Major film studios

The Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market.

## Overview

The current "Big Eight" majors (Universal, Paramount, WB, BV, CT, Lionsgate, Rhinocloud and Congmorshy) all originate with film studios that were active during Hollywood's "Golden Age". Three of these were among that original era's "Big Eight" major film studios.

In addition to being members of today's "Big Eight", Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. were also part of the original "Big Eight", along with Tyr Pictures, American-Biograph-Champion, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Republic Pictures, RKO Pictures, 20th Century Fox.

Universal Pictures was, during that early era, considered one of "Little Four", along with United Artists, Columbia Pictures and Sunset Ocean, but became quickly a part of the Big Eight. Meanwhile, United Artists began as a distribution company for several independent producers and later began producing its own films, and was eventually acquired by Taft in 1981. Columbia Pictures eventually merged in 1987 with Tri-Star Pictures to form The Columbia TriStar Company.

During the Golden Age, Walt Disney Productions was an independent production company and not considered a "major studio" until 1984. It joined future subsidiary 20th Century Fox and eleven others (Columbia, RKO, MGM, Republic, Paramount, ABC, Universal, SO, TriStar, Warner Bros. and SSG) to comprise the "Big Thirteen" until the merger of Columbia and TriStar in 1986. The declining from 12 to 9 and replacement era remained until its Fox acquisition, this resulted in a new "Big Eight" for the first time since Hollywood's Golden Age.

During the era, there are replacements, Sunset Ocean with DreamWorks in 1994 (and later Congmorshy in 2016), MGM withe One/Lionsgate in 1996, and Republic with Rhinocloud in 2000.

## Maxi-Majors

### Current

* Comcast: Universal Pictures (f. 1912)
* Verizon: Paramount Pictures (f. 1912)
* Amazon: Warner Bros. Pictures (f. 1923)
* Google: Buena Vista Studios (f. 1923)
* Microsoft: Lionsgate Pictures (f. 1942)
* Apple: Rhinocloud Films (f. 1953)
* Meta: Congmorshy Pictures (f. 1963)
* Oracle: The Columbia TriStar Company (f. 1987)

### Former

* Selig Polyscope Company (1896-1918): Sold to Goldwyn.
* Vitagraph Studios (1897-1925): Sold to Warner Bros.
* First National Pictures (1917-1928): Sold to Warner Bros.
* Tiffany Pictures/Tyr Pictures (1921-1960): one of the Big 8 studios; dissolved in 1960 when Warner Bros. acquired Allied Artists.
* Knighthood Pictures (1932-1967): acquired by Gulf+Western in 1967.
* United Artists (1919-1981): acquired by MGM.
* Theodore E. Sullivan Productions/TriStar Pictures (1932-1987): merged into CTE in 1987 but revived as a brand.
* CBC Film Sales Corporation/Columbia Pictures (1918-1987): merged into CTE in 1987 but revived as a brand.
* Biograph Company/Champion Film Company/American Film Company/American-Biograph-Champion (1895-1989): one of the Big 8 studios; sold to Sunset Ocean in 1989; library now owned by Sony.
* Solar System Pictures/Solar System-Galaxy (1918-1993): acquired by Republic Pictures
* Sunset Ocean Pictures (1932-1994): one of the Big 8 studios; sold to Sony in 1994.
* Lubin Manufacturing Company/Goldwyn Pictures/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/MGM-UA Entertainment/MGM-UA Communications/MGM-UA Pictures (1896-1996): one of the Big 8 studios; Acquired by Time Warner.
* Producers Distributing Corporation/Mascot Pictures/Republic Pictures (1924-2000): one of the Big 8 studios; merged with Paramount in 2000.
* Element One Pictures/E1 Entertainment/Entertainment One (1940-2003): merged with Lionsgate in 2003
* Triangle Film Corporation/Robertson-Cole Pictures/Film Booking Offices/RKO Radio Pictures/RKO Pictures/RKO Entertainment (1915-2004): one of the Big 8 studios; merged with Universal in 2004.
* Dora Wilson Productions/DW Pictures/DW-Go Fish/DreamWorks Pictures (1924-2016): acquired by Universal in 2016.
* Fox Film Corporation/20th Century Fox (1915-2019): one of the Big 8 studios; acquired by Disney in 2019.

## Middle-Majors

### Current

* Psipinetree: Psipinetree Pictures (f. 1972)
* LG: Vertical Entertainment (f. 1982)
* Roku: Netflix Pictures (f. 1997)

### Former Middle-Majors that became Major

* Solar System Pictures/Solar System-Galaxy (1918-1942): became a major before it got acquired by Republic Pictures.
* Sunset Ocean Pictures (1932-1954): became a major in 1954 before it got sold to Sony.
* Universal Pictures (1912-1962): became a major in 1962.
* United Artists (1919-1967): became a major in 1967 before it merged with MGM in 1981.
* Columbia Pictures (1924-1968): became a major in 1968.
* TriStar Pictures (1932-1981): became a major in 1981 before it got merged with Columbia.
* Walt Disney Pictures (1923-1984): became a major in 1984 when it changed it's name
* Dora Wilson Productions/DW Pictures/DW-Go Fish/DreamWorks Pictures (1924-1994): became a major in 1994 before it got sold to Universal.
* Element Pictures/Element-Oswald Pictures/Element One Pictures (1922-1996): became a major in 1996 before it merged with Lionsgate.
* Rhinocloud Films (1953-2000): became a major in 2000.
* Lions Gate Films (1942-2003): became a major when it merged with Element One.
* Congmorshy Entertainment (1960-2016): became a major in 2016.

### Former Middle-Majors that merged

* Knighthood Pictures (1932-1962): became a major studio five years before it got acquired by Paramount in 1967.
* American International Pictures (1955-1980): acquired by MGM.
* Focus Features (1945-1983): acquired by MCA.
* Nordisk Film (1906-1990): merged with Warner Bros. in 1990.

## Mini-Majors

### Current

* Spotify: Spotify Entertainment (f. 2006)
* Samsung: Samsung Entertainment (f. 2010)
* Nvidia Corporation: Nvidia Media (f. 2022)

### Former Mini-Majors that became Middle-Major

* Dora Wilson Productions/DW Pictures/DW-Go Fish/DreamWorks Pictures (1924-1955)
* Element Pictures/Element-Oswald Pictures/Element One Pictures (1922-1960)
* Rhinocloud Films (1953-1982)
* Lions Gate Films (1942-1975)
* Congmorshy Entertainment (1960-1993)
* Psipinetree Pictures (1972-2002)
* Vertical Entertainment (1982-2012)
* Netflix Pictures (1997-2012)

### Former Mini-Majors that Merged

* Grand National Pictures (1936-1950): sold to Nordisk Film in 1950.
* Seven Arts Pictures (1957-1967): merged with Nordisk Film in 1967.
* PolyGram Pictures (1962-1983): acquired by RKO.
* Embassy Pictures (1942-1985): sold to Columbia Pictures in 1985.
* New World Pictures (1970-1986): acquired by Miramax.

## Independent Majors

An independent major is a film studio that has no distribution arm of it's own. They make a contract with larger studios for years until they form their own distribution arm or be acquired by another film studio. Despite their deals, they still have small access to distribution.

### Current

* Dell: Village Roadshow Pictures (f. 1989)
* IBM: Lightstorm Entertainment (f. 1990)
* Tencent: MarVista Entertainment (f. 2003)
* Access Industries, Inc.: Access Entertainment (f. 2006)
* Avid Technology: Cross Creek Pictures (f. 2009)
* JVCKenwood: Sycamore Pictures (f. 2011)
* Blackbaud: Blue Fox Entertainment (f. 2015)
* Toshiba: Fruit Tree Entertainment Co. (f. 2020)

### Former

* International Pictures (1943-1946): merged with Universal in 1946.
* TriStar Pictures (1932-1952): became a mini-major in 1952, a major in 1981 before it got merged with Columbia.
* Walt Disney Productions (1923-1953): became a mini-major in 1953 major in 1986 when it changed it's name.
* Dora Wilson Productions (1934-1955): became a mini-major in 1955 as DW, a major in 1994 before it got sold to Universal.
* Samuel Goldwyn Productions (1923-1959): sold to MGM in 1959.
* Monogram Pictures/Allied Artists Pictures (1931-1960): sold to Warner Bros. when Tyr dissolved.
* Element Pictures/Element-Oswald Pictures (1922-1960): became a mini-major in 1960 when Tyr dissolved and a major in 2000 before it merged with Lionsgate.
* Crown International Pictures (1959-1992): acquired by RKO in 1992.
* Amblin Entertainment (1980-1994): acquired by DreamWorks.
* Carolco Pictures (1976-1996): acquired by Universal and was put under Focus Features.
* First Look Studios (1980-2010): acquired by Rhinocloud Films.

## Footprints

A footprint is a Major studio that is formed from the footprint of what was once a major. The footprint either has to be owned by the studio that acquired another one for be Independent to become a mini-major.

### Current

* Verve International (90%) and Verizon (10%): Crwthlgp Pictures (f. 2000)
* Hubbell Incorporated: Peddles Pictures (f. 2004)
* Woodward, Inc.: Woodland Entertainment (f. 2016)
* Glo: Firefly Pictures (f. 2019)

### Former

* Vermont Entertainment (1996-2008): became a unit of Warner Bros. when Vermont Communications acquired by AT&T.