Columbia Pictures

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Lillian Terzis

By Lily Terzis

(1) Columbia Pictures Logo, featuring a woman carrying a torch, representing Columbia, who is a personification of the United States.

Headquarters
10202 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA
90232

Contact Information
Phone: 310-244-4000
URL: sonypictures.com

Key Executives

Robert Osher, Chief Operating Officer of Columbia Pictures (3)

Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures (2)

About the Company

Columbia Pictures is a production and distribution company founded in 1924 by Jack Cohn, Harry Cohn, and Joe Brandt. It is currently owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, operating as part of Sony’s Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, through which Sony produces most of its big budget movies. Considered one of the leading film studios in the world, Columbia Pictures is one of Hollywood’s “Big Six”, distributing over 22 films yearly in the United States alone. Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group operations are located in six other countries: Columbia Pictures Producciones Espanolas in Madrid; Columbia Pictures Producciones Mexico in Mexico City; Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia in Hong Kong; and others in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Japan (16).

Top Competitors

Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc (6)
Walt Disney Studios (6)
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (6)

History

(4) Frank Capra, a well known director for Columbia Pictures

During the Golden Age of of Hollywood, Columbia Pictures was considered one of the ‘Little Three’. Much of their earlier success can be accredited to director Frank Capra, who created Columbia’s first all “talkie” feature, titled “The Donovan Affair”. His film ‘It Happened One Night’ earned Columbia their first Best Picture Academy Award and brought the studio to fame. In the mid ’40’s, Columbia released their highest-grossing movie ever, “The Jolson Story”. This earned them another Best Picture award as well as marked the beginning of their most profitable decade (5).
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Columbia Pictures joined with HBO and CBS to form TriStar Pictures in 1985 (7)

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In 1982, Columbia was bought by Coca Cola. This was a lucrative time for the company as they expanded into other forms of entertainment, such as home video. Three years later, Columbia joined with HBO and CBS to make the first new motion picture studio in decades, TriStar Pictures. This major studio was the had the fastest growth in the history of the film industry.

Sony Corporation purchased Columbia Pictures in 1989 for $3.2 billion (5). This purchase was unprecedented, and was, at that time, the largest acquisition by a Japanese company. Columbia Pictures has been gaining success ever since.

Finances

Columbia Pictures does not make its finances known to the public. It is not a publicly traded company, its parent company Sony, is traded under the name SNE at $18.51 a share. Columbia and Sony Pictures together have grossed $1,065.8 million this year alone, and control 11.4% of the market share (21). They are currently ranked as the number 4 studio by Box Office Mojo, just under Buena Vista.

Recent Releases

Movie Poster for “Captain Phillips” (8)

Captain Phillips
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: October 11, 2013
Production Budget: $55 Million

“Captain Phillips” is a true story about an American cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates and was a hugely successful film, its widest release in 3,143 theaters. Despite the competitively successful “Gravity” released at a similar time, the film is doing very well. So far, it has grossed over $97,820,373 domestically, which is much more than its budget. Its opening weekend, it was ranked number 2 at the box office (9).

You can find the trailer for this film HERE
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Poster for the movie “Elysium” (11)

Elysium
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: August 9, 2013
Production Budget: $115 Million

“Elysium” is a film about the future, where the wealthy live on a space ship and the poor must live on the destroyed earth. The main character’s mission is to create equality. The film’s domestic total gross so far is $92,947,675, but its foreign gross is $192,007,963. Its widest release was to 3,284 theaters and ranked number 1 its opening weekend (10).

You can find the trailer for this film HERE
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Movie Poster for “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (20)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: September 27, 2013
Production Budget: $78 million

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” is an animated movie for children. It features the voices of some celebrities, like Anna Faris, Andy Samburg, and Neil Patrick Harris. This was a highly successful film for Columbia, grossing $34,017, 930 domestically its opening weekend in 4,001 theaters. It was immediately ranked number 1 at the box office. So far, the film has made almost double its budget, grossing $113,125,418 domestically as of November 18th (19).

You can find the trailer for this film HERE.

Upcoming Releases

Movie poster for “American Hustle” (12)

American Hustle
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated
Release Date: December 13, 2013

“American Hustle” is about a con man and his partner, a British woman, who are forced to work for the FBI. This film is expected to do well at the box office. It has a lot of star power, as the cast is made up of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Louis CK, and Christian Bale (12). This film is generating a lot of buzz as it is soon to show at its first film festival, the Dubai International Film Festival, or DIFF.
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You can find the trailer for this film HERE.

Movie Poster for “The Amazing Spider-Man” (13)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated
Release Date: May 2, 2014

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is starring Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, and Jamie Foxx. It is being produced by Matthew Tolmach, who is a previous co-president of Columbia Pictures (14). Columbia Pictures has had a huge amount of success with the Spider-man franchise. Working with Marvel, Columbia also plans to release an IMAX 3D version (15).

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Recent News

In 2012, Sony released that it had made over $4 billion worldwide, mostly in part to Columbia’s successful films, including “Skyfall“, “The Amazing Spider-Man“, “21 Jump Street“, “Men in Black 3“, and “Hotel Transylvania“. The Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group now has a motion picture library with over 3,500 titles with 12 Best Picture Academy Awards. Currently, Columbia plans to continue creating big budget box office hits and gaining large profits for Sony Pictures Entertainment. In the upcoming 2014-2015 year, the studio plans to create some sequels to their previously successful films, such as “Bad Teacher 2“, “Hotel Transylvania 2” and “22 Jump Street” (16). Columbia is also looking to produce some Oscar contenders, like “Annie“, a modern telling of the classic musical. It is set to be released in 2014, and stars Quvenzhane Wallis who was nominated for an Oscar for her acting in “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (17).

Recently, Columbia’s parent company Sony has not been doing so well. This year, they were ranked fourth in domestic box-office sales, and gained a revenue of $1.13 billion, which is down 32% from last year. They are undergoing many changes, especially after some box office flops like “White House Down” and “After Earth” (18). They are reportedly reviewing their process for how movies are selected and are looking to cut costs.

Sources

[1] Columbia Pictures Logo
[2] Doug Belgrad
[3] Robert Osher
[4] Frank Capra
[5] History of the studio
[6] Top Competitors
[7] TriStar Logo
[8] Image for Captain Phillips
[9] Movie info Captain Phillips
[10] Elysium info
[11] Elysium Poster
[12] American Hustle Poster and Info
[13] Amazing Spiderman Poster
[14] Spiderman Producer
[15] Spiderman Info
[16] Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
[17] Annie
[18] Sony Finances
[19] Cloudy Chance of Meatballs Info
[20] Cloudy Chance of Meatballs Poster
[21] Financial Information Columbia and Sony

Columbia Pictures

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Matthew Fernandes

By Matthew Fernandes

Columbia Pictures Logo – Columbia Pictures [1]

Columbia Pictures is a major film production and distribution studio, and primary wing of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. The company is a leading division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. With a history spanning nearly 100 years Columbia has produced over 3,500 films, many among them classics [23].

Columbia Pictures Logo Transformation

Columbia, Screen Gems and Sony Picture Entertainment Logos [4]

Columbia’s History

Beginnings

Harry Cohn [2]

Columbia has a long history, beginning in 1922 with producers Harry Cohn, Jack Cohn and Joe Brandt [2].

Joe Brandt [2]

Jack Cohn [2]

They had originally called the company CBC, but changed the name to Columbia in 1922. They produced their first film More to Be Pitied Than Scorned that same year [2].

Film Poster [3]

Capra and the 30s

In 1924, the company really began to expand with the debut of director Frank Capra [2]. Capra directed such classic films during the ’30s as It Happened One Night (1934), which gained Columbia Pictures its first Best Picture Academy Award. [2]

Frank Capra: Director [2]

Fast-forward: 1980s-present

Columbia grew quickly following Capra’s success, earning several academy awards, becoming one of the first major studios to invest in television [2], and launching Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment. In 1982, the company established an impressive television library with Columbia TriStar Television [2]. The next year, Columbia formed TriStar Pictures with CBS and HBO [2].

In 1989 the Sony Corporation purchased Columbia Pictures Corporation, bringing Columbia into its entertainment division. [2] Since then, the company has had several major successes. They continue to dominate, but more as a film distributor and production studio for Sony’s major films [20]. The executives for Sony and Columbia Pictures provide key leadership.

Executives

Michael Lynton [5]

Though not a direct member of the Columbia Pictures executive team, Michael Lynton is the CEO of Sony Entertainment, as well as the Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. As chairman, overseeing Columbia’s operations. [5]

Doug Belgrad – sonypictures.com [6]

Since 2008, Doug Belgrad has served as the president of Columbia Pictures [6]. Since then, he has overseen some of Columbia’s most recent successes such as Captain Phillips and This is the End.

Hannah Minghella – sonypictures.com [7]

Hannah Minghella serves as Columbia’s President of Production, having joined the company in 2005 and receiving a promotion to her current position in 2010 [7].

Together, Columbia’s management has guided the company through varied amounts of success [5]. Columbia works directly under Sony Picture Entertainment for its productions distribution, distribution deals, and financial ventures.

Financials

Columbia is privately traded, so current financial data is unavailable [21]. However, Box Office Mojo estimates that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have earned over $1 billion in gross sales this year, and controlled 11.5 percent of the market share [22]. Despite some recent successes, Columbia Pictures experienced some criticism. According to a recent Bloomberg article, Sony Corporation has hired Bain and Co. to manage $100 million in spending cuts that are meant to improve Sony Pictures Entertainment. The article attributes some of the changes to After Earth and White House Down two recent film releases by Columbia [23].

2013: Snapshot

Like many major production studios, Columbia has many projects in development at any given time, though it has worked mainly as production house and distribution company for Sony over the past few years. The following releases are projects that the company has either released in the past year or recently put into development.

White House Down: Box Office Disappointment

White House Down was one of Columbia’s major releases for the summer. This action thriller stars Channing Tatum a cop who must save his daughter and the United Stated President (played by Jamie Foxx) from an unknown terrorist group. [8]

Film picture – [9]

According to Box Office Mojo, the film brought in over $200 million, but had a production budget of over $150 million [9]. This was surprising given that the film released during the summer and had the makings of a blockbuster. The movie had to compete with a similar film called Olympus Has Fallen starring Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler, which might have caused a divide in film audiences over which movie to see. Columbia Pictures and Sony might be able to salvage some profit with a home entertainment release since they will most likely retain the rights, but this film seems like a missed opportunity for Columbia Pictures.

Cloudy With Chance of Meatballs 2: A Strong Success

This past fall, Columbia Pictures managed the theatrical release for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. The new film is the sequel to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, a popular animated film that Columbia Pictures released in 2009 in conjunction with several other studios [11].

This second installment has been a success relative to the summer mishap of White House Down, earning almost $200 million worldwide compared to a budget of $78 million [10]. Columbia Pictures will most likely benefit from a profitable DVD release as well, bringing in more profit after the film closes in theaters.

Captain Phillips

Film Poster [17]

One of Columbia Picture’s most recent leases is Captain Phillips the suspense thriller based on the actual hijacking of Maersk Alabama, which was captured by Somalian pirates in 2009 [12]. Tom Hanks plays the eponymous character Captain Richard Phillips, giving the film some major star power.

Film Photo [12]

The film has done well since its October release nearly doubling its budget of $55 million [13]. Despite critical success for the film, a recent New York Post article criticized it for portraying a false story.

The actual crew of the film has spoken out against the portrayal of Captain Phillips, which they claim to be completely false [14]. The film does not seem to be suffering from this poor press, however. If the film receives any Oscars, it will probably have another wave of sales after its eventual DVD release.

Future Projects

RoboCop

This film is a recreation of the 1987 sci-fi film of the same name. The story follows Alex Murphy, a cop who becomes a machine-human soldier after experiencing a nearly fatal injury [16].

Film Poster [16]

RoboCop Trailer 2013

RoboCop Trailer Photo [15]

The film has some well-known actors, but the real appeal is film’s name itself. Given the popularity of the original character and the film’s President’s Day weekend release date, RoboCop should draw huge audiences for Columbia Pictures.

New Acquisitions

Columbia Pictures has recently been listed as a production studio for some of Sony Picture Entertainment’s most recent acquisitions. One of the most notable acquisitions is Annie, for which Sony gained the film distribution rights this year [18]. The film version of the classic musical is set to release next year.

Columbia has also started developing projects based on the popular novels The Rosie Project and Tomorrow And Tomorrow [19]. Both of these projects are still in development, but will join the slate of films that Columbia is set to produce for the coming year, including The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and RoboCop [18].

Despite some of the financial criticism that Columbia Pictures received for some of its more recent box office disappointments, it is still one of the dominant film studios. And given some of the high-profile film’s on Columbia’s slate for the coming year, it will most likely retain its position as a major entertainment entity.

References

[1] Columbia Pictures logo

[2] Sony Pictures – History of Columbia Pictures

[3] More to be Pitied Than Scorned Film Poster

[4] Transformation of Columbia Logo

[5] Michael Lynton Profile

[6] Doug Belgrad Profile

[7] Hannah Minghella Profile

[8] White House Down Official Site

[9] White House Down Movie Data

[10] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatball 2 Movie Data

[11] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs IMDB