TriStar Pictures

TriStar Pictures, Inc.
FormerlyNova Pictures (1982–1983)
Company typeDivision[1]
IndustryFilm
PredecessorNova Pictures
FoundedMarch 2, 1982; 42 years ago (1982-03-02) (as Nova Pictures), Burbank, California, U.S.
FounderVictor Kaufman
SuccessorSony Pictures
Headquarters10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Nicole Brown (president)[2]
ProductsMotion pictures
ParentColumbia Pictures (1986–1987)
Sony Pictures Entertainment (1987–1998)
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group (1998–present)
DivisionsTriStar Productions
Websitesonypictures.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 Group Corporation. It is a corporate sibling of fellow Sony studio, Columbia Pictures.

TriStar Pictures was established on March 2, 1982, founded by Victor Kaufman as Nova Pictures, and has ever since released some of the most iconic Hollywood movies, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Basic Instinct, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Hollywood’s first ever Godzilla. 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 Columbia Pictures, CBS, 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 reverted 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. TriStar became the first new american major film studio since RKO Pictures, which was founded in 1928.

During the 1990s, TriStar operated autonomously from Columbia. Although its products were mostly indistinguishable 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, Bugsy 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]

  1. ^ a b "Divisions - Sony Pictures". sonypictures.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Nicole Brown To Lead TriStar In Wake Of Hannah Minghella Exit To Bad Robot". October 17, 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference broadcasting19830516 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference S. Prince was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference PSO TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carolco TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Taft TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBS Leaves TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference HBO Leaves TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coke Tri 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coke Tri 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Simon, Rachel (September 13, 2016). "Mara Wilson Is Done Backing Away From 'Matilda'". Bustle. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Col-Tri Merge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Genre TriStar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference TriProd1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference TriProd2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Motion Picture Association of America – Who We Are – Our Story". MPAA. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.