sheet music publisher Columbia Pictures Publications, with vice president and general manager Frank J. Hackinson, who later became the president.[26]

In 1973, Allen & Co took a financial stake in Columbia Pictures Industries and Alan Hirschfield was appointed CEO,[27] succeeding Leo Jaffe who became chairman. Stanley Schneider, son of Abe Schneider (who became honorary chairman before leaving the board in 1975) was replaced as head of the Columbia Pictures studio by David Begelman, who reported to Hirschfield. Some years later Begelman was involved in a check-forging scandal that badly hurt the studio's image.

On May 6, 1974, Columbia retired the Screen Gems name from television, renaming its television division to the name of Columbia Pictures Television. The name was suggested by David Gerber, who was then president of Columbia's television division.[28] The same year, Columbia Pictures acquired Rastar Pictures, which included Rastar Productions, Rastar Features, and Rastar Television. Ray Stark then founded Rastar Films, the reincarnation of Rastar Pictures, which was acquired by Columbia Pictures in February 1980.[29]

Columbia Pictures also reorganized its music and record divisions. Clive Davis was hired as a record and music consultant by Columbia Pictures in 1974 and later became temporary president of Bell Records. Davis's real goal was to revitalize Columbia Pictures' music division. With a $10 million investment by CPI, and a reorganization of the various Columbia Pictures legacy labels (Colpix, Colgems, and Bell), Davis introduced Columbia Pictures' new record division, Arista Records, in November 1974, with Davis himself owning 20% of the new venture. Columbia maintained control of the label until 1979, when it was sold to Ariola Records. In addition, Columbia sold its music publishing business (Columbia-Screen Gems) to EMI in August 1976 for $15 million.[30] Both would later be reunited with Columbia Pictures under Sony ownership.

In December 1976, Columbia Pictures acquired the arcade game company D. Gottlieb & Co. for $50 million.[31]

In 1978, Begelman was suspended for having embezzled money from Columbia. Hirschfield was forced out for his refusal to reinstate him.[32][33] Begelman later resigned and was replaced by Daniel Melnick in June 1978.[34] Fay Vincent was hired to replace Hirschfield.

Frank Price became president of production in 1978. In March 1979, he would become president of Columbia Pictures, succeeding Melnick.[34] During Price's tenure he was responsible for turning out 9 of the top 10 grossing films in Columbia's history.[35]

In the fall of 1978, Kirk Kerkorian, a Vegas casino mogul who also controlled Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, acquired a 5.5% stake in Columbia Pictures.[36] He then announced on November 20, that he intended to launch a tender offer to acquire another 20% for the studio.[36] On December 14, a standstill agreement was reached with Columbia by promising not to go beyond 25% or seeking control for at least three years.[36]

On January 15, 1979, the United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Kerkorian to block him from holding a stake in Columbia while controlling MGM.[36] On February 19, 1979, Columbia Pictures Television acquired TOY Productions; the production company founded by Bud Yorkin and writers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein in 1976.[37] In May, Kerkorian acquired an additional 214,000 shares in Columbia, raising his stake to 25%.[36] On August 2, the trial began; on August 14, the court ruled in favor for Kerkorian.[36] In 1979, Columbia agreed with Time-Life Video to release 20 titles on videocassette.[38]

1980s: Coca-Cola, Tri-Star, and other acquisitions and ventures

[edit]

On September 30, 1980, Kerkorian sued Columbia for ignoring shareholders' interest and violating an agreement with him.[36] Columbia later accused him on October 2, of scheming with Nelson Bunker Hunt to gain control of Columbia.

In 1981, Kerkorian sold his 25% stake in Columbia back to CPI.[36] Columbia Pictures later acquired 81% of The Walter Reade Organization, which owned 11 theaters; it purchased the remaining 19% in 1985.

Around this time, Columbia put Steven Spielberg's proposed follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Night Skies, into turnaround. The project eventually became the highest-grossing film of the time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Columbia received a share of the profits for its involvement in the development.[39]

On May 17, 1982, Columbia Pictures acquired Spelling-Goldberg Productions for over $40 million.[40][41] With a healthier balance-sheet (due in large part to box office hits like Kramer vs. Kramer, Stir Crazy, The Blue Lagoon, and Stripes) Columbia was bought by beverage company The Coca-Cola Company on June 22, 1982, for $750 million.[42] Studio head Frank Price mixed big hits like Tootsie, Gandhi, The Karate Kid, The Big Chill, and Ghostbusters with many costly flops. To share the increasing cost of film production, Coke brought in two outside investors whose earlier efforts in Hollywood had come to nothing. In 1982, Columbia, Time Inc.'s HBO and CBS announced, as a joint venture, "Nova Pictures"; this enterprise was to be renamed Tri-Star Pictures.[43] In 1983, Price left Columbia Pictures after a dispute with Coca-Cola and went back to Universal.[44] He was replaced by Guy McElwaine.[45]

In the early 1980s, Columbia and Tri-Star Pictures set up a film partnership with Delphi Film Associates and acquired an interest in various film releases. In 1984, Delphi Film Associates III acquired an interest in the Tri-Star and Columbia film slate of 1984, which would make a $60 million offering in the financing of film production.[46] Also that year, Columbia Pictures had bought out the rights to Hardbodies, which was once premiered on The Playboy Channel.[47]

Columbia Pictures expanded its music publishing operations in the 1980s, acquiring Big 3 Publishing (the former sheet music operations of Robbins, Feist, and Miller) from MGM/UA Communications Co. in 1983, Belwin-Mills Publishing from Simon & Schuster in 1985, and Al Gallico Music in 1987.[48][49][50]

On June 18, 1985, Columbia's parent acquired Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio's Embassy Communications, Inc. (including Embassy Pictures, Embassy Television, Tandem Productions, and Embassy Home Entertainment), mostly for its library of television series such as All in the Family and The Jeffersons, for $485 million.[51] On November 16, 1985, CBS dropped out of the Tri-Star venture.[52]

Many changes occurred in 1986. Expanding its television franchise, on May 5, Columbia also bought Merv Griffin Enterprises for $250 million. The company was notable for: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Dance Fever, and The Merv Griffin Show.[53][54] Months later on August 28, the Columbia Pictures Television Group acquired Danny Arnold's Danny Arnold Productions, Inc.. The deal included Arnold's rights to the sitcom Barney Miller (Four D Productions) among other produced series such as Fish (The Mimus Corporation), A.E.S. Hudson Street (Triseme Corporation), and Joe Bash (Tetagram Ltd.). Arnold had dropped the federal and state lawsuits against the television studio which were accusing them of antitrust violations, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.[55][56][57]

Coca-Cola sold the Embassy Pictures division to Dino de Laurentiis, who later folded Embassy Pictures into Dino de Laurentiis Productions, Inc. The company was renamed to De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. Coca-Cola also sold Embassy Home Entertainment to Nelson Entertainment. Coca-Cola, however, retained the Embassy Pictures name, logo, and trademark. HBO was the last partner to drop out of the Tri-Star venture and sold its shares to Columbia[58] Tri-Star later expanded into the television business with its new Tri-Star Television division.

The same year, Columbia recruited British producer David Puttnam to head the studio. Puttnam attempted to defy Hollywood filmmaking by making smaller films instead of big tentpole pictures. His criticism of American film production, in addition to the fact that the films he greenlit were mostly flops, left Coke and Hollywood concerned.[clarification needed]

Puttnam then discontinued multi-picture pacts with various filmmakers, including Norman Jewison, which was permitted to expire before all of the promised product could be delivered.[59] Under Puttnam's control, he set up a $270 million package of in-house pictures and acquisitions, and the average lineup of 25 features was expected to be $10.78 million, about $4 million less of the cost at Columbia before Puttnam came on board, and a number of low-cost acquisitions such as Spike Lee's $5 million picture School Daze.[60]

On October 22, 1986, Greg Coote was appointed by Columbia Pictures as key executive of the studio, to complement David Puttman's pledge on Columbia Pictures to fix its sights over its international market.[61] On December 17, 1986, the company acquired a 30% share in Roadshow, Coote & Carroll, a company Greg Coote headed, and decided that they would pick up films and miniseries to put an effort to add it up to Columbia's shares, and listed dozens of theatrical and television films and dozens of miniseries throughout the addition of the Columbia slate.[62]

On June 26, 1987, Coca-Cola sold The Walter Reade Organization to Cineplex Odeon Corporation.[63] On October 14, 1987, Coca-Cola's entertainment division invested in $30 million in Castle Rock Entertainment with five Hollywood executives. Coke's entertainment business division owned 40% in Castle Rock, while the execs owned 60%.[64]

Columbia Pictures Entertainment era (1987–1989)

[edit]

The volatile film business made Coke shareholders nervous, and following the critical and box-office failure of Ishtar, Coke spun off its entertainment holdings on December 21, 1987, and sold it to Tri-Star Pictures for $3.1 billion. Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (CPE), with Coke owning 80% of the company.[65] Both studios continued to produce and distribute films under their separate names.[66]

Puttnam was ousted from the position after only one year.[67] Puttnam was succeeded by Dawn Steel. Other small-scale, "boutique" entities were created: Nelson Entertainment, a joint venture with British and Canadian partners, Triumph Films, jointly owned with French studio Gaumont, and which is now a low-budget label, and Castle Rock Entertainment.

On January 2, 1988, Columbia/Embassy Television and Tri-Star Television were formed into the new Columbia Pictures Television and Embassy Communications was renamed as ELP Communications. In early 1988, CPE set up a new subsidiary, Triumph Releasing Corporation, which handled administrative services related to distribution of Columbia and Tri-Star's films for the North American market, while Triumph was responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of Columbia and Tri-Star films under the direction of each individual studio internationally, with Patrick N. Williamson serving as head of Triumph.[68]

On January 16, 1988, CPE's stock fell slightly in the market on its first day trading in the New York Stock Exchange. Coke spun off 34.1 million of its Columbia shares to its shareholders by reducing its stake in CPE from 80% to 49%.[69] On April 13, 1988, CPE spun off Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. as a reformed company of the Tri-Star studio.[70] In April 1988, CPE sold its music publishing operations to the British company Filmtrax.[71] (Filmtrax was acquired by Thorn EMI in 1990.)[72] In June 1988, CPE announced the sale of Columbia Pictures Publications (consisting of the print music operations) to the investment firm Boston Ventures and was renamed CPP/Belwin.[73] CPP/Belwin was acquired by Warner Chappell Music of Warner Bros. in 1994.[74]

On February 2, 1989, Columbia Pictures Television formed a joint-venture with Norman Lear's Act III Communications called Act III Television (now Act III Productions) to produce television series instead of managing.[75][76]

Sony era (1989–present)

[edit]

On September 28, 1989, the Columbia Pictures empire was sold to the electronics giant Sony, one of several Japanese firms then buying American properties, for the amount of $3.4 billion.[77] The sale netted Coca-Cola a profit from its investment in the studio.[78][79] Sony then hired two producers, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, to serve as coheads of production when Sony also acquired the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (the former game show production company, Barris Industries) for $200 million on September 29, 1989.[80] Guber and Peters had just signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. in 1989, having been with the company since 1983. Warner Bros., then a subsidiary of Warner Communications, sued Sony for $1 billion.[81] Sony completed CPE's acquisition on November 8, and the Guber-Peters acquisition was completed on the following day.

On December 1, 1989, Guber and Peters hired a longtime lawyer of GPEC, Alan J. Levine, to the post of president and COO of Columbia's newly formed company Filmed Entertainment Group (FEG).[82] FEG consisted of Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Triumph Releasing, Columbia Pictures Television, Columbia Pictures Television Distribution, Merv Griffin Enterprises, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (internationally known as RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video), Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, and ancillary and distribution companies.

1990s

[edit]
Columbia Pictures painting on the outer wall of Sony Pictures Studios after the 1993 change.

In 1990, Sony ended up paying hundreds of millions of dollars, gave up a half-interest in its Columbia House Records Club mail-order business, and bought from Time Warner the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio lot in Culver City, which Warner Communications had acquired in its takeover of Lorimar-Telepictures in 1989, thus ending the Burbank Studios partnership. Initially renamed Columbia Studios, Sony spent $100 million to refurbish the rechristened Sony Pictures Studios lot.

Guber and Peters set out to prove they were worth this fortune, but though there were to be some successes, there were also many costly flops. The same year, Frank Price was made the chairman of Columbia Pictures. His company Price Entertainment, Inc., which he founded in 1987, was merged with Columbia in March 1991. Price left Columbia on October 4, 1991, and was replaced by Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton and reactivated Price Entertainment as Price Entertainment Company with a nonexclusive deal with SPE.[83] Peters was fired by his partner Guber in 1991, but Guber later resigned in 1994 to form Mandalay Entertainment the following year.[84] The entire operation was reorganized and renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) on August 7, 1991,[85] and at the same time, TriStar (which had officially lost its hyphen) relaunched its television division in October. In December 1991, SPE created Sony Pictures Classics for arthouse fare and was headed by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Marcie Bloom,[86] who previously operated United Artists Classics and Orion Classics. Publicly humiliated, Sony suffered an enormous loss on its investment in Columbia, taking a $2.7 billion write-off in 1994. John Calley took over as SPE president in November 1996, installing Amy Pascal as Columbia Pictures president and Chris Lee as president of production at TriStar. By the next spring, the studios were clearly rebounding, setting a record pace at the box office.[87] On December 7, 1992, Sony Pictures acquired the Barry & Enright game show library.[88]

On February 21, 1994, Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television merged to form Columbia TriStar Television (CTT),[89][90][91] including the rights to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! after CTT folded Merv Griffin Enterprises in June.[92][93] That same year, the company also purchased Stewart Television, known for producing game shows such as Pyramid and Chain Reaction, among others. On July 21, 1995, Sony Pictures teamed up with Jim Henson Productions and created the joint venture Jim Henson Pictures.[94][95]

In the 1990s, Columbia announced plans for a rival James Bond franchise since they owned the rights to Casino Royale and were planning to make a third version of Thunderball with Kevin McClory. MGM and Danjaq, LLC, owners of the franchise, sued Sony Pictures in 1997, with the legal dispute ending two years later in an out-of-court settlement. Sony traded the Casino Royale rights for $10 million, as well as the Spider-Man filming rights.[96] The superhero became Columbia's most successful franchise:[97] The first movie came out in 2002, and as of 2021, there have been seven follow-up movies with US grosses in excess of $2.5 billion.[98] Between the releases of the first and second sequels in 2004 and 2007, Sony led a consortium that purchased MGM, giving it distribution rights to the James Bond franchise.

In 1997, Columbia Pictures ranked as the highest-grossing movie studio in the United States, with a gross of $1.256 billion. In 1998, Columbia and TriStar merged to form the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (a.k.a. Columbia TriStar Pictures), though both studios still produce and distribute under their own names. Pascal retained her position as president of the newly united Columbia Pictures, while Lee became the combined studio's head of production.[99] On December 8, 1998, Sony Pictures Entertainment relaunched the Screen Gems brand as a horror and independent film distribution company after shutting down Triumph Films.[100] In 1999, TriStar Television was folded into CTT. Two years later, CPT was folded into CTT as well.

2000s

[edit]

In the 2000s, Sony broadened its release schedule by backing Revolution Studios, the production/distribution company headed by Joe Roth. On October 25, 2001, CTT and Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (CTTD) merged to form Columbia TriStar Domestic Television.[101] On September 16, 2002, Columbia TriStar Domestic Television was renamed Sony Pictures Television.[102] Also in 2002, Columbia broke the record for biggest domestic theatrical gross, with a tally of $1.575 billion, coincidentally breaking its own record of $1.256 billion, set in 1997. The 2002 gross was primarily raised by such blockbusters as Spider-Man, Men in Black II, and XXX.[103]

The studio was also the most lucrative of 2004,[103] with over $1.338 billion in the domestic box office with films such as Spider-Man 2, 50 First Dates, and The Grudge,[104] and in 2006. Columbia's box office successes of 2006 included such blockbusters as The Da Vinci Code, The Pursuit of Happyness, Monster House, Casino Royale, and Open Season. The studio not only finished the year in first place, but also reached an all-time record high sum of $1.711 billion, which was an all-time yearly record for any studio. It was surpassed by Warner Bros. in 2009.[105]

2010s

[edit]

On October 29, 2010, Matt Tolmach, the copresident of Columbia Pictures, stepped down to produce The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel. Doug Belgrad, the other copresident of Columbia, was promoted to sole president of the studio. Belgrad and Tolmach had been copresidents of the studio since 2008 and had been working together as a team since 2003.[106][107] The same day, Hanna Minghella was named president of production of Columbia.[106][107]

On November 18, 2012, Sony Pictures announced it has passed the profit line of $4 billion worldwide with the success of Columbia's releases Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black 3, and Hotel Transylvania and Screen Gems' releases Underworld: Awakening, The Vow, and Resident Evil: Retribution.[108]

On July 16, 2014, Doug Belgrad was named president of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.[109] He exited the post in June 2016. On June 2, Sanford Panitch, who had been the head of international local language production at the studio, was named president of Columbia Pictures.[110]

2020s

[edit]
Logo used for the 2024 centennial anniversary

In April 2021, Sony signed a deal with Netflix, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company that allows Sony's titles from 2022 to 2026 to stream on Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window following its theatrical release,[111] and Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.[112]

The Ghostbusters-themed slide at Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse.

On December 17, 2021, Columbia released Spider-Man: No Way Home. The movie grossed over $1 billion in the box office, being the first film since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to gross a billion.[113][114] The film became Sony Pictures' highest-grossing release.[115]

The sign of Columbia Pictures at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

On January 10, 2024, Sony Pictures celebrated the centennial anniversary of the founding of Columbia Pictures with a new motion logo; the centennial print logo was previously revealed on November 14, 2023.[116][117] The motion logo made its theatrical debut in the 2024 re-release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[118]

[edit]

The Columbia Pictures logo, featuring the Torch Lady, a woman carrying a torch and wearing a drape (representing Columbia, a personification of the United States), has gone through five major changes.[119][120][121] It has often been compared to the Statue of Liberty, which was an inspiration to the Columbia Pictures logo.[121]

History

[edit]

Originally in 1924, Columbia Pictures used a logo featuring a female Roman soldier holding a shield in her left hand and a stick of wheat in her right hand, which was based on actress Doris Doscher (known as the model for the statue on the Pulitzer Fountain) as the Standing Liberty quarter used from 1916 to 1930, though the studio's version was given longer hair.[122] The logo changed in 1928 with a new woman wearing a draped flag and torch. The woman wore a headdress, the stola and carried the palla of ancient Rome, and above her were the words "A Columbia Production" ("A Columbia Picture" or "Columbia Pictures Corporation") written in an arch. The illustration was based upon the actress Evelyn Venable, known for providing the voice of the Blue Fairy in Walt Disney's Pinocchio. A 1926 version of the logo (used during the silent film era) with the slogan, "Gems of the Screen"; itself a takeoff on the song "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean", later inspired the renaming of the Charles Mintz Studio into Screen Gems.[citation needed]

In 1936, the logo was changed into the well known classic look: the Torch Lady now stood on a pedestal, wore no headdress, and the text "Columbia" appeared in chiseled letters behind her. Pittsburgh native Jane Chester Bartholomew, whom Harry Cohn discovered working as an extra at Columbia, portrayed the Torch Lady in the logo. There were several variations to the logo over the years—significantly, a color version was done in 1943 for The Desperadoes.[121] Two years earlier, the flag became just a drape with no markings.[119][120] The latter change came after a federal law was passed making it illegal to wear an American flag as clothing. In the 1950s, the woman's robe was redrawn and shaded with a plunging neckline and an exposed slipper-clad foot. A new form of animation was used on the logo as well, with a torch that radiates light instead of flickers. From 1955 to 1963, Columbia used the woman from the 1936 logo under the Screen Gems banner, officially billing itself as a part of "the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures", as spoken in announcements at the end of some Screen Gems series. 1976's Taxi Driver was one of the last films released before the "Torch Lady" was revamped, although the 1936 logo would be later used in several Columbia releases, generally to match the year a given film is set in.

From 1976 to 1993,[119] Columbia Pictures used two logos. The first, from 1976 to 1981 (or from 1975 for promotional material until 1982 for international territories) used just a sunburst representing the beams from the torch, although the woman appears briefly in the opening logo. The score accompanying the first logo was composed by Suzanne Ciani. The studio hired visual effects pioneer Robert Abel to animate the first logo.[123] The image was created with over fifty light exposures that included streak and special filter passes. The woman returned in 1981, but in a much smoother form described as resembling a Coke bottle.[119] The 1981 version was also used for Triumph Films, with the woman under the Arc de Triomphe in the logo. During the studio's run with the Coca-Cola Company from 1982 to 1989, a golden version of the Torch Lady was used for the Columbia Pictures Television logo until it was replaced with the 1981 version after Coca-Cola sold Columbia to Sony. The slogans for the 1976 and 1981 logos were "Let us entertain you" and "Movies That Matter", respectively.

In 1992, the longest-running, and perhaps best known, iteration of the logo was created; the television division was the first to use it. Films began to use the new logo the year after, when Scott Mednick and the Mednick Group were hired by Peter Guber to create logos for all the entertainment properties then owned by Sony Pictures.[124] Mednick hired New Orleans artist Michael Deas,[125] to digitally repaint the logo and return the woman to her "classic" look.[126] An urban legend is that actress Annette Bening was the model for the current logo. Bening's face was later superimposed onto the Torch Lady in the opening intro of What Planet Are You From? (2000) as an inside joke. Michael Deas hired Jennifer Joseph, a 28-year-old graphics artist for The Times-Picayune, as a model for the logo.[127] Due to time constraints, she agreed to help out on her lunch break. It was the first and only time she ever modeled. Joseph had recently discovered she was pregnant at the time.[128] Deas also hired The Times-Picayune photographer Kathy Anderson to photograph the reference photography.[129] The animation was created by Synthespian Studios in 1993 by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak, who used 2D elements from the painting and converted it to 3D.[130] The studio being part of Sony would not be referenced on-screen until 1996. VHS promos featured the current logo and the older logos with the number 75 behind the Torch Lady, commemorating the studio's 75th anniversary in 1999 with the slogan, "Lighting Up Screens Around the World". The current logo was also used for Screen Gems Network and Columbia Showcase Theatre, both now defunct programming blocks that featured syndicated airings of Sony Pictures-owned shows and films, respectively. In 2012, the current logo was displayed as a painting at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. Deas gave an interview to WWL-TV: "I never thought it would make it to the silver screen and I never thought it would still be up 20 years later, and I certainly never thought it would be in a museum, so it's kind of gratifying."[131] On November 14, 2023, Sony unveiled a special centennial logo ahead the studios’ 100th anniversary, consisting of the current Torch Lady within a stylized “100” and later posted an animation that showcases the older logos in the same vein as the Spider-Verse films on January 10, 2024, the 100th anniversary of the founding of Columbia Pictures.[132]

Gallery
  • Logo used in 1924
    Logo used in 1924
  • Logo used in 1926
    Logo used in 1926
  • Logo used in 1936
    Logo used in 1936
  • Logo initially used for promotional material in 1975 and onscreen in 1976 to 1982
    Logo initially used for promotional material in 1975 and onscreen in 1976 to 1982
  • Logo used in 1981
    Logo used in 1981
  • Logo used in 1989
    Logo used in 1989
  • Logo used from 1992-1993
    Logo used from 1992-1993

Filmography

[edit]
Main article: Lists of Columbia Pictures films

Film series

[edit]
Title Release date No. Films Notes
The Three Stooges 1934–65 200 190 short subjects from 1934 to 1959, and 10 feature films from 1941 to 1965
The Lone Wolf 1935–49 15
Charles Starrett 1935–52 131 Westerns, including 64 features as The Durango Kid
Mr. Deeds 1936–2002 2
Blondie 1938–50 28
Five Little Peppers 1939–40 4
Ellery Queen 1940–42 5
George Formby 1941–46 7 From South American George to George in Civvy Street; released by Columbia outside the United States
Boston Blackie 1941–49 14
Cantinflas 1942–82 34 From Los tres mosqueteros to El barrendero; released by Columbia outside the United States
Crime Doctor 1943–49 10
The Whistler 1944–48 8
Rusty 1945–49 8
Gene Autry 1947–53 33
Jungle Jim 1948–55 16
Gasoline Alley 1951 2
13 Ghosts 1960–2001
Matt Helm 1966–69 4
Guess Who 1967–2005 2
James Bond 1967–2015 5 From Casino Royale to Spectre; co-production with Famous Artists Productions (1967), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions (both 2006–15)
Death Wish 1974–82 2 International distributor; released in the US by Paramount Pictures and produced by Filmways Pictures
Spider-Man 1977–81 3 International theatrical distribution only; co-production with Danchuck Productions and Charles Fries Productions
Fun with Dick and Jane 1977–2005 2
The Blue Lagoon 1980–91
Gloria 1980–99
Annie 1982–2014 3 Co-production with Rastar, Overbrook Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, Storyline Entertainment, Chris Montan Productions and Walt Disney Television (1999)
Ghostbusters 1984–present 5 Co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures (2016) and Ghost Corps (2016–)
The Karate Kid 6
Flatliners 1990–2017 2
City Slickers 1991–94 Co-production with Castle Rock Entertainment, Nelson Entertainment (1991) and Face Productions
My Girl co-production with Imagine Entertainment
El Mariachi 1992–2003 3
RoboCop 1993–2014 2 Co-production with Orion Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Little Women 1994–2019 Co-production with Di Novi Pictures, Pascal Pictures and Regency Enterprises (2019)
Street Fighter 1994–present 1 Co-production with Universal Pictures, Edward R. Pressman Productions, (both 1994) and Legendary Pictures (2026)
Bad Boys 1995–present 4 Co-production with Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 2.0 Entertainment (2020–2024), Overbrook Entertainment (2020), and Westbrook Studios (2024)
The Craft 1996–2020 2
I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997–98 Co-production with Mandalay Pictures
Men in Black 1997–2019 4 Co-production with Amblin Entertainment
Stuart Little 1999–2002 2 Co-production with Red Wagon Entertainment
Anatomy 2000–03 Co-production with Claussen + Wöbke Filmproduktion
Charlie's Angels 2000–19 3 Co-production with Leonard Goldberg Productions, Flower Films, Tall Trees Productions (all 2000–03), Wonderland Sound and Vision (2003), 2.0 Entertainment, Brownstone Productions and Cantillon Company (all 2019)
XXX 2002–05 2 Co-production with Revolution Studios
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2002–07 3 Co-production with Marvel Entertainment and Laura Ziskin Productions
Terminator 2003–09 2 International distributor; Co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures
The Grudge 2004–06 Co-production with Ghost House Pictures
Jumanji 2005–present 4
Are We There Yet? 2005–07 2 Co-production with Revolution Studios
The Pink Panther 2006–09 Co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Robert Langdon 2006–16 3 Co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Relativity Media
Ghost Rider 2007–11 2 Co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Crystal Sky Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, Saturn Films, Imagenation Abu Dhabi, and Relativity Media
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2009–13 Co-production with Sony Pictures Animation
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2009–15 Co-production with Happy Madison Productions
Zombieland 2009–present Co-production with Pariah
Grown Ups 2010–13 Co-production with Happy Madison Productions
The Smurfs 2011–17 3 Co-production with Sony Pictures Animation and The K Entertainment Company
Dragon Tattoo Stories 2011–18 2 Co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Jump Street 2012–14 Co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Relativity Media, and Original Film
The Amazing Spider-Man Co-production with Marvel
Hotel Transylvania 2012–22 4 Co-production with Sony Pictures Animation
The Equalizer 2014–23 3 Co-production with Escape Artists
Goosebumps 2015–18 2 Co-production with Sony Pictures Animation, Scholastic Entertainment and Original Film
Angry Birds 2016–19 Co-production with Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures Animation (2019)
Attraction 2017–20 Russian film; Co-production with Art Pictures Studio
Marvel Cinematic Universe 2017–present 3 Co-production with Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (licensed only)
Peter Rabbit 2018–21 2 Co-production with Sony Pictures Animation (2018), Animal Logic, Olive Bridge Entertainment and Screen Australia
Sony's Spider-Man Universe 2018–present 4 Co-production with Marvel and Pascal Pictures
Spider-Verse 2 Co-production with Marvel, Sony Pictures Animation, Pascal Pictures, and Lord Miller Productions
Escape Room 2019–present Co-production with Original Film
PlayStation films 2022–present Co-production with PlayStation Productions

Highest-grossing films

[edit]
Highest-grossing films in North America
Rank Title Year Box office gross
1 Spider-Man: No Way Home ‡ 2021 $814,108,407
2 Spider-Man ‡ 2002 $407,022,860
3 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 2017 $404,540,171
4 Spider-Man: Far From Home ‡ 2019 $390,532,085
5 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ‡ 2023 $381,311,319
6 Spider-Man 2 ‡ 2004 $373,585,825
7 Spider-Man 3 ‡ 2007 $336,530,303
8 Spider-Man: Homecoming ‡ 2017 $334,201,140
9 Jumanji: The Next Level 2019 $320,314,960
10 Skyfall 2012 $304,360,277
11 The Amazing Spider-Man ‡ 2012 $262,030,663
12 Men in Black 1997 $250,690,539
13 Ghostbusters 1984 $229,242,989
14 Hancock 2008 $227,946,274
15 The Da Vinci Code 2006 $217,536,138
16 Venom: Let There Be Carnage 2021 $213,550,366
17 Venom 2018 $213,515,506
18 Bad Boys for Life 2020 $204,292,401
19 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ‡ 2014 $202,853,933
20 Spectre 2015 $200,074,609
21 22 Jump Street 2014 $191,719,337
22 Men in Black II 2002 $190,418,803
23 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018 $190,241,310
24 Hitch 2005 $179,495,555
25 Men in Black 3 2012 $179,020,854
Highest-grossing films worldwide
Rank Title Year Box office gross
1 Spider-Man: No Way Home ‡ 2021 $1,916,306,995
2 Skyfall 2012 $1,142,471,295
3 Spider-Man: Far From Home ‡ 2019 $1,131,927,996
4 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 2017 $962,126,927
5 Spider-Man 3 ‡ 2007 $894,983,373
6 Spectre 2015 $880,674,609
7 Spider-Man: Homecoming ‡ 2017 $880,166,924
8 Venom 2018 $855,013,954
9 Spider-Man ‡ 2002 $825,025,036
10 Jumanji: The Next Level 2019 $800,059,707
11 2012 2009 $791,217,826
12 Spider-Man 2 ‡ 2004 $788,976,453
13 The Da Vinci Code 2006 $758,239,851
14 The Amazing Spider-Man ‡ 2012 $757,930,663
15 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ‡ 2014 $708,982,323
16 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ‡ 2023 $689,810,862
17 Hancock 2008 $624,386,746
18 Men in Black 3 2012 $624,026,776
19 Casino Royale 2006 $606,099,584
20 Quantum of Solace 2008 $589,580,482
21 Men in Black 1997 $589,390,539
22 The Smurfs 2011 $563,749,323
23 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation 2018 $528,583,774
24 Venom: Let There Be Carnage 2021 $501,546,922
25 Angels & Demons 2009 $490,875,846

‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ghost Corps, Inc., a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc". sonypictures.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Divisions – Sony Pictures". sonypictures.com. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  3. ^ "Sony, Form 20-F, Filing Date Jun 28, 2011" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Rozen, Leah (November 14, 1999). "HOLIDAY FILMS: SCREEN GEMS; It Happened With One Movie: A Studio Transformed". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Grady, Frank. "THE STUDIO ERA". umsl.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  6. ^ "Motion Picture Association of America – Who We Are – Our Story". MPAA. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "フランク・キャプラ、その才能の発掘 | ソニー・ピクチャーズ公式". www.sonypictures.jp. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  8. ^ Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781903364666.
  9. ^ "Home". Sony Pictures Germany – via Google Translate.
  10. ^ Thomas, Bob (1967). King Cohn: The Life and Times of Harry Cohn. London: Barrie and Rockliff. p. 40.
  11. ^ Chierichetti 1976, p. 155.
  12. ^ Smyth 2018, p. 183.
  13. ^ Jorgensen & Scoggins 2015, p. 183.
  14. ^ Okuda, Ted; Watz, Edward (1986). The Columbia Comedy Shorts. p. 60. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-89950-181-8.
  15. ^ Hilbrich, Greg. "A History of the Columbia Comedy Short". The Columbia Shorts Department.
  16. ^ "History of Gems". Los Angeles Times. June 12, 1999. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  17. ^ a b c "SCREEN GEMS HAS NEW IRON IN FIRE". Broadcasting. April 13, 1959. p. 70.
  18. ^ "Briskin to Form Company". Broadcasting. June 11, 1956. p. 52.
  19. ^ "SCREEN GEMS BUYS HYGO, UNITED, SETS UP TV OWNERSHIP DIVISION". Broadcasting. December 10, 1956. p. 60.
  20. ^ "Jack Cohn Dead; Film Pioneer, 67". The New York Times. December 10, 1956. p. 31. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  21. ^ "RALPH M. COHN, 45, TY OFFICIAL, DIESI; President of Screen Gems a Columbia Pictures Aide, Had Been Film Producer". The New York Times. August 2, 1959.
  22. ^ Suzan Ayscough (April 23, 1993). "Ex-Col titan Schneider dies". Variety.
  23. ^ "Bellhop Turned Millionaire, 30, Heads a Columbia Film Division; Don Kirshner, President of Mask Unit, Made Fortane by Publishing Hit Tunes". The New York Times. September 14, 1964.
  24. ^ Dick, pp. 18–20
  25. ^ "Columbia, SG complete $24.5 million merger". Broadcasting. December 23, 1968. p. 53.
  26. ^ "The F.J.H. Music Company Inc. – About us". fjhmusic.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  27. ^ Cieply, Michael (January 28, 2015). "Alan J. Hirschfield, 79, Hollywood Executive, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  28. ^ "Remodeling at Screen Gems". Broadcasting. May 6, 1974. p. 39.
  29. ^ Dick, p. 29.
  30. ^ "A Brief History of EMI: 1970–1979". The EMI Group Archive Trust. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  31. ^ "Arista Helps Columbia Pictures". Billboard. November 26, 1977. p. 8.
  32. ^ Stedman, Alex (January 16, 2015). "Alan Hirschfield, Former Columbia Chief Exec, Dies at 79". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  33. ^ "Alan Hirschfield, Former Chief Exec of Columbia, Dies at 79". The Hollywood Reporter. January 18, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  34. ^ a b "Film studio exec caught in revolving doors". Daily Variety. October 28, 1980. p. 34.
  35. ^ Elaine Dutka (March 22, 1990). "Hollywood Veteran Price to Head Film Unit at Columbia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h "MGM/UA Under Kerkorian Meant 20 Years of Change". Los Angeles Times. March 8, 1990. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  37. ^ "New TOY". Broadcasting. February 19, 1979. p. 39.
  38. ^ Brown, Les (June 13, 1979). "Videotapes for Homes". The New York Times.
  39. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (November 22, 1989). "Exec Shifts Make Columbia the Gem of Commotion". Variety. p. 1.
  40. ^ Perry, pp. 28
  41. ^ "Columbia buys Spelling-Goldberg". Broadcasting. May 17, 1982. p. 42.
  42. ^ "Coke Completes Columbia Merger". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 23, 1982. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  43. ^ Brown, Merrill (May 25, 1983). "TV Merger Hits Snag At Justice: Staff Opposes Plan Of HBO Rivals: Baxter Undecided Staff Opposes Plan For Pay TV Merger". The Washington Post. p. D9. ProQuest 147616787.
  44. ^ "Price is Leaving Columbia". The Dispatch. October 10, 1983. Retrieved August 15, 2012 – via Google News.
  45. ^ "Columbia In-House Productions – 1978–89". Variety. November 22, 1989. p. 16.
  46. ^ "7 Tri-Star Pix in Delphi III Float; Gross Cut as Invester Protection; HBO, CBS Deals: 'Fair Market'". Variety. February 15, 1984. p. 3.
  47. ^ "Col Buys R-Rated Sex Comedy, Once Set for The Playboy Channel". Variety. March 7, 1984. p. 10.
  48. ^ Irv Lichtman (February 12, 1983). "Columbia Pictures To Acquire Big 3". Billboard – via Google Books.
  49. ^ "Gulf & Western Unit Sells Belwin-Mills Publishing". The Wall Street Journal. March 25, 1985. ProQuest 397955995.
  50. ^ "Columbia gained several popular song copyrights". Los Angeles Times. February 4, 1987. ProQuest 292549635.
  51. ^ "Coke buys Embassy: 485 million". normanlear.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011.
  52. ^ "CBS Sells Stake In Tri-Star Inc". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 16, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  53. ^ "Structuring and restructuring". Broadcasting. May 12, 1986. p. 66.
  54. ^ Russell, George (May 12, 1986). "Fizz, Movies and Whoop-De-Do". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  55. ^ "COKE TO BUY FILM CONCERN TO SETTLE SUITS". AP News Archive. August 29, 1986. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  56. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Coke Suit Pact". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 30, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  57. ^ "Coke Gets 'Barney Miller'". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved November 30, 2013 – via Google News.
  58. ^ Prince, Stephen (2002) [2000]. A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow. History of the American Cinema Vol. 10. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. p. 31. ISBN 9780520232662. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  59. ^ "Columbia Letting Multipic Pacts With Jewinson, Others Expire". Variety. April 1, 1987. p. 37.
  60. ^ Tusher, Will (April 8, 1987). "Col Sets $270-Mil Package Of In-House Pics, Acquisitions As Part of David Puttman's Initial Program". Variety. pp. 3, 26.
  61. ^ "Col Looking To Put Australia's Coote Into Key Exec Slot". Variety. October 22, 1986. p. 6.
  62. ^ Groves, Don (December 17, 1986). "Greg Coote Hoping Columbia Would Pick Up Films, Miniseries". Variety. pp. 22, 33.
  63. ^ "Cineplex Odeon acquires New York's Walter Reade theatre circuit. (Walter Reade Organization Inc.)". PR Newswire. June 26, 1987.
  64. ^ "Coca-Cola (originally written as Cokca-Cola) division invests in film production company". nl.newsbank.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  65. ^ Dick, p. 46.
  66. ^ Harris, Kathryn (September 2, 1987). "Coke, Tri-Star Confirm Plans for $3.1-Billion Deal". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  67. ^ Prince, Stephen (2000) A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989 (pp. 54–58). University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, California. ISBN 0-520-23266-6
  68. ^ "Columbia Resurrects 'Triumph'". Variety. January 6, 1988. p. 7.
  69. ^ Knoedelseder, William K. Jr. (January 16, 1988). "Columbia Pictures' Stock Has Weak Wall St. Debut". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  70. ^ "State of New York Division of Corporations – Entity Search: Tri-Star Pictures, Inc". Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  71. ^ Hunter, Nigel (April 16, 1988). "Filmtrax Buys Columbia, Mogull Pub Companies" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 16. pp. 1–77 – via worldradiohistory.com.
  72. ^ Shiver, Jube (August 9, 1990). "Thorn EMI Buys Filmtrax Catalogue for $115 Million Music: The huge collection of songs owned by the company includes 'Stormy Weather' and 'Against All Odds'". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 281273979.
  73. ^ "Business Brief: Columbia Pictures Entertainment". The Wall Street Journal. June 3, 1988. ProQuest 398049094.
  74. ^ Weaver, Jay (October 5, 1994). "MELODIC MERGER PRINT MUSIC DIVISIONS UNITE TO FORM WORLD'S BIGGEST PUBLISHING OPERATION". Sun Sentinel. ProQuest 388726870.
  75. ^ Knoedelseder, William K. Jr. (February 2, 1989). "Norman Lear, Columbia Form Joint TV Venture". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  76. ^ Stevenson, Richard W. (February 2, 1989). "Lear Joins With Columbia To Produce TV, Not Manage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  77. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (September 26, 1989). "DEAL IS EXPECTED FOR SONY TO BUY COLUMBIA PICTURES". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  78. ^ Richter, Paul (September 27, 1989). "Sony to Buy Columbia, Says Americans Will Run Studio : 1st Sale of Film Maker to Japanese". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  79. ^ "WHERE COKE GOES FROM HERE – October 13, 1997". CNN.
  80. ^ "Sony Buys Guber-Peters". The New York Times. Reuters. September 29, 1989.
  81. ^ Richard Shell, G. (May 2, 2006). Bargaining for Advantage. Penguin. ISBN 9781101221372.
  82. ^ "Columbia Names Alan Levine President". Los Angeles Times. December 1989.
  83. ^ ALAN CITRON (October 4, 1991). "Columbia Pictures Wraps Up Deal to Make Canton Chairman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  84. ^ Bates, James; Dutka, Elaine (September 30, 1994). "Guber Leaves Sony Pictures to Form Own Firm". Los Angeles Times.
  85. ^ "She Holds Torch for Sony Pictures Entertainment". Los Angeles Times
  86. ^ Thompson, Anne (October 17, 2006). "Sony Pictures Classics at 15". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2010. They stay behind the films and manage to find a significant core audience for a large number of them, with the occasional $130 million blowout like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," [former United Artists president Bingham] Ray says. "But they spend a fraction of what a major studio would spend to get the same number. Their philosophy is not to pile a lot of money on everything. They run a tight ship; they don't have an army of people working for them. They keep things simple. Alt URL Archived December 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  87. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (May 26, 1997). "A Strong Debut Helps, as a New Chief Tackles Sony's Movie Problems". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  88. ^ "Sony Pictures' secret: Goodson's price is right. (Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.'s licensing deal with Mark Goodson Productions)". December 7, 1992. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  89. ^ "TriStar President Expected to Head Combined Unit". Los Angeles Times. February 11, 1994. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  90. ^ Coe, Steve (February 1994). "Feltheimer heads new Columbia TriStar TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Vol. 124, no. 8. p. 20.
  91. ^ "Feltheimer heads new Columbia TriStar TV". Broadcasting. February 21, 1994. p. 20.
  92. ^ "Company Town Annex". Los Angeles Times. June 4, 1994. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  93. ^ "Sony-Griffin Deal". The New York Times. Reuters. June 7, 1994. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  94. ^ "Brian Henson and Stephanie Allain to Chat on Entertainment Tonight Online". thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  95. ^ CLAUDIA ELLER (July 21, 1995). "Company Town : Muppets Cut Deal With Sony Pictures". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  96. ^ "Past 007 Attempts". MI6, Home of James Bond. September 14, 2004. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
  97. ^ Thompson, Anne (August 18, 2002). "A League of Her Own". Variety. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  98. ^ "Franchise: Spider-Man". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  99. ^ "Sony hitches TriStar to Col", Variety, March 31, 1998.
  100. ^ "Sony Forms New Movie Division". Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1998. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  101. ^ "Sony Pictures Entertainment Unveils Realignment of Columbia TriStar Domestic Television Operations". The Free Library. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  102. ^ Sony Pictures Entertainment Renames Television Operations; Domestic and International Divisions Take Sony Name, prnewswire.com
  103. ^ a b "Jeff Blake Biography". Sony Pictures. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  104. ^ "2004 Market Share and Box Office Results by Movie Studio". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  105. ^ "Sony Pictures Entertainment Breaks All-Time Motion Picture Industry Domestic Box-Office Record" (Press release). Sony Picture s. December 17, 2006. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  106. ^ a b Borys Kit. "Matt Tolmach Steps Down From Columbia Pictures to Produce Spider-Man". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  107. ^ a b "Longtime Columbia Pictures Ciefs Matt Tolmach And Doug Belgrad Transition Into New Roles". Moviecitynews.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  108. ^ "Skyfall's $669.2M Global Helps Sony Pictures Post Best Ever $4B Worldwide". Hollywood Deadline. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  109. ^ Saba Hamedy (July 16, 2014). "Doug Belgrad named Sony Motion Picture Group President". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  110. ^ Rainey, James (June 3, 2016). "Sony Names Sanford Panitch Columbia Pictures President". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  111. ^ Couch, Aaron (2021-04-21). "Netflix Nabs Post-PVOD Streaming Rights to Sony's Feature Films in Multiyear Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  112. ^ Couch, Aaron (2021-04-21). "Sony Films Will Move to Disney After Netflix Window Expires". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  113. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (December 26, 2021). "'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Becomes First Pandemic-Era Movie to Smash $1 Billion Milestone Globally". Variety. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  114. ^ Whitten, Sarah (December 26, 2021). "'Spider-Man: No Way Home' becomes first pandemic-era film to break $1 billion at global box office". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  115. ^ Leston, Ryan (December 30, 2021). "Spider-Man: No Way Home Has Become Sony Pictures' Highest-Grossing Film of All-Time". IGN. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  116. ^ "Sony Celebrates Columbia Pictures' 100th with Disc, Digital Catalog Releases, Sales". 10 January 2024.
  117. ^ "Sony Unveils Columbia Pictures 100th Anniversary Logo". The Hollywood Reporter. 14 November 2023.
  118. ^ "Columbia Pictures Centennial Animated Logo To Debut On SPIDER-MAN™: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Re-Release On January 19". Sony Pictures. January 16, 2024. Retrieved February 9, 2024. As Columbia Pictures celebrates its 100-year legacy, critically acclaimed and box office smash hit film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be re-released in theaters on January 19, 2024, with the Columbia Pictures animated centennial logo making its theatrical debut.
  119. ^ a b c d "The History of a Logo: The Lady with the Torch". reelclassics.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008.
  120. ^ a b "The Columbia Logo: The Lady with the Torch". reelclassics.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008.
  121. ^ a b c Everything You Wanted To Know About American Film Company Logos But Were Afraid To Ask, Hollywood Lost and Found
  122. ^ "USA Coin Album: The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar | NGC". www.ngccoin.com. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  123. ^ "Columbia Pictures Logo". FamousLogos.us. 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2022. Robert Abel, the legendary animator and visual effects pioneer was hired to make the animated version of the logo.
  124. ^ FOX, DAVID J. (March 8, 1992). "A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : TOO HIP, GOTTA CHANGE : What We Have Here Is a Woman Ready For the '90s" – via LA Times.
  125. ^ Michael Deas, Columbia Pictures Logo, oil on panel, 18 x 32. Archived February 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  126. ^ Alex Santoso (December 3, 2008). "The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos".
  127. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 31, 2004). "Hail, Columbia! Mystery solved". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  128. ^ "She was 28 when she modeled for Columbia Pictures logo in 1992 and never posed again. Now, photographer shares story behind 'iconic' photoshoot". Yahoo Entertainment. May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  129. ^ "The Photo Behind the Iconic Columbia Pictures 'Torch Lady' Logo". PetaPixel. February 20, 2022.
  130. ^ "Columbia Pictures Logo". Synthespian Studios. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  131. ^ "Iconic image by local artist stands test of time". October 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  132. ^ Vlessing, Etan (2023-11-14). "Sony Unveils Columbia Pictures 100th Anniversary Logo". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-10.

Bibliography

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Columbia Pictures.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Pictures&oldid=1256643843"