Major movie studios

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, Universal Pictures, and Columbia 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.

The American major studios[change | change source]

Current[change | change source]

Majors

Mini-Majors

Former[change | change source]

Major

RKO Radio Pictures - Defunct since 1957.
United Artists - acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1981.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
20th Century Fox - bought by The Walt Disney Company in 2019 and renamed as 20th Century Studios in 2020.

Other

Embassy Pictures - sold to Coca-Cola in 1985.
Vestron Pictures - folded into Live Entertainment in 1991.
New Line Cinema - acquired in 1993 by Turner Broadcasting System; TBS merged with Time Warner in 1996.
Miramax Films
Artisan Entertainment - folded into Lions Gate Entertainment in 2003.
DreamWorks Pictures - now became a label of Amblin Partners since 2015.
The Weinstein Company

The European major studios[change | change source]

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.