Private company

Big Eight

Large U.S. film companies

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In American and international markets, major film studios, often known simply as majors or Big Four studios, are commonly regarded as four diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 82% of American box office revenue.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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The story

History

Before the Golden Age

In 1909, Thomas Edison, who had been fighting in the courts for years for control of fundamental motion picture patents, won a major decision. This led to the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company, widely known as the Trust. Comprising the eight largest U.S. film companies, it was "designed to eliminate not only independent film producers but also the country's 10,000 independent [distribution] exchanges and exhibitors." Though its many members did not consolidate their filmmaking operations, the New York–based Trust was arguably the first major North American movie conglomerate. The independents' fight against the Trust was led by Carl Laemmle, whose Chicago-based Laemmle Film Service, serving the Midwest and Canada, was the largest distribution exchange in North America. Laemmle's efforts were rewarded in 1912 when the U.S. government ruled that the Trust was a "corrupt and unlawful association" and must be dissolved. On June 8, 1912, Laemmle organized the merger of his production division, IMP (Independent Motion Picture Company), with several other filmmaking companies, creating the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in New York City. By the end of the year, Universal was making movies at two Los Angeles facilities: the former Nestor Film studio in Hollywood, and another studio in Edendale. The first Hollywood major studio was in business.

In 1916, a second powerful Hollywood studio was established when Adolph Zukor merged his Famous Players Film Company movie production house with the Jesse L. Lasky Company to form Famous Players–Lasky. The combined studio acquired Paramount Pictures as a distribution arm and eventually adopted its name. That same year, William Fox relocated his Fox Film Corporation from Fort Lee, New Jersey to Hollywood and began expanding.

In 1918, four brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner—founded the first Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. On April 4, 1923, the Warner Bros. incorporated their fledgling movie company as "Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.". Though their first film was My Four Years in Germany, Warner Bros. released their full-fledged movie The Jazz Singer in 1927. Warner Bros. were the pioneers of the sound film era as they established Vitaphone. Because of The Jazz Singer's success (along with Lights of New York, The Singing Fool and The Terror), Warner Bros. was eventually able to acquire a much larger studio in Burbank, which it began to use starting in 1928 (and which is famous for its signature water tower). Warner Bros. eventually expanded its studio operations to Leavesden in London. Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is the main studio in production of hit movies like the Harry Potter film series, The Dark Knight and the recent ones like The Batman and Ready Player One.

In 1923, Walt Disney had founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and The Disney Brothers Features Company with his brother Roy and animator Ub Iwerks. Renamed as Walt Disney Productions, Disney became a powerful independent over the next three decades focusing on animation with its shorts and films being distributed over the years by various majors; primarily Leslie B. Mace, Winkler Pictures, Universal Pictures, Celebrity Productions, Cinephone, Columbia Pictures, United Artists, United Artists Pictures and finally RKO. In its first year in 1928, Celebrity Productions and Cinephone had released its first blockbuster Steamboat Willie. In the decades that followed, Disney and its associated distributors were able to achieve occasional successes, but its relatively small output and exclusive focus on G-rated films meant that it was not generally considered to be one of the majors.

In 1924, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures (including its Culver City studio lot, its Leo the Lion "Ars Gratia Artis" slogan, and its contracted stars and projects), and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company.

The Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America and the Independent Producers' Association declared war in 1925 on what they termed a common enemy — the "film trust" of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, and First National, which they claimed dominated the industry by not only producing and distributing motion pictures, but by entering into exhibition as well.

On October 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, and a whole new era began, with "pictures that talked", bringing the studio to the forefront of the film industry. The Jazz Singer played to standing-room-only crowds throughout the country and earned a special Academy Award for Technical Achievement. Fox, in the forefront of sound film technology along with Warner Bros., was also acquiring a sizable circuit of movie theaters to exhibit its product. The development of sound films like The Jazz Singer near the end of the Roaring Twenties resulted in a massive rush of Americans to movie theaters to watch the new "talkies". At the peak of the fad, every person in the United States over the age of six was watching a motion picture in a theater at least once a week. The box office revenue from the first sound films is what enabled the Hollywood majors to achieve their lasting domination of the global film industry.

During the Golden Age

Between late 1928, when RCA's David Sarnoff engineered the creation of the RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) studio, and the end of 1949, when Paramount divested its theater chain—roughly the period considered Hollywood's Golden Age—there were eight Hollywood studios commonly regarded as the "majors". Of these eight, the so-called Big Five were integrated conglomerates, combining ownership of a production studio, distribution division, and substantial theater chain, and contracting with performers and filmmaking personnel: Loews/MGM, Paramount, Fox (which became 20th Century-Fox after a 1935 merger), Warner Bros., and RKO. The remaining majors were sometimes referred to as the "Little Three" or "major minor" studios. Two—Universal and Columbia (founded in 1924)—were organized similarly to the Big Five, except for the fact that they never owned more than small theater circuits (a consistently reliable source of profits). The third of the lesser majors, United Artists (founded in 1919), owned a few theaters and had access to production facilities owned by its principals, but it functioned primarily as a backer-distributor, loaning money to independent producers and releasing their films. During the 1930s, the eight majors averaged a total of 358 feature film releases a year; in the 1940s, the four largest companies shifted more of their resources toward high-budget productions and away from B movies, bringing the yearly average down to 288 for the decade.

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Among the significant characteristics of the Golden Age was the stability of the Hollywood majors, their hierarchy, and their near-complete domination of the box office. At the midpoint of the Golden Age, 1939, the Big Five had market shares ranging from 22% (MGM) to 9% (RKO); each of the Little Three had around a 7% share. In sum, the eight majors controlled 95% of the market. Ten years later, the picture was largely the same: the Big Five had market shares ranging from 22% (MGM) to 9% (RKO); the Little Three had shares ranging from 8% (Columbia) to 4% (United Artists). In sum, the eight majors controlled 96% of the market.

1950–1969

The end of the Golden Age had been signaled by the majors' loss of a federal antitrust case that led to the divestiture of the Big Five's theater chains. Though this had virtually no immediate effect on the eight majors' box-office domination, it somewhat leveled the playing field between the Big Five and the Little Three. In November 1951, Decca Records purchased 28% of Universal; early the following year, the studio became the first of the classic Hollywood majors to be taken over by an outside corporation, as Decca acquired majority ownership. In 1953, Disney established its own distribution division, Buena Vista Film Distribution, to handle its own product which had been largely distributed by RKO. The 1950s also saw two substantial shifts in the hierarchy of the majors: RKO, perennially the weakest of the Big Five, declined rapidly under the mismanagement of Howard Hughes, who had purchased a controlling interest in the studio in 1948. By the time Hughes sold it to the General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955, the studio was a major by outdated reputation alone. In 1957, virtually all RKO movie operations ceased and the studio was dissolved in 1958. (Revived on a small scale in 1981, it was eventually spun off and now operates as a minor independent company.) In contrast, there was United Artists, which had long operated under the financing-distribution model the other majors were now progressively shifting toward. Under Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin, who began managing the company in 1951, UA became consistently profitable. By 1956—when it released one of the biggest blockbusters of the decade, Around the World in 80 Days—it commanded a 10% market share. By the middle of the next decade, it had reached 16% and was the second-most profitable studio in Hollywood.

Despite RKO's collapse, the remaining seven majors still averaged a total yearly release slate of 253 feature films during the decade. Following MCA Inc.'s acquisition of Decca Records and the aforementioned Universal under Lew Wasserman in 1962, the later half of the 1960s were marked by four others — Paramount, United Artists, Warner Bros., and MGM — involved in a spate of corporate takeovers that left Columbia, Fox, and Disney as the only major studios under original ownership. Gulf+Western took over Paramount in 1966; and the Transamerica Corporation purchased United Artists in 1967. Warner Bros. underwent large-scale reorganization twice in two years: a 1967 merger with the Seven Arts company preceded a 1969 purchase by Kinney National, under Stephen J. Ross. MGM, in the process of a slow decline, changed ownership twice in the same span as well, winding up in the hands of financier Kirk Kerkorian also in 1969. The majors almost entirely abandoned low-budget production during this era, bringing the annual average of features released down to 160. The decade also saw Disney/Buena Vista commanding a prominent position in the market. Buoyed by the success of Mary Poppins, Disney achieved a 9% market share in 1964, more than Warner and 20th Century-Fox. Though over the next two decades Disney/Buena Vista's share of the box-office would continue to reach this level, the studio was still not considered a major as it did not release many films, and those it did release were exclusively G-rated.

1970–1989

The early 1970s were difficult years for all the classic majors. Movie attendance, which had been declining steadily since the end of the Golden Age, hit an all-time low by 1971. In 1973, MGM president James T. Aubrey drastically downsized the studio, slashing its production schedule and eliminating its distribution arm (UA would distribute the studio's films for the remainder of the decade). From fifteen releases in 1973, the next year MGM was down to five; its average for the rest of the 1970s would be even lower. Like RKO in its last days under Hughes, MGM remained a major in terms of brand reputation, but little more. Disney by contrast began to ascend towards major status through a resurgence in its animated movies, beginning with The Rescuers (1977), and the studio began to enter the adult market with The Black Hole (1979), its first non-G rated film.

By the mid-1970s, the industry had rebounded and a significant philosophical shift was in progress. As the majors focused increasingly on the development of the next hoped-for blockbuster and began routinely opening each new movie in many hundreds of theaters (an approach called "saturation booking"), their collective yearly release average fell to 81 films during 1975–84. The classic set of majors was shaken further in late 1980, when the disastrously expensive flop of Heaven's Gate effectively ruined United Artists. The studio was sold the following year to Kerkorian, who merged it with MGM. After a brief resurgence, the combined studio continued to decline. From 1986, MGM/UA has been at best a "mini-major", to use the present-day term.

The two emerging contenders were both newly formed companies. In 1978, Krim, Benjamin, and three other studio executives departed UA to found Orion Pictures as a joint venture with Warner Bros. It was announced optimistically as the "first major new film company in 50 years". Tri-Star Pictures was created in 1982 as a joint venture of future corporate sibling Columbia Pictures (at that time acquired by the Coca-Cola Company), HBO (then owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's predecessor Time Inc.), and CBS. In 1985, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired 20th Century-Fox (dropping the hyphen), the last of both the classic Hollywood majors and the Golden Age majors to be taken over by an outside corporation. It remained an independent studio until its 2019 sale to Disney brought back the total majors back to a "Big Five".

Meanwhile, a new member was finally admitted to the club of major studios and two significant contenders emerged. With the combined output of Walt Disney Pictures, the establishment of the Touchstone Pictures brand in 1984, and increasing attention to the adult live-action market during the early 1980s, Disney/Buena Vista secured acknowledgment as a full-fledged major. Film historian Joel Finler identifies 1986 as the breakthrough year, when Disney rose to third place in market share and remained consistently competitive for a leading position thereafter.

By 1986, the combined share of the six classic majors — Paramount, MGM/UA, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia and Universal — fell to 64%, the lowest since the beginning of the Golden Age. Disney was in third place, behind only Paramount and Warner. Even including Disney/Buena Vista as a seventh major and adding its 10% share, the majors' control of the North American market was at a historic ebb. Orion (now completely independent of Warner) and Tri-Star were well positioned as mini-majors, each with North American market shares of around 6% and regarded by industry observers as "fully competitive with the majors", much like MGM and Lionsgate by the turn of the century. Smaller independents garnered 13%—more than any studio aside from Paramount. In 1964, by comparison, all of the companies outside of the then-seven majors and Disney had combined for a grand total of 1%. In the first edition of Finler's The Hollywood Story (1988), he wrote, "It will be interesting to see whether the old-established studios will be able to bounce back in the future, as they have done so many times before, or whether the newest developments really do reflect a fundamental change in the US movie industry for the first times since the 20s."

1990–2009

With the exception of MGM/UA—whose position was effectively supplanted by Disney—the old-established studios did bounce back. The aforementioned purchase of 20th Century Fox by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation left Disney as the only company under original ownership and presaged a new round of corporate acquisitions not long afterward. As part of that series, Columbia, Paramount and Warner Bros. received new owners once and for all while Universal changed corporate hands until the mid-2000s. Paramount's parent company Gulf+Western was renamed Paramount Communications and Coca-Cola sold Columbia to Japanese electronics firm Sony in 1989, creating Sony Pictures. The following year, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. to birth Time Warner and Universal's parent company MCA was purchased by fellow Japanese electronics conglomerate Matsushita. At this time, both Tri-Star and Orion were essentially out of business: the former merged with Sony and Columbia, the latter bankrupt and sold to MGM. The most important contenders to emerge during the 1990s with Viacom's purchase of Paramount Communications in 1994 — New Line Cinema, Miramax, and DreamWorks SKG — were likewise sooner or later brought into the majors' fold. Shortly after, Matsushita sold MCA (and Universal) to Seagram in 1996, then Vivendi in 2000, and later NBC's parent company General Electric in 2004 to become NBCUniversal.

The development of in-house pseudo-indie subsidiaries by the conglomerates—sparked by the 1992 establishment of Sony Pictures Classics and the success of Pulp Fiction (1994) on home video, significantly undermined the position of the true independents. The majors' release schedule rebounded: the six (later five) primary studio subsidiaries alone put out a total of 124 films during 2006; the three largest secondary subsidiaries (New Line, Fox Searchlight, and Focus Features) accounted for another 30. Box-office domination was fully restored: in 2006, the then-six (now five) major movie conglomerates combined for 89.8% of the North American market; Lionsgate and Weinstein were almost exactly half as successful as their 1986 mini-major counterparts, sharing 6.1%; MGM came in at 1.8%; and all of the remaining independent companies split a pool totaling 2.3%.

More developments took place among the majors' subsidiaries. The very successful animation production house Pixar, whose films were distributed by Buena Vista, was acquired by Disney also in 2006. In 2008, New Line Cinema lost its independent status within Time Warner and became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Time Warner also announced that it would be shutting down its two specialty units, Warner Independent and Picturehouse. Also in 2008, Paramount Vantage's production, marketing, and distribution departments were folded into the parent studio, though it retained the brand for release purposes. Universal sold off its genre specialty division, Rogue Pictures, to Relativity Media in 2009.

2010–present

In January 2010, Disney closed down Miramax's operations and sold off the unit and its library that July to an investor group led by Ronald N. Tutor of the Tutor Perini construction firm and Tom Barrack of the Colony Capital private equity firm.

In January 2011, the majority of Universal was acquired by Comcast when acquiring 51% of NBCUniversal from General Electric before acquiring the remaining 49% and taking complete ownership in March 2013.

On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company (the parent company of major film studio Walt Disney Studios) announced to acquire key assets of 21st Century Fox (including fellow major film studio 20th Century Fox along with Fox Searchlight Pictures). After winning the bidding war for Fox against Comcast, both Disney and Fox shareholders approved the deal on July 27, 2018, and completed on March 20, 2019. The number of major film studios lowered to five for the first time since the Golden Age of Hollywood, as the era of the "Big Six" studios and Fox as a major studio for 83 years ended.

From June 14, 2018, until its acquisition by Discovery in 2022, Warner Bros. was owned by AT&T, which completed its acquisition of Time Warner, renaming it "WarnerMedia", which contained all assets owned by Warner Bros. and its subsidiaries.

On August 13, 2019, Paramount Pictures parent, Viacom, announced its reunion with CBS Corporation, and the combined company would be called ViacomCBS, renamed Paramount also in 2022. The two companies previously merged in 2000 but split in 2005. The deal was completed on December 4, 2019. Meanwhile, CBS Corporation's mini-major film studio, CBS Films was folded into CBS Entertainment Group after releasing its 2019 film slate, switching its focus to creating original film content for CBS All Access.

Historical organizational lineage

The eight Golden Age majors

The eight major film studios of the Golden Age have gone through significant ownership changes ("independent" meaning customarily identified as the primary commercial entity in its corporate structure; "purchased" meaning acquired anything from majority to total ownership). For instance, this does not include Walt Disney Studios, which despite being primarily an independent animation studio during the Golden Age, is the only current existing major studio to remain under continuous autonomous ownership since its founding.

Universal Pictures

Independent, 1912–1936 (Carl Laemmle, a German-born American film producer, founded Universal Pictures.)

Standard Capital, 1936–1946 (Laemmle retired from the movie industry and sold a controlling interest of Universal to an American businessman Lewis Rosenstiel through Standard Capital.)

Universal-International, 1946–1952 (Lewis Rosenstiel, an American businessman, acquired a controlling interest in Universal Pictures and merged it with International Pictures and Universal-International, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Company for international distribution was created)

Decca, 1951–1962 (Decca records bought Universal-International)

MCA Inc., 1962–1996 (MCA purchased Decca, that's became then a subsidiary of MCA. MCA acquired also Universal Pictures and merged with Universal officially.)

Matsushita Electric, 1990–1995 (Japanese conglomerate Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (now Panasonic) acquired MCA Inc. and with it Universal Pictures.)

Seagram, 1995–1996 (Seagram Company Ltd. acquired a majority of 80% of MCA Universal Pictures from Matsushita Electric.)

Universal Studios Inc., 1996 (MCA is renamed and reincorporated by Seagram)

Seagram, 1996–2000 (On December 9, 1996, the new owners dropped the MCA name, the company became Universal Studios Inc. and the parent company of Universal Pictures.)

Vivendi, 2000 (Edgar Bronfman Jr sold a controlling interest of Seagram's entertainment division and combined those business to French water utility and media company Vivendi, and with it, Universal Studios.)

Vivendi Universal, 2000–2004 (created on January 8, 2001, with the merger of the Vivendi media empire with Canal+ television networks and the acquisition of media assets of Canadian company Seagram Company Ltd, owner of Universal Studios.)

NBCUniversal, 2004–present (NBC merged with the company, formed through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment)

General Electric/Vivendi, (formed on May 11, 2004, beginning on November 8, 2004, as NBC Universal, Inc., with the merger of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal's film and television subsidiary Vivendi Universal Entertainment, after GE had acquired 80% of the subsidiary, giving Vivendi a 20% share of the new company.)

General Electric, 2004–2011 (GE acquired 80% of Universal Studios from Vivendi as part of a larger deal that included the acquisition of Vivendi's entertainment assets, forming NBC Universal.)

Vivendi, (Vivendi held the remaining 20%, giving Vivendi a 20% share of the new company. with an option to sell its share in 2006.)

Comcast/General Electric, 2011–2013 (Comcast acquired 51% of NBC Universal from General Electric. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current newly reformed NBCUniversal, by purchasing shares from GE, while GE bought out Vivendi.)

Comcast, 2013–present (Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion, since 2013, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast, which bought out GE's ownership stake.)

Universal Studios Inc. renamed Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Jeff Shell became the new chairman of the new Universal Studios.

Paramount Pictures

Independent as Famous Players Film Company, 1912–1916 (founded by Adolph Zukor and W. W. Hodkinson)

Independent as Famous Players–Lasky, 1916–1921 (founded by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky)

Independent, 1922–1966 (as Paramount Pictures, the company adopted its distribution division's name and folded into it in 1933)

Gulf+Western Industries, 1966–1989 (purchased by Gulf+Western)

Paramount Communications, 1989–1995 (Gulf+Western changed the name after selling non-entertainment assets)

National Amusements, 1994–2025 (owner of the two iterations of Viacom; the first includes CBS Corporation, the second involving the split; CBS and Viacom would reunite in 2019)

Viacom, 1994–2005 (Viacom purchased Paramount)

Viacom, 2005–2019 (Viacom split into two companies: "new" Viacom—with Paramount Pictures, MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and other cable channels—and CBS Corporation—which includes CBS Television Studios; both companies are controlled by National Amusements)

Paramount Global, 2019–2025 (re-merger between Viacom and CBS to form ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount Global)

Paramount Skydance Corporation, 2025–2026 (merger between Paramount Global, National Amusements and Skydance Media to form Paramount Skydance Corporation)

Skydance Corporation, 2026–present (merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, now known as Skydance)

20th Century Fox/20th Century Studios

Fox Film, 1915–1935 (founded by William Fox)

20th Century Pictures, 1933–1935 (founded by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck)

Independent, 1935–1985 (merged both companies in 1935 as 20th Century-Fox; fully purchased by Marc Rich and Marvin Davis in 1981 with the hyphen removed; Rich's interest purchased by Davis in 1984; half of Davis's interest purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in March 1985)

News Corporation, 1985–2013 (purchased the remainder of Davis's shares in September)

21st Century Fox, 2013–2019 (renamed media conglomerate when News Corporation split into two companies on June 28, 2013)

The Walt Disney Company, 2019–present (Disney acquired 20th Century Fox as part of a $71.3 billion purchase of their owner 21st Century Fox, which was announced on December 14, 2017, and completed on March 20, 2019; was renamed 20th Century Studios by January 17, 2020)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Metro Pictures, 1915–1924 (founded by Richard A. Rowland, George Grombacker, and Louis B. Mayer)

Goldwyn Pictures, 1916–1924 (founded by Samuel Goldwyn (then Goldfish) and theatre producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn)

Louis B. Mayer Pictures, 1918–1924 (founded by Louis B. Mayer; brought over Irving Thalberg from Universal as head of production)

Loew's Inc., 1924–1959 (in 1924, Marcus Loew merged the first two studios and Louis B. Mayer offered up the third and was named head of MGM; controlling interest in Loew's purchased by William Fox in 1929, but was then forced to sell off interest due to stock market crash; operational control ceded by Loew's to studio management in 1957)

Independent, 1959–1981 (fully divested by Loew's; purchased by Edgar Bronfman Sr. in 1967; purchased by Kirk Kerkorian in 1969)

MGM/UA Entertainment Co., 1981–1986 (United Artists purchased by Kerkorian in 1981 and merged into MGM)

Turner Broadcasting System, 1986 (purchased by Ted Turner in 1986)

MGM Entertainment Co., 1986

MGM/UA Communications Co., 1986–1990 (repurchased by Kerkorian seventy-four days later)

MGM-Pathé Communications, 1990–1992 (purchased by Giancarlo Parretti in 1990)

Crédit Lyonnais, 1992–1997 (foreclosed upon by bank after Parretti defaulted)

Tracinda Corporation, 1997–2005 (repurchased by Kerkorian)

MGM Holdings, 2005–2023

Sony/Comcast/4 private equity firms, 2005–2010 (purchased by Sony, Comcast, and private investment firms—Providence Equity Partners currently owns the greatest number of shares—and privately held as a minor media company independent of Sony/Columbia)

Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, other former bondholders (2011–2022), including Carl Icahn (2011–2012)

Amazon, 2022–present

Amazon MGM Studios, 2023–present

Warner Bros.

Independent as Warner Brothers Studio, 1918–1923 (founded by Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner, and Sam Warner; was not incorporated until 1923)

Independent, 1923–1929 (formally incorporated and renamed Warner Bros. Pictures, Incorporated; Sam Warner died in 1927)

Warner Bros.–First National, 1929–1967 (acquired First National Pictures; syndicate led by Jack Warner, Serge Semenenko of First National Bank of Boston, and Charles Allen Jr.; purchased a controlling interest in 1956)

Warner Bros.–Seven Arts, 1967–1969 (purchased by and merged with Seven Arts Productions)

Kinney, 1969–1972 (Kinney purchased Warner Bros.–Seven Arts)

Warner Communications, 1972–1990 (Kinney spun off non-entertainment assets and changed name)

Time-Warner, 1990–2001 (on January 10, 1990, in New York City, New York as a merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications)

AOL Time Warner, 2001–2003 (AOL merged with Time Warner in 2001)

Time Warner, 2003–2018 (AOL Time Warner reverted to their original name in 2003, which remained until AT&T's acquisition in 2018, despite spinning off AOL and Time Inc.)

WarnerMedia, 2018–2022 (Time Warner renamed after AT&T acquisition)

AT&T, 2018–2022

Warner Bros. Discovery, 2022–2026 (AT&T spin-off and merged with Discovery, Inc.)

Skydance Corporation, 2026–present (merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, now known as Skydance)

Columbia Pictures

Independent as CBC Film Sales, 1918–1924 (founded by Harry Cohn, Joe Brandt, and Jack Cohn)

Independent, 1924–1968 (company changes name to Columbia Pictures Corporation; goes public in 1926)

Columbia Pictures Industries, 1968–1987 (merger between Columbia Pictures Corporation and Screen Gems. CPI becomes the parent of both companies)

The Coca-Cola Company, 1982–1987 (purchased by Coca-Cola; Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture with HBO and CBS initiated in 1982—CBS drops out in 1985 and HBO in 1986)

Columbia Pictures Entertainment, 1987–1991 (divested by Coca-Cola; Coke's entertainment business sold to Tri-Star and takes 49% in CPE)

Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1991–present (Columbia Pictures Entertainment rebrands itself two years after purchase)

Sony, 1989–2021 (purchased by Sony Corporation in November 1989)

Sony Group Corporation, 2021–present (Sony reorganized)

RKO Radio Pictures/RKO Pictures

Independent as FBO, 1918–1928 (founded by Harry F. Robertson)

RCA, 1928–1935 (merger engineered under RCA by its president David Sarnoff, bringing together FBO and Keith-Albee-Orpheum)

Independent, 1935–1955 (half of RCA's interest purchased by Floyd Odlum, control split between RCA, Odlum, and Rockefeller brothers; controlling interest purchased by Odlum in 1942; controlling interest purchased by Howard Hughes in 1948; Hughes's interest purchased by Stolkin-Koolish-Ryan-Burke-Corwin syndicate in 1952; interest repurchased by Hughes in 1953; studio nearly fully purchased by Hughes in 1954)

General Tire and Rubber, 1955–1984 (purchased by General Tire and Rubber—coupled with General Tire's broadcasting operation as RKO Teleradio Pictures; production and distribution halted in 1957; movie business dissolved in 1958 and RKO Teleradio renamed RKO General; RKO General establishes RKO Pictures as production subsidiary in 1981)

GenCorp, 1984–1987 (reorganization creates holding company with RKO General and General Tire as primary subsidiaries)

Wesray Capital Corporation, 1987–1989 (spun off from RKO General, purchased by Wesray—controlled by William E. Simon and Ray Chambers—and merged with amusement park operations to form RKO/Six Flags Entertainment)

Independent as RKO Pictures LLC, 1989–2025 (owned by Ted Hartley, who also is the CEO. As of 2015, the company's recent films released were A Late Quartet and Barely Lethal)

Concord, 2025–2026

Concord Originals, 2025–present

BMG Rights Management, 2026–present (Concord and BMG merged)

United Artists (UA)

Independent, 1919–1967 (founded by Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D. W. Griffith, and Mary Pickford; operational control by Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin from 1951; fully purchased by Krim and Benjamin in 1956)

Transamerica, 1967–1981 (purchased by Transamerica)

MGM, 1981–2023 (purchased by Kirk Kerkorian from Transamerica and merged into MGM)