By the 1930s, almost all of the first-run metropolitan theaters in the United States were owned by the Big Five studios – MGM, Paramount Pictures, RKO, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox.
Основные сети кинотеатров принадлежали семи кинокомпаниям — MGM (самая крупная), Paramount (её ближайший соперник), 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., RKO, Universal и Columbia.