Global InformationTriStar Pictures information
 | |
| Formerly | Nova Pictures (1982–1983) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Division[1] |
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | March 2, 1982 (as Nova Pictures), Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Victor Kaufman |
| Headquarters | 10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Nicole Brown (president)[2] |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Parent | Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group |
| Divisions | TriStar Productions |
| Website | sonypictures.com |
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group,[1] part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony studio Columbia Pictures.
TriStar Pictures was established on March 2, 1982, and founded by Victor Kaufman as Nova Pictures. On May 16, 1983, its name was changed to Tri-Star in order to avoid confusion with the PBS series Nova.[3]
Originally a joint venture between CBS, Columbia Pictures and HBO, whose individual video units handled video, broadcast, and pay cable rights to its products,[4] the company scored a number of box office hits with modestly-budgeted fare in the 1980s, as well as fortuitous distribution deals with the Producers Sales Organization,[5] Carolco Pictures[6] and the Taft Entertainment Group.[7] It also expanded ambitiously throughout the decade with the acquisition of Loews Theatres and the formation of its own television arm. Among the various hits TriStar scored on its own during the decade were About Last Night, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Real Genius, Nothing in Common, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Principal, Look Who's Talking and Steel Magnolias.
On November 15, 1985, CBS dropped out of the joint venture, selling its stake to Columbia Pictures.[8] HBO sold its shares to the same studio in 1986 in order to form HBO Pictures.[9] On December 21, 1987, Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. following The Coca-Cola Company's merger of Tri-Star and Columbia to become "Columbia/Tri-Star", of which it owned 80% of its stock.[10] In January 1988, CPE's stocks somewhat fell, and Coca-Cola decreased its shares in CPE to 49%. On April 13, 1988, the name of the company was reverted back to Tri-Star Pictures, Inc.[11] On November 8, 1989, the Sony Corporation of Japan acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion. On August 7, 1991, under Sony Pictures Entertainment, the hyphen was officially removed from the name of the studio.
During the 1990s, TriStar operated autonomously from Columbia. Although its products were mostly indistinguishible from that of its sister studio, it soon scored a string of hits at the box office with such films as Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Jerry Maguire, As Good as It Gets and Jumanji, and it also scored a major video hit with Danny DeVito's Matilda.[12] However, in 1998, the company fell on hard times following the box office disappointment of an ambitious remake of the Japanese monster film Godzilla, and Sony quickly responded by merging the studio with Columbia to form the Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures Group.[13] The TriStar name was subsequently used by Sony on a very limited basis until 2004, when the company decided to turn the studio into a genre label that specialized in acquisitions.[14] In 2015, Sony formed TriStar Productions as a vehicle for film and television productions.[15] TriStar Pictures is currently being used as a vehicle for distribution of products from that new entity and other items from Sony Pictures, including titles from Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions.[16]
TriStar Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).[17]
- ^ a b "Divisions - Sony Pictures". sonypictures.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ "Nicole Brown To Lead TriStar In Wake Of Hannah Minghella Exit To Bad Robot". October 17, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
broadcasting19830516was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
S. Princewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
PSO TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Carolco TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Taft TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
CBS Leaves TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
HBO Leaves TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Coke Tri 1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Coke Tri 2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Simon, Rachel (September 13, 2016). "Mara Wilson Is Done Backing Away From 'Matilda'". Bustle. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Col-Tri Mergewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Genre TriStarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
TriProd1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
TriProd2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Motion Picture Association of America – Who We Are – Our Story". MPAA. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.