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Today, the Big Five majors – Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios, and Sony Pictures – routinely distribute hundreds of films every year into all significant international markets (that is, where discretionary income is high enough for consumers to afford to watch films).
Jan 27, 2024 · Learn about the origins, achievements, and challenges of the five major film studios in Hollywood: Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures. Discover how they shaped the studio system, the global film industry, and the cultural fabric of society through cinema.
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- Columbia Pictures. Los Angeles, California. 2022 Annual Revenue: $88.30 billion. Columbia Pictures is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Pictures, which Sony, a Japanese multinational conglomerate, owns.
- Walt Disney Pictures. Burbank, California. 2022 Annual Revenue: $82.72 billion. Walt Disney Pictures is the film studio division of The Walt Disney Company.
- Paramount Pictures. Hollywood, California. 2022 Annual Revenue: $30.15 billion. Paramount is an American film producer and distributor owned by ViacomCBS. The company is a member of the Motion Pictures Association and the smallest among the “Big Five” major American film studios.
- Legendary Entertainment. Burbank, California. 2022 Annual Revenue: $19 billion. Legendary Entertainment is an American mass media company established in 2000 by Thomas Tull.
Paramount is the sixth oldest surviving film studio in the world; after Gaumont Film Company (1895), Pathé (1896), Titanus (1904), Nordisk Film (1906), and Universal Studios (1912). It is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.
- Universal Pictures. Founded: 1912. Highest-Grossing Film: Jurassic World (2015) Universal is the oldest American film studio. In fact, the original president of Universal, Carl Laemmle, was the first movie executive to give actors on-screen credit, which eventually led to popular performers becoming box office draws.
- Paramount Pictures. Founded: 1912. Highest-Grossing Film: Titanic (1997) (co-production with 20th Century Fox) Paramount was founded as the Famous Players Film Company in 1912.
- Walt Disney Pictures (1923) Founded: 1923. Highest-Grossing Film: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Walt Disney Pictures began its life as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, and was renamed after the massive success of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon character allowed the company to expand beyond traditional cartoon shorts.
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923) Founded: 1923. Highest-Grossing Film: The Dark Knight (2008) was founded by four brothers — Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner.
All Big Five major studios (Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures) are parts of much larger business enterprises, with their corporate headquarters offices far from Hollywood.
Learn about the market share, revenue, and awards of the major film studios in the North American movie market. Compare the performance of Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, and other distributors from 2000 to 2023.
