StudioCanal (a.k.a. Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image) is a French-based production (as StudioCanal S.A.) and distribution (as StudioCanal Images S.A.) company that owns the third-largest film library in the world. The company is a unit of the Canal+ Group, controlled by Vivendi.
Background
The company was founded in 1988 by Pierre Lescure as a spin-off of the Canal+ pay-TV network. The original function was to focus on French and European productions, but later made strategic deals with American production companies. StudioCanal's most notable productions from its early years include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, JFK, Basic Instinct, Cliffhanger, Under Siege, Free Willy, and the original Stargate movie. In those days, it was known as Le Studio Canal+.
It has strong links to Universal Studios (Studiocanal and Universal Studios were owned by the same company between 2000 and 2004, hence StudioCanal co-produced a fair number of Universal's films).
Other films the company financed include U-571, Bully, and Bridget Jones's Diary. StudioCanal also funded the last third of David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive. StudioCanal also financed French-language films, such as Brotherhood of the Wolf (which became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades) and Intimate Strangers (which is being remade by Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures).The biggest box office hits for StudioCanal have been Terminator 2: Judgment Day which grossed US$519 million, Basic Instinct which grossed US$352 million and The Tourist which grossed US$278 million worldwide.
Film library
StudioCanal acquired film libraries from studios that either went defunct or had merged with it over the years. As a result, the company's library is the third-largest in the world.
StudioCanal's library includes the film libraries of:
- Carolco Pictures (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, etc.)
- De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (King Kong Lives, Tai-Pan, 3 Days of the Condor, Evil Dead II, international rights to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, etc.).
- Embassy Pictures (The Graduate, This Is Spinal Tap, The Producers, The Emerald Forest, The Sure Thing, etc.)
- The Alexander Salkind pictures not owned by Warner Bros. (including The Trial and Santa Claus: The Movie)
- British Lion Films (The Wicker Man, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Don't Look Now, The Third Man, etc.)
- The films of Anglo-Amalgamated (Peeping Tom, the Carry On series (1958-66 only), etc.)
- The Ealing Studios library (The Ladykillers, The Cruel Sea, etc.)
- The EMI Films library (Highlander, Death on the Nile, The Go-Between, etc.; also including the ABPC back catalogue, but not including US rights to certain co-productionsâ€"said rights to such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind [whose worldwide rights are with Columbia Pictures under Sony Pictures] are owned by other major studios, usually the original releasing studio) - coincidentally, StudioCanal sister company Universal Music Group acquired EMI in 2012
- The Lumiere Pictures and Television output (including The Avengers)
Distribution
StudioCanal acquired UK-based distributor Optimum Releasing in 2006. In 2008 StudioCanal acquired German distributor Kinowelt which had distributed their films up to that point. Both companies have since been renamed StudioCanal. StudioCanal also acquired the Australian distribution company, Hoyts Distribution in 2012.
Outside France, Britain and Germany, StudioCanal does not have a formal distribution unit per se, relying on other studios and video companies to handle their product, in the United States for example, Criterion, Rialto Pictures, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment, MGM and Universal Pictures, distribute StudioCanal's back catalogue on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (in addition of Anchor Bay Entertainment previously handling several of their titles). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment handles distribution of StudioCanal/Hoyts' films in Australia & New Zealand for DVD & Blu-ray release.
StudioCanal also handles home entertainment distribution of 550 titles from the Miramax Films library internationally (Lions Gate handles US distribution and Entertainment One handles Canadian distribution) since February 2011.
Selected Filmography
This list also includes films that are released by Canal+, Canal+Image and Canal+Droits Audiovisuels.
1990s
2000s
2010s
References
- ^ Mulholland Drive at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Ross, Matthew (June 21, 2007). "Kelly Fremon". Variety.Â
- ^ "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 August 2013.Â
- ^ "Basic Instinct". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 August 2013.Â
- ^ "The Tourist". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 August 2013.Â
- ^ Variety
- ^ "StudioCanal buys Kinowelt". Variety. Jan 17, 2008.Â
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://if.com.au/2013/04/03/article/Hoyts-Distribution-renamed-STUDIOCANAL-in-Australia-and-New-Zealand/MBDQJXMERM.html
- ^ Lionsgate, StudioCanal to distribute Miramax films
- ^ "Lionsgate, Studiocanal and Miramax Enter Into Home Entertainment Distribution Agreements". Yahoo! Finance. February 11, 2011.Â
External links
- Official StudioCanal site