Major movie studios

The logos of the "Big Five" film studios, arranged in order by the year each studio was founded.

Big Four studios in the San Fernando Valley, in Burbank, California (Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios)

Big Four studios in Hollywood (Paramount Pictures) and on the Westside (Sony Pictures)

Big Five are the United States's major movie production studios which also distribute their product. All of them have historic flagship production facilities near Hollywood. All Big Five major studios (Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures) are parts of much larger business enterprises, with their corporate headquarters offices far from Hollywood. The group of major studios long numbered seven, but was reduced to six with the fading from importance of MGM in the 1980s. They became five when, on November 6, 2017 - Disney announced its deal to buy Fox for $52.4 billion.

Majors

Current

Studio parent (conglomerate)	Major film studio unit Second studio	Date Found	Arthouse/indie	Genre movie/B movie	Animation	Other divisions and brands	OTT/VOD	US/CA market share (2023)^[1]
Universal Studios (NBCUniversal, Comcast)	Universal Pictures	April 30, 1912	Focus Features	Working Title Films	Universal Animation Studios DreamWorks Animation Illumination Illumination Studios Paris	Amblin Partners (minority) Carnival Films Makeready (JV) NBCUniversal Japan DreamWorks Classics OTL Releasing United International Pictures (JV) Universal 1440 Entertainment WT² Productions	Peacock Hayu Fandango at Home (75%) SkyShowtime (JV)	21.77%
Paramount Pictures Corporation (Paramount Global, merger with Skydance Media to form Paramount Skydance Corporation pending)	Paramount Pictures	May 8, 1912	Miramax (49%) Showtime Documentary Films	Paramount Players Republic Pictures BET Films MTV Entertainment Studios Nickelodeon Movies	Paramount Animation Nickelodeon Animation Studio MTV Animation CBS Eye Animation Productions Avatar Studios	Awesomeness Films Miramax Family (49%) Paramount Digital Entertainment Melange Pictures United International Pictures (JV)	Paramount+ Pluto TV BET+ My5 Philo (minority stake) SkyShowtime (JV)	9.55%
Warner Bros. Entertainment (Warner Bros. Discovery)	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema	April 4, 1923 June 18, 1967	HBO Films HBO Documentary Films Cinemax Films	DC Studios Cartoon Network Movies CNN Films TruTV Films Alloy Entertainment	Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Pictures Animation Cartoon Network Studios Williams Street Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe	DC Entertainment Flagship Entertainment Group (49%) Spyglass Media Group (minority) Castle Rock Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. Warner Bros. Japan [ja]	Max Discovery+ Fandango at Home (25%) Philo (minority)	15.73%
Walt Disney Studios (The Walt Disney Company)	Walt Disney Pictures 20th Century Studios	October 16, 1923 May 31, 1935	Disneynature Searchlight Pictures Hulu Documentary Films A&E IndieFilms (50%) History Films (50%)	Marvel Studios Lucasfilm National Geographic Documentary Films (73%) Disney Channel Original Movies Freeform Original Productions The Muppets Studio	Walt Disney Animation Studios Disney Television Animation Pixar Animation Studios Marvel Animation Marvel Studios Animation Lucasfilm Animation 20th Century Animation 20th Television Animation	20th Century Family Star Studios Regency Enterprises (20%) Vice Films (16%) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (JV)^[2]	Disney+ Hulu ESPN+ (80%) Disney+ Hotstar (36.84%) Movies Anywhere Philo (minority stake)	21.26%
Sony Pictures (Sony Group Corporation)	Columbia Pictures TriStar Pictures	January 10, 1924^[3] March 2, 1982	Sony Pictures Classics	Screen Gems Stage 6 Films Affirm Films Ghost Corps	Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Imageworks Crunchyroll, LLC Madhouse (5%)	3000 Pictures^[4] Destination Films Left Bank Pictures Sony Pictures Japan Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions^[5] TriStar Productions Sony Pictures Releasing Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (JV)^[2] Sony Pictures India	Sony Pictures Core Sony Movie Channel SonyLIV Crunchyroll Great American Pure Flix (JV)	11.26%
A24	A24^[6]	August 20, 2012^[7]	N/A	N/A	N/A	A24 International 2AM (backing)	N/A	1.54%
Signature Entertainment	Signature Entertainment	May 19, 2011	Signature Entertainment	N/A	N/A	Well Go USA Entertainment XYZ Films Netflix (South Korea)	N/A	2.35%

Little 4

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Amazon MGM Studios/Amazon
Lionsgate Films - Lionsgate Studios
Amblin Partners
- Amblin Entertainment
- DreamWorks Pictures
ErosSTX
- Eros International
- STXfilms

International studios

Gaumont Film Company
Pinewood Studios
Nordisk Film
BBC Films
Pathé Frères
Constantin Film
SF Studios
Titanus - closed down in 1964; revived as a small studio in 1970.
Sheperton Studios - sold to Pinewood Group in 2001.
Rank Organisation - bought by The Rank Group in 1996; motion picture involvement ended in 2006.
Optimum Releasing - bought by StudioCanal in 2006; later renamed as StudioCanal UK in 2011.

References

↑ "Distributors Movie Breakdown for 2023". The Numbers. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Press, Nick Holdsworth,The Associated (2006-12-27). "Disney, Sony team up for Russian content". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Rozen, Leah (1999-11-14). "HOLIDAY FILMS: SCREEN GEMS; It Happened With One Movie: A Studio Transformed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
↑ Masters, Kim (2019-09-18). "Elizabeth Gabler Breaks Silence on Sony Move, Disney Exit, HarperCollins and Streaming Plans (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
↑ "About | Stage6". www.stage6films.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
↑ Kornits, Dov (2020-10-04). "How A24 Became the Coolest Mini-Major on Earth". FilmInk. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
↑ "A24 OPENS DOORS FOR FILM DISTRIBUTION, FINANCE AND PRODUCTION « Movie City News". 2016-08-16. Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2025-05-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[1] "Distributors Movie Breakdown for 2023". The Numbers. Retrieved 2025-05-14.

[:0-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Press, Nick Holdsworth,The Associated (2006-12-27). "Disney, Sony team up for Russian content". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Rozen, Leah (1999-11-14). "HOLIDAY FILMS: SCREEN GEMS; It Happened With One Movie: A Studio Transformed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-14.

[4] Masters, Kim (2019-09-18). "Elizabeth Gabler Breaks Silence on Sony Move, Disney Exit, HarperCollins and Streaming Plans (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-14.

[5] "About | Stage6". www.stage6films.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.

[6] Kornits, Dov (2020-10-04). "How A24 Became the Coolest Mini-Major on Earth". FilmInk. Retrieved 2025-05-15.

[7] "A24 OPENS DOORS FOR FILM DISTRIBUTION, FINANCE AND PRODUCTION « Movie City News". 2016-08-16. Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2025-05-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

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