Major movie studios
The logos of the "Big Five" film studios, arranged in order by the year each studio was founded.
Big Five studios in the San Fernando Valley, in Burbank, California (Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios)
Big Five studios in Hollywood (Paramount Pictures) and on the Westside (Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM 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 (Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM Studios) 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 1986. They became five when, on December 14, 2017, Disney announced its deal to buy Fox for $52.4 billion. And back to six again when Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion, and in 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that it releasing 15 theatrically released movies a year in 2026 and expanded to 16 theatrically released movies a year in 2027. And back to five again when Paramount Skydance acquired Warner Bros. Discovery for $110.9 billion.
Majors
Current
| Studio parent | 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 (2026)[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (NBCUniversal, Comcast) |
Universal Pictures | April 30, 1912 | Focus Features | Working Title Films | Universal Animation Studios DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation Television Illumination Illumination Studios Paris |
Amblin Partners (minority) Carnival Films Makeready (JV) NBCUniversal Japan DreamWorks Classics United International Pictures Universal 1440 Entertainment |
Peacock Fandango at Home (75%) SkyShowtime (JV) |
21% |
| Paramount Skydance Studios (Paramount Skydance Corporation) |
Paramount Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema |
May 8, 1912
April 4, 1923 June 18, 1967 |
Miramax (49%) Warner Bros. Clockwork |
Paramount Players Republic Pictures Showtime Documentary Films HBO Films HBO Documentary Films DC Studios Cartoon Network Movies CNN Films Alloy Entertainment Nickelodeon Movies |
Paramount Animation Skydance Animation Nickelodeon Animation Studio MTV Animation CBS Eye Animation Productions Avatar Studios Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Pictures Animation Cartoon Network Studios Williams Street Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe Miramax Family (49%) |
Melange Pictures DC Entertainment Flagship Entertainment Group (49%) Spyglass Media Group (minority) Castle Rock Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. Warner Bros. Japan [ja] |
HBO Max Pluto TV Discovery+ My5 Fandango at Home (25%) Philo (minority stake) SkyShowtime (JV) |
27% |
| Walt Disney Studios (The Walt Disney Company) |
Walt Disney Pictures
20th Century Studios |
October 16, 1923
May 31, 1935 |
Searchlight Pictures | Marvel Studios Lucasfilm Disneynature National Geographic Documentary Films (73%) A&E IndieFilms (50%) History Films (50%) Disney Channel Original Movies Freeform Original Productions The Muppets Studio |
Walt Disney Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios Marvel Animation Marvel Studios Animation Lucasfilm Animation 20th Century Animation |
20th Century Family Star Studio18 (36.84%) Regency Enterprises (20%) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (JV)[2] |
Disney+
|
28% |
| 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) |
7% |
| Amazon MGM Studios (Amazon) |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
United Artists |
April 17, 1924
February 5, 1919 |
Orion Pictures Orion Classics |
American International Pictures | N/A | Lightworkers Media | Prime Video MGM+ MX Player |
8.5% |
Mini-majors
International studios
- Gaumont Film Company
- Pinewood Studios
- Lenfilm
- 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. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
- 1 2 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.