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Universal City Studios LLC

2021 version of 2012 logo
10 Universal City Plaza in Universal City
Trade name	Universal Pictures
Formerly	List Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912–1923) Universal Pictures Corporation (1923–1936) Universal Productions, Inc. (1936–1937) Universal Pictures Company, Inc. (1937–1946) Universal-International Pictures, Inc. (1946–1963) Universal Pictures, Inc. (1963–1964) Universal City Studios, Inc. (1964–1999) Universal Studios Inc. (1999–2014)
Type	Division
Industry	Film
Predecessor	Independent Moving Pictures
Founded	April 30, 1912; 110 years ago
Founders	Carl Laemmle Pat Powers David Horsley William Swanson Mark Dintenfass Charles Baumann Robert H. Cochrane Adam Kessel Jules Brulatour
Headquarters	10 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California , United States
Number of locations	3
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Donna Langley (Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group) Peter Cramer (President)
Products	Motion pictures
Revenue	US$11.622 billion (2022) [1]
Owner	Comcast
Parent	NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment (NBCUniversal)
Divisions	Focus Features Illumination Universal Animation Studios Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Subsidiaries	Amblin Partners (minority) Back Lot Music Carnival Films DreamWorks Animation Makeready (co-backing with Entertainment One only, film and television production company run by Brad Weston)[2] NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan OTL Releasing Rede Telecine (12.5%) United International Pictures (50%) Working Title Films
Website	universalpictures.com universalstudios.com
Footnotes / references [3][2]

Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC,^[4] also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Comcast through the NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment division of NBCUniversal.

Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States; the world’s fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film; and the oldest member of Hollywood’s «Big Five» studios in terms of the overall film market. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. In 1962, the studio was acquired by MCA, which was re-launched as NBCUniversal in 2004.

Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and was one of the «Little Three» majors during Hollywood’s golden age.^[5]

History

Early years

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane^[a] and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons, and calculating the day’s takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Patents Company (or the «Edison Trust») meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with his brothers-in-law^[7] Abe Stern and Julius Stern.^[8] That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America’s first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century.^{[9][10][11][12]} Laemmle broke with Edison’s custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as «The Biograph Girl»,^[13] and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York City on April 30, 1912.^[14] Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. The company was established on June 8, 1912, formed in a merger of Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), the Powers Motion Picture Company, Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, Champion Film Company, Nestor Film Company, and the New York Motion Picture Company.^[15] Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution, and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912, the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area.

Universal Weekly and Moving Picture Weekly^[16] were the alternating names of Universal’s internal magazine that began publication in this era; the magazine was intended to market Universal’s films to exhibitors.^[17] Since much of Universal’s early film output was destroyed in subsequent fires and nitrate degradation, the surviving issues of these magazines are a crucial source for film historians.^[17]

On March 15, 1915,^[19]: 8 Laemmle opened the world’s largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood.^[20] Studio management became the third facet of Universal’s operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns, and serials.

In 1916, Universal formed a three-tier branding system for their releases. Unlike the top-tier studios, Universal did not own any theaters to market its feature films. Universal branding their product gave theater owners and audiences a quick reference guide. Branding would help theater owners judge films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see. Universal released three different types of feature motion pictures:^[21][22]

• Red feather Photoplays – low-budget feature films
• Bluebird Photoplays – mainstream feature release and more ambitious productions
• Jewel – prestige motion pictures featuring high budgets using prominent actors

Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.^[19]: 13

Despite Laemmle’s role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).^[23] During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle’s personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal’s product a touch of class, but MGM’s head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance, Universal became a second-tier studio and would remain so for several decades.

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler’s increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary’s films. Still, some of them were exhibited through other independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York City without the benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In the early years, Universal had a «clean picture» policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this a mistake as «unclean pictures» from other studios generated more profit while Universal lost money.^[24]

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

In early 1927, Universal had been negotiating deals with cartoon producers since they wanted to get back into producing them. On March 4, Charles Mintz signed a contract with Universal in the presence of its vice president, R. H. Cochrane. Mintz’s company, Winkler Pictures, was to produce 26 «Oswald the Lucky Rabbit» cartoons for Universal.^[25] Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created the character and the Walt Disney Studio provided the animation for the cartoons under Winkler’s supervision.

The films enjoyed a successful theatrical run, and Mintz would sign a contract with Universal ensuring three more years of Oswald cartoons.^[26] However, after Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the films, Mintz took most of Walt’s animators to work at his own studio. Disney and Iwerks would create Mickey Mouse in secret while they finished the remaining Oswald films they were contractually obligated to finish. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.

In February 2006, NBCUniversal sold all the Disney-animated Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, to The Walt Disney Company. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC’s recently acquired Sunday night NFL football package. Universal retained ownership of the remaining Oswald cartoons.

Keeping leadership of the studio in the family

In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr., head of Universal Pictures, a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl Sr.’s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as «Uncle Carl». Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, «Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle». Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler.

«Junior,» Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber’s novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) won its year’s Best Picture Oscar.

Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).

The Laemmles lose control

Universal’s forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the Great Depression was risky, and for a time, Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl, Jr. held fast to distribution, studio, and production operations.

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film, was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.’s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family’s controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, and Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Although Universal’s 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles’ involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.’s names on the credits and in the film’s advertising campaign. Standard Capital’s J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Joining him were British entrepreneurs C.M. Woolf and J. Arthur Rank, who bought a significant stake in the studio.^[27] Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal’s German subsidiary, repeated his formula in the United States. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak’s first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio’s financial problems. The film’s success led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career, produced her most successful pictures.

When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin’s pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O’Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount.

By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company’s main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials, and sequels to the studio’s horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars and often borrowed talent from other studios or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello’s military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

During the war years, Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal’s core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio’s Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

As Universal’s main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. Technicolor was also utilized for the studio’s remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget Technicolor films followed.

Universal-International and Decca Records take control

In 1945, J. Arthur Rank, who had already owned a stake in the studio almost a decade before, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. However, Rank and International remained interested in Universal, culminating in the studio’s reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946.^[28] William Goetz, a founder of International along with Leo Spitz, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Company, Inc. which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm’s films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer, decided to bring «prestige» to the new company. He stopped the studio’s low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal’s horror and «Arabian Nights» cycles. He also reduced the studio’s output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (nearly twice the major studio’s output) to thirty-five films a year.^[29] Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.

Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank’s British productions, including such classics as David Lean’s Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947 and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer «highlights» reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal’s pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder’s Realart Pictures for cinema re-release, but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International’s new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out. The studio returned to low-budget and series films such as Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), a spin-off of the studio’s 1947 hit The Egg and I and the inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio’s top-grossing productions. But at this point, Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International’s films.

In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold and starring John Agar. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, which were critically reassessed more positively years later. Among Universal-International’s stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman’s deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester ’73 (1950), proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal and eventually at other studios as well.

MCA takes over

In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France. In the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol’s Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders, 1967) and Romain Gary’s Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier’s Les Valseuses (English title Going Places, 1974), and Fred Zinnemann’s The Day of the Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), the world’s largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958 for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal’s products. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures from Universal-International. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964.

Television production made up much of the studio’s output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions/Embassy Television, including Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall.

At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson’s Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).^[30] Although neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

In 1983, Universal Pictures launched an independent film arm designed to release specialty films, Universal Classics, and the division has sights on separation.^[31] In 1987, both Universal Pictures, along with MGM/UA Communications Co. and Paramount Pictures teamed up to market feature film and television product to China, and the consumer reach is measured in terms of the 25-billion admission tickets that were clocked in China in 1986, and Worldwide Media Sales, a division of the New York-based Worldwide Media Group had been placed in charge of the undertaking.^[32]

In the early 1980s, the company had its own pay television arm Universal Pay Television (a.k.a. Universal Pay TV Programming, Inc.), which spawned in 1987, an 11-picture cable television agreement with then-independent film studio New Line Cinema.^[33]

In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company’s fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA’s international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Animal House (1978), The Jerk (1979), The Blues Brothers (1980), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Scarface (1983), The Breakfast Club (1985), Back to the Future (also 1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997 due to the founders’ connections with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox’s international arm to handle the distribution of their titles, an ongoing arrangement. UIP nearly lost its connection with Universal Pictures in 1999 when Universal started Universal Pictures International to take over the assets of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and wanted UPI to distribute their films starting in 2001.^[34] Only a small handful of films were released theatrically by Universal Pictures International, up until the release of the film Mickey Blue Eyes. UIP then took over the theatrical distribution inventory of future films planned to be released by Universal Pictures International, such as The Green Mile and Angela’s Ashes.^[35] On October 4, 1999, Universal renewed its commitments to United International Pictures to release its films internationally through 2006.^[36][37]

Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi and NBCUniversal

Anxious to expand the company’s broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990.

Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later, Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion.^[38] Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal’s television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal’s films, such as David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) which became the second-highest-grossing French language film in the United States since 1980. Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (2003); a $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide.^[39] In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.^[40]

Burdened with debt, in 2004, Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric (GE), parent of NBC.^[41] The resulting company was named NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006.

In late 2005, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal’s long-time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted, and their co-chairperson jobs were consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson, becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson.^[42] In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal.^[43]

GE purchased Vivendi’s share in NBCUniversal in 2011.^[44]

Comcast era (2011–present)

GE sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast in 2011. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on January 29, 2011.^[45] In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.^[46]

In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to the sole chairperson. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman Jeff Shell would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company’s operations. Meyer retained oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.^[47]

Universal’s multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013.^[48] In summer 2013, Universal made an agreement with Thomas Tull’s Legendary Pictures to distribute their films for five years starting in 2014 (the year that Legendary’s similar agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures ended).^[49]

In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with the expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal.^[43]
In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label concentrating on action, sci-fi, and horror films.^[50]

On December 16, 2015, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films will be distributed and marketed by either Universal or Focus Features.^[51][52]

In early 2016, Perfect World Pictures announced a long-term co-financing deal with Universal, representing the first time a Chinese company directly invests in a multi-year slate deal with a major U.S. studio.^[53]

On April 28, 2016, Universal’s parent company, NBCUniversal, announced a $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation.^[54] On August 22, 2016, the deal was completed.^[55] Universal took over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation starting in 2019 with the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, after DreamWorks Animation’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended.

On February 15, 2017, Universal Pictures acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin,^[56] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with DreamWorks Animation.

In December 2019, Universal Pictures entered early negotiations to distribute upcoming feature film properties based on the Lego toys. Although the original Lego Movie characters are still owned by Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures will serve as a distributor of future releases and will develop additional Lego films. The future of the already in-development films is believed to remain the same.^[57]

In June, it was announced longtime Universal International Distribution President Duncan Clark would be stepping down. He would transition to a consulting role with the studio in August and would be replaced by Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.^[58]

Units

• Universal Pictures International
  • Universal International Distribution
• Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Universal Home Entertainment Productions
  • Universal 1440 Entertainment
  • DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment
  • Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia (joint venture with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
  • Universal Playback
  • Studio Distribution Services (joint venture with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
• Focus Features
• Universal Pictures International Entertainment
  • NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
• Working Title Films
  • WT² Productions
  • Working Title Television
• Carnival Films
• Rede Telecine (10%, joint venture with Canais Globo, Disney, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• Illumination
  • Illumination Studios Paris
  • Illumination Labs
  • Moonlight
• Universal Animation Studios
• DreamWorks Animation
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Classics
    • Big Idea Entertainment (in-name-only unit of DreamWorks Animation)
    • Bullwinkle Studios (JV)
    • Harvey Entertainment
  • DreamWorks Theatricals
  • DreamWorks New Media
    • DreamWorksTV
  • DreamWorks Press
• OTL Releasing
• Back Lot Music
• Universal Brand Development
• United International Pictures (50%, joint venture with Paramount Global’s Paramount Pictures)
• Amblin Partners (minor stake)^[51][52] (JV)^[56]
  • Amblin Entertainment
  • Amblin Television
  • DreamWorks Pictures
  • Storyteller Distribution^[59]

Film library

In addition to its own library, Universal releases the EMKA, Ltd. catalog of 1929–1949 Paramount Pictures, owned by sister company Universal Television.

Film series

Title	Release date	No. Films	Notes
Universal Monsters/Dark Universe	1931–56	31
The Mummy	1932–2017; TBA	11	co-production with Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K/O Paper Products, and Perfect World Pictures
Abbott and Costello	1940–55	3
Woody Woodpecker	1941–present	co-production with Walter Lantz Studios and Universal Animation Studios
Sherlock Holmes	1942–46	12
Ma and Pa Kettle	1947–57	10
Francis the Talking Mule	1950–56	7
Cape Fear	1962–91	2
The Birds	1963–94
McHale’s Navy	1964–97	3
Airport	1970–79	4
American Graffiti	1973–79	2	co-production with Lucasfilm, Ltd.
The Jackal	1973–97	co-production Warwick Films, Alphaville and Mutual Film Company
Jaws	1975–87	4
The Car	1977–2019	2
The Blues Brothers	1980–98	co-production with SNL Studios
Halloween	1981–82, 2018–present	5	co-production with Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Miramax and Blumhouse Productions
Endless Love	1981–2014	2
Conan the Barbarian	1982–84; TBA
The Thing	1982–2011; TBA	co-production with Morgan Creek Productions and Strike Entertainment
Psycho	1983–98	5
Firestarter	1984–2022	2
Back to the Future	1985–90	3	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
An American Tail	1986–99	4	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation and Sullivan Bluth Studios
The Land Before Time	1988–2016	14	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Sullivan Bluth Studios
Tremors	1990–present	7
Problem Child	1990–95	3
Darkman	1990–96	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Buried Alive	1990–97	2
Child’s Play / Chucky	1990–98; 2013–present	5
Kindergarten Cop	1990–2016	2	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Knight Rider	1991–2008	3
The Little Engine That Could	1991–2011	2
Backdraft	1991–2019	co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Trilogy Entertainment Group
Beethoven	1992–2014	8
Jurassic Park	1993–2001; 2015–22; TBA	6	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Carlito’s Way	1993–2005	2
Hard Target	1993–2016
The Flintstones	1994–2000	co-production with Hanna-Barbera and Amblin Entertainment
Timecop	1994–2003	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
The Little Rascals	1994–2014	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
Babe	1995–98
Casper	1995–2000; 2016–present	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, and Saban Ltd.
Balto	1995–2005	3	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Amblimation
Apollo films	1995–2019	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, Statement Pictures, CNN Films and Neon
Sudden Death	1995–2020	2
Dragonheart	1996–present	5
Twister	1	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. (both 1996)
Mr. Bean	1997–2007	2	co-production with PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, and Tiger Aspect Productions
Alvin and the Chipmunks	1999–2000
American Pie	1999–2012	4
The Best Man	1999–2013	2
Meet the Parents	2000–10	co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and TriBeCa Productions
The Chronicles of Riddick	2000–13	3	co-production with Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film, and Relativity Media
Dr. Seuss films	2000–18	4	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, and Illumination
Bring It On	2000–22	6	co-production with Strike Entertainment
Hannibal Lecter	2001–02	2	co-production with The Weinstein Company, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Fast & Furious	2001–present	10	co-production with Original Film, Relativity Media, and One Race Films
Bourne	2002–present	5	co-production with The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media.
The Scorpion King	2002–18	co-production with Alphaville and WWE Studios
Undercover Brother	2002–19	2
Almighty	2003–07	co-production with Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Original Film
Hulk	2003–08; TBA	including MCU’s The Incredible Hulk (distribution only), right of first refusal holders (distribution only) of any future MCU solo Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Johnny English	2003–18	3	co-production with StudioCanal and Working Title Films
…of the Dead	2004–05	2	co-production with Atmosphere Entertainment, Romero/Grunwald Films, Cruel and Unusual Films and Strike Entertainment
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy	2004–13	3	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Working Title Films and StudioCanal
White Noise	2005–07	2	co-production with Gold Circle Films
Doom	2005–present	co-production with Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software
Nanny McPhee	2005–10	co-production with Working Title Films
Curious George	2006–present	6	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Smokin’ Aces	2006–10	2	co-production with Relativity Media
Battlestar Galactica	2007–09
VeggieTales	2008–present	1	co-production with Big Idea Entertainment, DreamWorks Classics, FHE Pictures, Starz Animation
Mamma Mia!	2008–18	2	co-production with Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment and Perfect World Pictures
Death Race	5	co-production with New Horizons, Cruise/Wagner Productions and Relativity Media
The Strangers	2	co-production with Intrepid Pictures, Relativity Media, Rogue Pictures and Aviron Pictures
Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass	2010–present	co-production with Lionsgate and Marv Films
Despicable Me	5	co-production with Illumination
Ted	2012–15	2	co-production with Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films, and Fuzzy Door Productions
The Man with…	co-production with Strike Entertainment and Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect	2012–17	3	co-production with Gold Circle Films and Brownstone Productions
The Purge	2013–present	5	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes
R.I.P.D.	2013–22	2
Ouija	2014–16	co-production with Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films, and Platinum Dunes
Neighbors	co-production with Point Grey, Relativity Media, and Good Universe
Ride Along	co-production with Relativity Media and Perfect World Pictures
Fifty Shades	2015–18	3	co-production with Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions and Trigger Street Productions
The Secret Life of Pets	2016–present	2	co-production with Illumination
Sing
Unbreakable	2016–19	co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
Happy Death Day	2017–present	co-production with Blumhouse Productions
Insidious	2018–present	co-production with FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Films, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One, and Blumhouse Productions
Pacific Rim	1	co-production with Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.
The Addams Family	2019–present	2	International distributor; co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Bron Creative
Trolls	2020–present	1	co-production with DreamWorks Animation
The Boss Baby	2021–present
Shrek	2022–present
The Bad Guys	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Scholastic Corporation

Highest-grossing films

Universal was the first studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World, and Minions.^[60]

Highest-grossing films in North America[61] Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $652,270,625 2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $435,110,554 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $417,719,760 4 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $402,523,348 5 Jurassic World: Dominion 2022 $376,009,080 6 Minions: The Rise of Gru $369,500,210 7 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $368,384,330 8 Despicable Me 2 2013 $368,061,265 9 Furious 7 2015 $353,007,020 10 Minions $336,045,770 11 Meet the Fockers 2004 $279,261,160 12 The Grinch 2018 $270,620,950 13 Sing 2016 $270,329,045 14 Despicable Me 3 2017 $264,624,300 15 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 $260,044,825 16 Jaws 1975 $260,000,000 17 Despicable Me 2010 $251,513,985 18 Bruce Almighty 2003 $242,829,261 19 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $238,679,850 20 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $229,086,679 21 The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 $227,471,070 22 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $226,008,385 23 Ted 2012 $218,815,487 24 King Kong 2005 $218,080,025 25 The Lorax 2012 $214,030,500

Highest-grossing films worldwide Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $1,670,400,637 2 Furious 7 $1,516,045,911 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $1,308,534,046 4 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $1,238,764,765 5 Minions 2015 $1,159,398,397 6 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $1,045,573,035 7 Despicable Me 3 2017 $1,034,800,131 8 Jurassic World: Dominion 2022 $1,001,188,755 9 Despicable Me 2 2013 $970,761,885 10 Minions: The Rise of Gru 2022 $939,433,210 11 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $875,457,937 12 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $792,910,554 13 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $788,679,850 14 No Time to Die 2021 $774,153,007 15 F9 $726,229,501 16 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 2019 $721,040,050 17 Sing 2016 $631,214,341 18 Fast Five 2011 $626,137,675 19 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $618,638,999 20 Mamma Mia! 2008 $609,841,637 21 Fifty Shades of Grey 2015 $571,006,128 22 King Kong 2005 $550,517,357 23 Ted 2012 $549,368,315 24 Despicable Me 2010 $543,113,985 25 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 2019 $517,049,060

^‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

• List of television shows produced by Universal Studios
• DreamWorks
• Woody Woodpecker

Notes

References

External links

• Official website

Universal City Studios LLC

2021 version of 2012 logo
10 Universal City Plaza in Universal City
Trade name	Universal Pictures
Formerly	List Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912–1923) Universal Pictures Corporation (1923–1936) Universal Productions, Inc. (1936–1937) Universal Pictures Company, Inc. (1937–1946) Universal-International Pictures, Inc. (1946–1963) Universal Pictures, Inc. (1963–1964) Universal City Studios, Inc. (1964–1999) Universal Studios Inc. (1999–2014)
Type	Division
Industry	Film
Predecessor	Independent Moving Pictures
Founded	April 30, 1912; 110 years ago
Founders	Carl Laemmle Pat Powers David Horsley William Swanson Mark Dintenfass Charles Baumann Robert H. Cochrane Adam Kessel Jules Brulatour
Headquarters	10 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California , United States
Number of locations	3
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Donna Langley (Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group) Peter Cramer (President)
Products	Motion pictures
Revenue	US$11.622 billion (2022) [1]
Owner	Comcast
Parent	NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment (NBCUniversal)
Divisions	Focus Features Illumination Universal Animation Studios Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Subsidiaries	Amblin Partners (minority) Back Lot Music Carnival Films DreamWorks Animation Makeready (co-backing with Entertainment One only, film and television production company run by Brad Weston)[2] NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan OTL Releasing Rede Telecine (12.5%) United International Pictures (50%) Working Title Films
Website	universalpictures.com universalstudios.com
Footnotes / references [3][2]

Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC,^[4] also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Comcast through the NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment division of NBCUniversal.

Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States; the world’s fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film; and the oldest member of Hollywood’s «Big Five» studios in terms of the overall film market. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. In 1962, the studio was acquired by MCA, which was re-launched as NBCUniversal in 2004.

Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and was one of the «Little Three» majors during Hollywood’s golden age.^[5]

History

Early years

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane^[a] and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons, and calculating the day’s takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Patents Company (or the «Edison Trust») meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with his brothers-in-law^[7] Abe Stern and Julius Stern.^[8] That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America’s first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century.^{[9][10][11][12]} Laemmle broke with Edison’s custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as «The Biograph Girl»,^[13] and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York City on April 30, 1912.^[14] Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. The company was established on June 8, 1912, formed in a merger of Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), the Powers Motion Picture Company, Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, Champion Film Company, Nestor Film Company, and the New York Motion Picture Company.^[15] Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution, and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912, the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area.

Universal Weekly and Moving Picture Weekly^[16] were the alternating names of Universal’s internal magazine that began publication in this era; the magazine was intended to market Universal’s films to exhibitors.^[17] Since much of Universal’s early film output was destroyed in subsequent fires and nitrate degradation, the surviving issues of these magazines are a crucial source for film historians.^[17]

On March 15, 1915,^[19]: 8 Laemmle opened the world’s largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood.^[20] Studio management became the third facet of Universal’s operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns, and serials.

In 1916, Universal formed a three-tier branding system for their releases. Unlike the top-tier studios, Universal did not own any theaters to market its feature films. Universal branding their product gave theater owners and audiences a quick reference guide. Branding would help theater owners judge films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see. Universal released three different types of feature motion pictures:^[21][22]

• Red feather Photoplays – low-budget feature films
• Bluebird Photoplays – mainstream feature release and more ambitious productions
• Jewel – prestige motion pictures featuring high budgets using prominent actors

Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.^[19]: 13

Despite Laemmle’s role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).^[23] During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle’s personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal’s product a touch of class, but MGM’s head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance, Universal became a second-tier studio and would remain so for several decades.

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler’s increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary’s films. Still, some of them were exhibited through other independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York City without the benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In the early years, Universal had a «clean picture» policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this a mistake as «unclean pictures» from other studios generated more profit while Universal lost money.^[24]

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

In early 1927, Universal had been negotiating deals with cartoon producers since they wanted to get back into producing them. On March 4, Charles Mintz signed a contract with Universal in the presence of its vice president, R. H. Cochrane. Mintz’s company, Winkler Pictures, was to produce 26 «Oswald the Lucky Rabbit» cartoons for Universal.^[25] Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created the character and the Walt Disney Studio provided the animation for the cartoons under Winkler’s supervision.

The films enjoyed a successful theatrical run, and Mintz would sign a contract with Universal ensuring three more years of Oswald cartoons.^[26] However, after Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the films, Mintz took most of Walt’s animators to work at his own studio. Disney and Iwerks would create Mickey Mouse in secret while they finished the remaining Oswald films they were contractually obligated to finish. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.

In February 2006, NBCUniversal sold all the Disney-animated Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, to The Walt Disney Company. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC’s recently acquired Sunday night NFL football package. Universal retained ownership of the remaining Oswald cartoons.

Keeping leadership of the studio in the family

In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr., head of Universal Pictures, a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl Sr.’s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as «Uncle Carl». Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, «Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle». Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler.

«Junior,» Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber’s novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) won its year’s Best Picture Oscar.

Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).

The Laemmles lose control

Universal’s forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the Great Depression was risky, and for a time, Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl, Jr. held fast to distribution, studio, and production operations.

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film, was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.’s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family’s controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, and Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Although Universal’s 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles’ involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.’s names on the credits and in the film’s advertising campaign. Standard Capital’s J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Joining him were British entrepreneurs C.M. Woolf and J. Arthur Rank, who bought a significant stake in the studio.^[27] Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal’s German subsidiary, repeated his formula in the United States. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak’s first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio’s financial problems. The film’s success led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career, produced her most successful pictures.

When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin’s pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O’Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount.

By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company’s main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials, and sequels to the studio’s horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars and often borrowed talent from other studios or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello’s military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

During the war years, Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal’s core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio’s Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

As Universal’s main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. Technicolor was also utilized for the studio’s remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget Technicolor films followed.

Universal-International and Decca Records take control

In 1945, J. Arthur Rank, who had already owned a stake in the studio almost a decade before, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. However, Rank and International remained interested in Universal, culminating in the studio’s reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946.^[28] William Goetz, a founder of International along with Leo Spitz, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Company, Inc. which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm’s films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer, decided to bring «prestige» to the new company. He stopped the studio’s low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal’s horror and «Arabian Nights» cycles. He also reduced the studio’s output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (nearly twice the major studio’s output) to thirty-five films a year.^[29] Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.

Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank’s British productions, including such classics as David Lean’s Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947 and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer «highlights» reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal’s pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder’s Realart Pictures for cinema re-release, but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International’s new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out. The studio returned to low-budget and series films such as Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), a spin-off of the studio’s 1947 hit The Egg and I and the inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio’s top-grossing productions. But at this point, Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International’s films.

In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold and starring John Agar. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, which were critically reassessed more positively years later. Among Universal-International’s stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman’s deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester ’73 (1950), proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal and eventually at other studios as well.

MCA takes over

In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France. In the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol’s Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders, 1967) and Romain Gary’s Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier’s Les Valseuses (English title Going Places, 1974), and Fred Zinnemann’s The Day of the Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), the world’s largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958 for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal’s products. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures from Universal-International. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964.

Television production made up much of the studio’s output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions/Embassy Television, including Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall.

At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson’s Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).^[30] Although neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

In 1983, Universal Pictures launched an independent film arm designed to release specialty films, Universal Classics, and the division has sights on separation.^[31] In 1987, both Universal Pictures, along with MGM/UA Communications Co. and Paramount Pictures teamed up to market feature film and television product to China, and the consumer reach is measured in terms of the 25-billion admission tickets that were clocked in China in 1986, and Worldwide Media Sales, a division of the New York-based Worldwide Media Group had been placed in charge of the undertaking.^[32]

In the early 1980s, the company had its own pay television arm Universal Pay Television (a.k.a. Universal Pay TV Programming, Inc.), which spawned in 1987, an 11-picture cable television agreement with then-independent film studio New Line Cinema.^[33]

In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company’s fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA’s international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Animal House (1978), The Jerk (1979), The Blues Brothers (1980), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Scarface (1983), The Breakfast Club (1985), Back to the Future (also 1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997 due to the founders’ connections with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox’s international arm to handle the distribution of their titles, an ongoing arrangement. UIP nearly lost its connection with Universal Pictures in 1999 when Universal started Universal Pictures International to take over the assets of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and wanted UPI to distribute their films starting in 2001.^[34] Only a small handful of films were released theatrically by Universal Pictures International, up until the release of the film Mickey Blue Eyes. UIP then took over the theatrical distribution inventory of future films planned to be released by Universal Pictures International, such as The Green Mile and Angela’s Ashes.^[35] On October 4, 1999, Universal renewed its commitments to United International Pictures to release its films internationally through 2006.^[36][37]

Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi and NBCUniversal

Anxious to expand the company’s broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990.

Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later, Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion.^[38] Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal’s television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal’s films, such as David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) which became the second-highest-grossing French language film in the United States since 1980. Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (2003); a $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide.^[39] In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.^[40]

Burdened with debt, in 2004, Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric (GE), parent of NBC.^[41] The resulting company was named NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006.

In late 2005, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal’s long-time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted, and their co-chairperson jobs were consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson, becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson.^[42] In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal.^[43]

GE purchased Vivendi’s share in NBCUniversal in 2011.^[44]

Comcast era (2011–present)

GE sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast in 2011. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on January 29, 2011.^[45] In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.^[46]

In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to the sole chairperson. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman Jeff Shell would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company’s operations. Meyer retained oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.^[47]

Universal’s multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013.^[48] In summer 2013, Universal made an agreement with Thomas Tull’s Legendary Pictures to distribute their films for five years starting in 2014 (the year that Legendary’s similar agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures ended).^[49]

In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with the expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal.^[43]
In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label concentrating on action, sci-fi, and horror films.^[50]

On December 16, 2015, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films will be distributed and marketed by either Universal or Focus Features.^[51][52]

In early 2016, Perfect World Pictures announced a long-term co-financing deal with Universal, representing the first time a Chinese company directly invests in a multi-year slate deal with a major U.S. studio.^[53]

On April 28, 2016, Universal’s parent company, NBCUniversal, announced a $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation.^[54] On August 22, 2016, the deal was completed.^[55] Universal took over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation starting in 2019 with the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, after DreamWorks Animation’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended.

On February 15, 2017, Universal Pictures acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin,^[56] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with DreamWorks Animation.

In December 2019, Universal Pictures entered early negotiations to distribute upcoming feature film properties based on the Lego toys. Although the original Lego Movie characters are still owned by Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures will serve as a distributor of future releases and will develop additional Lego films. The future of the already in-development films is believed to remain the same.^[57]

In June, it was announced longtime Universal International Distribution President Duncan Clark would be stepping down. He would transition to a consulting role with the studio in August and would be replaced by Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.^[58]

Units

• Universal Pictures International
  • Universal International Distribution
• Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Universal Home Entertainment Productions
  • Universal 1440 Entertainment
  • DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment
  • Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia (joint venture with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
  • Universal Playback
  • Studio Distribution Services (joint venture with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
• Focus Features
• Universal Pictures International Entertainment
  • NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
• Working Title Films
  • WT² Productions
  • Working Title Television
• Carnival Films
• Rede Telecine (10%, joint venture with Canais Globo, Disney, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• Illumination
  • Illumination Studios Paris
  • Illumination Labs
  • Moonlight
• Universal Animation Studios
• DreamWorks Animation
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Classics
    • Big Idea Entertainment (in-name-only unit of DreamWorks Animation)
    • Bullwinkle Studios (JV)
    • Harvey Entertainment
  • DreamWorks Theatricals
  • DreamWorks New Media
    • DreamWorksTV
  • DreamWorks Press
• OTL Releasing
• Back Lot Music
• Universal Brand Development
• United International Pictures (50%, joint venture with Paramount Global’s Paramount Pictures)
• Amblin Partners (minor stake)^[51][52] (JV)^[56]
  • Amblin Entertainment
  • Amblin Television
  • DreamWorks Pictures
  • Storyteller Distribution^[59]

Film library

In addition to its own library, Universal releases the EMKA, Ltd. catalog of 1929–1949 Paramount Pictures, owned by sister company Universal Television.

Film series

Title	Release date	No. Films	Notes
Universal Monsters/Dark Universe	1931–56	31
The Mummy	1932–2017; TBA	11	co-production with Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K/O Paper Products, and Perfect World Pictures
Abbott and Costello	1940–55	3
Woody Woodpecker	1941–present	co-production with Walter Lantz Studios and Universal Animation Studios
Sherlock Holmes	1942–46	12
Ma and Pa Kettle	1947–57	10
Francis the Talking Mule	1950–56	7
Cape Fear	1962–91	2
The Birds	1963–94
McHale’s Navy	1964–97	3
Airport	1970–79	4
American Graffiti	1973–79	2	co-production with Lucasfilm, Ltd.
The Jackal	1973–97	co-production Warwick Films, Alphaville and Mutual Film Company
Jaws	1975–87	4
The Car	1977–2019	2
The Blues Brothers	1980–98	co-production with SNL Studios
Halloween	1981–82, 2018–present	5	co-production with Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Miramax and Blumhouse Productions
Endless Love	1981–2014	2
Conan the Barbarian	1982–84; TBA
The Thing	1982–2011; TBA	co-production with Morgan Creek Productions and Strike Entertainment
Psycho	1983–98	5
Firestarter	1984–2022	2
Back to the Future	1985–90	3	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
An American Tail	1986–99	4	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation and Sullivan Bluth Studios
The Land Before Time	1988–2016	14	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Sullivan Bluth Studios
Tremors	1990–present	7
Problem Child	1990–95	3
Darkman	1990–96	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Buried Alive	1990–97	2
Child’s Play / Chucky	1990–98; 2013–present	5
Kindergarten Cop	1990–2016	2	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Knight Rider	1991–2008	3
The Little Engine That Could	1991–2011	2
Backdraft	1991–2019	co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Trilogy Entertainment Group
Beethoven	1992–2014	8
Jurassic Park	1993–2001; 2015–22; TBA	6	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Carlito’s Way	1993–2005	2
Hard Target	1993–2016
The Flintstones	1994–2000	co-production with Hanna-Barbera and Amblin Entertainment
Timecop	1994–2003	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
The Little Rascals	1994–2014	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
Babe	1995–98
Casper	1995–2000; 2016–present	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, and Saban Ltd.
Balto	1995–2005	3	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Amblimation
Apollo films	1995–2019	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, Statement Pictures, CNN Films and Neon
Sudden Death	1995–2020	2
Dragonheart	1996–present	5
Twister	1	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. (both 1996)
Mr. Bean	1997–2007	2	co-production with PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, and Tiger Aspect Productions
Alvin and the Chipmunks	1999–2000
American Pie	1999–2012	4
The Best Man	1999–2013	2
Meet the Parents	2000–10	co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and TriBeCa Productions
The Chronicles of Riddick	2000–13	3	co-production with Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film, and Relativity Media
Dr. Seuss films	2000–18	4	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, and Illumination
Bring It On	2000–22	6	co-production with Strike Entertainment
Hannibal Lecter	2001–02	2	co-production with The Weinstein Company, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Fast & Furious	2001–present	10	co-production with Original Film, Relativity Media, and One Race Films
Bourne	2002–present	5	co-production with The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media.
The Scorpion King	2002–18	co-production with Alphaville and WWE Studios
Undercover Brother	2002–19	2
Almighty	2003–07	co-production with Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Original Film
Hulk	2003–08; TBA	including MCU’s The Incredible Hulk (distribution only), right of first refusal holders (distribution only) of any future MCU solo Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Johnny English	2003–18	3	co-production with StudioCanal and Working Title Films
…of the Dead	2004–05	2	co-production with Atmosphere Entertainment, Romero/Grunwald Films, Cruel and Unusual Films and Strike Entertainment
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy	2004–13	3	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Working Title Films and StudioCanal
White Noise	2005–07	2	co-production with Gold Circle Films
Doom	2005–present	co-production with Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software
Nanny McPhee	2005–10	co-production with Working Title Films
Curious George	2006–present	6	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Smokin’ Aces	2006–10	2	co-production with Relativity Media
Battlestar Galactica	2007–09
VeggieTales	2008–present	1	co-production with Big Idea Entertainment, DreamWorks Classics, FHE Pictures, Starz Animation
Mamma Mia!	2008–18	2	co-production with Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment and Perfect World Pictures
Death Race	5	co-production with New Horizons, Cruise/Wagner Productions and Relativity Media
The Strangers	2	co-production with Intrepid Pictures, Relativity Media, Rogue Pictures and Aviron Pictures
Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass	2010–present	co-production with Lionsgate and Marv Films
Despicable Me	5	co-production with Illumination
Ted	2012–15	2	co-production with Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films, and Fuzzy Door Productions
The Man with…	co-production with Strike Entertainment and Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect	2012–17	3	co-production with Gold Circle Films and Brownstone Productions
The Purge	2013–present	5	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes
R.I.P.D.	2013–22	2
Ouija	2014–16	co-production with Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films, and Platinum Dunes
Neighbors	co-production with Point Grey, Relativity Media, and Good Universe
Ride Along	co-production with Relativity Media and Perfect World Pictures
Fifty Shades	2015–18	3	co-production with Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions and Trigger Street Productions
The Secret Life of Pets	2016–present	2	co-production with Illumination
Sing
Unbreakable	2016–19	co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
Happy Death Day	2017–present	co-production with Blumhouse Productions
Insidious	2018–present	co-production with FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Films, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One, and Blumhouse Productions
Pacific Rim	1	co-production with Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.
The Addams Family	2019–present	2	International distributor; co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Bron Creative
Trolls	2020–present	1	co-production with DreamWorks Animation
The Boss Baby	2021–present
Shrek	2022–present
The Bad Guys	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Scholastic Corporation

Highest-grossing films

Universal was the first studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World, and Minions.^[60]

Highest-grossing films in North America[61] Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $652,270,625 2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $435,110,554 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $417,719,760 4 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $402,523,348 5 Jurassic World: Dominion 2022 $376,009,080 6 Minions: The Rise of Gru $369,500,210 7 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $368,384,330 8 Despicable Me 2 2013 $368,061,265 9 Furious 7 2015 $353,007,020 10 Minions $336,045,770 11 Meet the Fockers 2004 $279,261,160 12 The Grinch 2018 $270,620,950 13 Sing 2016 $270,329,045 14 Despicable Me 3 2017 $264,624,300 15 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 $260,044,825 16 Jaws 1975 $260,000,000 17 Despicable Me 2010 $251,513,985 18 Bruce Almighty 2003 $242,829,261 19 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $238,679,850 20 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $229,086,679 21 The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 $227,471,070 22 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $226,008,385 23 Ted 2012 $218,815,487 24 King Kong 2005 $218,080,025 25 The Lorax 2012 $214,030,500

Highest-grossing films worldwide Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $1,670,400,637 2 Furious 7 $1,516,045,911 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $1,308,534,046 4 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $1,238,764,765 5 Minions 2015 $1,159,398,397 6 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $1,045,573,035 7 Despicable Me 3 2017 $1,034,800,131 8 Jurassic World: Dominion 2022 $1,001,188,755 9 Despicable Me 2 2013 $970,761,885 10 Minions: The Rise of Gru 2022 $939,433,210 11 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $875,457,937 12 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $792,910,554 13 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $788,679,850 14 No Time to Die 2021 $774,153,007 15 F9 $726,229,501 16 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 2019 $721,040,050 17 Sing 2016 $631,214,341 18 Fast Five 2011 $626,137,675 19 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $618,638,999 20 Mamma Mia! 2008 $609,841,637 21 Fifty Shades of Grey 2015 $571,006,128 22 King Kong 2005 $550,517,357 23 Ted 2012 $549,368,315 24 Despicable Me 2010 $543,113,985 25 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 2019 $517,049,060

^‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

• List of television shows produced by Universal Studios
• DreamWorks
• Woody Woodpecker

Notes

References

External links

• Official website

This article is a stub. You can help Universal Studios Wiki by expanding it.

Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios, formerly Universal Film Manufacturing Company) is an American film studio owned by Comcast through the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal.^[1] Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, it is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States, the world’s fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film, and the oldest member of Hollywood’s «Big Five» studios in terms of the overall film market.Template:Citation needed Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City.

Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and was one of the «Little Three» majors during Hollywood’s golden age.^[2]

History

Template:Refimprove section

Early years

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. CochraneTemplate:Efn and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day’s takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with partners Abe Stern and Julius Stern.^[3] That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America’s first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century.^[4][5][6][7] Laemmle broke with Edison’s custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as «The Biograph Girl«, and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912.^[8] Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

File:A Great Love — Clifford S. Elfelt — 1916, Universal Big U — EYE FLM25830 — OB 685649.webm

Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912 the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area.

On March 15, 1915,^[9]:8 Laemmle opened the world’s largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Studio management became the third facet of Universal’s operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood, and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns and serials.

In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films—Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures. Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.^[9]:13

Despite Laemmle’s role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle’s personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal’s product a touch of class, but MGM’s head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance Universal became a second-tier studio, and would remain so for several decades.

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler‘s increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary’s films, but at least some of them were exhibited through other, independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York, without benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In the early years, Universal had a «clean picture» policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this to be a mistake as «unclean pictures» from other studios were generating more profit while Universal was losing money.^[10]

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Universal owned the rights to the «Oswald the Lucky Rabbit» character, although Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks had created Oswald, and their films had enjoyed a successful theatrical run. After Charles Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the property, Mintz produced the films with his own group of animators. Instead, Disney and Iwerks created Mickey Mouse, who in 1928 starred in the first «sync» sound animated short, Steamboat Willie. This moment effectively launched Walt Disney Studios’ foothold, while Universal became a minor player in film animation. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.

In 2006, after almost 80 years, NBC Universal sold all Walt Disney-produced Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, back to Disney. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC’s Sunday night NFL football package. However, Universal retained ownership of Oswald cartoons produced for them by Walter Lantz from 1929 to 1943.

Keeping leadership of the studio in the family

In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr. head of Universal Pictures as a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl, Sr.’s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as «Uncle Carl.» Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, «Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle.» Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler.

«Junior» Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber‘s novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), won its year’s Best Picture Oscar.

Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).

The Laemmles lose control

Universal’s forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the depression was risky, and for a time Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl, Jr. held fast to distribution, studio and production operations.

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.’s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family’s controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Although Universal’s 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles’ involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.’s names on the credits and in the advertising campaign of the film. Standard Capital’s J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors, and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal’s German subsidiary, repeated his formula in America. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak’s first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio’s financial problems. The success of the film led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career produced her most successful pictures.

File:Destry-Rides-Again-1939.jpg

When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin’s pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O’Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount.

By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company’s main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials and sequels to the studio’s horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars, and often borrowed talent from other studios, or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan, and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello’s military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

During the war years Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal’s core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio’s Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

As Universal’s main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to have a contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. Technicolor was also utilised for the studio’s remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget, Technicolor films followed.

Universal-International and Decca Records takes control

In 1945, the British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. Rank and International remained interested in Universal, however, culminating in the studio’s reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946.^[11] William Goetz, a founder of International along with Leo Spitz, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures Inc., which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm’s films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer decided to bring «prestige» to the new company. He stopped the studio’s low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal’s horror and «Arabian Nights» cycles. He also reduced the studio’s output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (which was nearly twice the major studio’s output) to thirty-five films a year.^[12] Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc..

File:Universal International Studio 1955.ogv

Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank’s British productions, including such classics as David Lean‘s Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier‘s Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947, and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer «highlights» reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal’s pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder’s Realart Pictures for cinema re-release but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International’s new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out, and the studio returned to low-budget and series films. The inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule and Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), part of a series, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio’s top-grossing productions. But at this point Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International’s films.

In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had a success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, although for film critics they were not so well thought of on first release as they have since become. Among Universal-International’s stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman’s deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester ’73 (1950), proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal, and eventually at other studios as well.

MCA takes over

File:2004-04-04 — 10 — Universal Studios.jpg

In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France, and in the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol‘s Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders, 1967) and Romain Gary‘s Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle‘s Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier‘s Les Valseuses (English title Going Places, 1974), and Fred Zinnemann‘s The Day of the Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), the world’s largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11  million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal’s product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures from Universal-International. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964.

Television production made up much of the studio’s output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions/Embassy Television, including Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall.

At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson‘s Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Although neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company’s fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA’s international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997, due to connections the founders have with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox’s international arm to handle distribution of their titles, an arrangement which remains ongoing.

Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi and NBCUniversal

File:Gate2universalstudios.JPG

Anxious to expand the company’s broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990.

Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion.^[13] Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal’s television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal’s films, such as David Lynch‘s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) which became the second-highest-grossing French language film in the United States since 1980. Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (2003) a $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide.^[14] In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.^[15]

Burdened with debt, in 2004 Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric (GE), parent of NBC. The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006.

In late 2005, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal’s long-time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted and their co-chairperson jobs consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson.^[16] In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal.^[17]

GE purchased Vivendi’s share in NBCUniversal in 2011.^[18]

Comcast era (2011–present)

File:Universal Studios Gate 3 Lankershim 2015-04-19.jpg

GE sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast in 2011. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on Jan 29, 2011.^[19] In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.^[1]

In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to sole-chairman. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman, Jeff Shell, would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company’s operations. Meyers still retains oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.

Universal’s multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013.^[20] In summer 2013, Universal made an agreement with Thomas Tull‘s Legendary Pictures to distribute their films for five years starting in 2014 (the year that Legendary’s similar agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures ends).^[21]

In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal.^[17]
In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label that concentrated on action, sci-fi, and horror films.^[22]

On December 16, 2015, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films will be distributed and marketed by either Universal or Focus Features.^[23][24] It’s unknown whether Focus Features’ subsidiaries Gramercy Pictures and Focus World will distribute any films in the deal.

In early 2016, Perfect World Pictures announced a long term co-financing deal with Universal, which represents the first time a Chinese company directly invest in a multi-year slate deal with a major U.S studio.^[25]

On April 28, 2016, Universal’s parent company announced a $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation.^[26] On August 22, 2016, the deal was completed.^[27] Universal took over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation starting in 2019 with the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, after DreamWorks Animation’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended.

On February 15, 2017, Universal Pictures acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin,^[28] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with DreamWorks Animation.

Logo

The company’s production logo is the planet Earth surrounded by the word «Universal,» in shiny white letters with golden outlining. The background is a space background.

Units

• Universal Television
  • Universal Cable Productions
• Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Universal 1440 Entertainment
  • Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia (JV)
• Focus Features
  • Gramercy Pictures label
  • Focus World
  • High Top Releasing
• NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
• Working Title Films
• Illumination
  • Illumination Mac Guff
• Universal Animation Studios
• DreamWorks Animation
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment (merged with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
  • DreamWorks Classics
    • Big Idea Entertainment
    • Bullwinkle Studios (JV)
  • DreamWorks New Media
• United International Pictures (JV)
• Amblin Partners (minor stake)^[23][24] (JV)^[28]
  • Amblin Entertainment
  • Amblin Television
  • DreamWorks Pictures
  • DreamWorks Television (merged with Amblin Television)
  • Storyteller Distribution^[29]

Film library

Main article: List of Universal Pictures films

Film series

Title	Release date	Notes
Universal Monsters/Dark Universe	1923–1960; 1979; 1999; 2001; 2004; 2008; 2010; 2014; 2017; TBA	co-production with Sommers Company, Alphaville, Relativity Media, Legendary Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Perfect World Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
Sherlock Holmes	1936–1947
Abbott and Costello	1940- 1955
Woody Woodpecker	1941–1972; 2017	co-production with Walter Lantz Studios and Universal Animation Studios
Ma and Pa Kettle	1947-1957
Francis the Talking Mule	1950-1956
Psycho	1960–1998	co-production with Paramount Pictures
The Birds	1963; 1994
King Kong	1963–present	right holders only on behalf of the Cooper Estate; co-production with Toho, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Wingnut Film, Legendary Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
Jaws	1975–1987
The Blues Brothers	1980–1998	co-production with SNL Studios
Halloween	1981–1982, 2018; TBA	co-production with Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 20th Century Fox, Dimension Films, Miramax, The Weinstein Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Blumhouse Productions
Conan the Barbarian	1982–1984; TBA	co-production with Lionsgate and Millennium Entertainment
The Thing	1982–2011	co-production with Morgan Creek Productions and Strike Entertainment
Back to the Future	1985–1990	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
An American Tail	1986–2000	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation and Sullivan Bluth Studios
The Land Before Time	1988–2016	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Sullivan Bluth Studios
Child’s Play / Chucky	1990–1998; 2013–present	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and United Artists
Tremors	1990–present
Darkman	1990–1996	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Beethoven	1992–2014
Jurassic Park	1993–2022	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
The Flintstones	1994–2000	co-production with Hanna-Barbera and Amblin Entertainment
Timecop	1994–2003	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Babe	1995–1998
Balto	1995–2004	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Amblimation
Casper	1995–2000; 2016–present	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, Saban Ltd., and 20th Century Fox; right holders through DreamWorks Classics
Dragonheart	1996–present
Mr. Bean	1997–2007	co-production with PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, and Tiger Aspect Productions
The Prince of Egypt	1998–2000	co-production with DreamWorks Animation
The Mummy	1999–2008; 2017; TBA	co-production with Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K/O Paper Products, and Perfect World Pictures
American Pie	1999–2012
Jay Ward universe	1999–2014; 2016-present	co-production with Bullwinkle Studios, Mandeville Films, Walt Disney Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, TriBeCa Productions, DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Classics, 20th Century Fox, and Pacific Data Images
Dr. Seuss films	2000–present	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios, and Illumination Entertainment
Bring It On	co-production with Strike Entertainment
The Chronicles of Riddick	2000–2013	co-production with Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film, and Relativity Media
Meet the Parents	2000–2010	co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures and TriBeCa Productions
Hannibal Lecter	2001–2002	co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Orion Pictures, Scott Free Productions, The Weinstein Company, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The Fast and the Furious	2001–present	co-production with Original Film, Relativity Media and One Race Films
Shrek	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Illumination Entertainment
Bourne	2002–present	co-production with The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media.
The Scorpion King	2002–2018	co-production with Alphaville and WWE Studios
Johnny English	2003–2018	co-production with StudioCanal and Working Title Films
Hulk	2003–2008; TBA	including MCU’s The Incredible Hulk (distribution only), right of first refusal holders (distribution only) of any future MCU solo Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Almighty	2003–2007	co-production with Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Original Film
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy	2004–2013	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Working Title Films and StudioCanal
…of the Dead	2004–2005	co-production with Atmosphere Entertainment, Romero/Grunwald Films, Cruel and Unusual Films and Strike Entertainment
White Noise	2005–2007	co-production with Gold Circle Films
Doom	2005–present	co-production with Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software
Madagascar	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Nanny McPhee	2005–2010	co-production with Working Title Films
Curious George	2006–2015	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Smokin’ Aces	2007–present	co-production with Relativity Media
Dead Silence	co-production with Twisted Pictures
VeggieTales	2008; 2016–present	right holders through DreamWorks Classics; co-production with Big Idea Entertainment, FHE Pictures, Starz Animation
Kung Fu Panda	2008–present	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Oriental DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Marvel Cinematic Universe	2008; TBA	The Incredible Hulk (distribution right holders) only, distribution right of first refusal holders of future Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Hellboy	2008	co-production with Dark Horse Entertainment, Revolution Studios, Relativity Media, Mosaic Film Group, Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate, and Millennium Entertainment
Mamma Mia	2008–2018	co-production with Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment and Perfect World Pictures
Death Race	2008–present	co-production with New Horizons, Cruise/Wagner Productions and Relativity Media
The Strangers	co-production with Intrepid Pictures, Relativity Media, Rogue Pictures and Aviron Pictures
Monsters vs. Aliens	2009–2014	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures
How to Train Your Dragon	2010–2019	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Despicable Me	2010-present	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Kick Ass	2010-2013	co-production with Lionsgate and Marv Films
Ted	2012–2015	co-production with Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films, and Fuzzy Door Productions
The Man with…	co-production with Strike Entertainment and Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect	2012–2017	co-production with Gold Circle Films and Brownstone Productions
The Purge	2013–present	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes
The Croods	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
Ride Along	2014–2016	co-production with Relativity Media and Perfect World Pictures
Dumb and Dumber	2014	co-production with New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. and Red Granite Pictures
Ouija	2014–2016	co-production with Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films, and Platinum Dunes
Neighbors	co-production with Point Grey, Relativity Media, and Good Universe
Fifty Shades	2015–2018	co-production with Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions and Trigger Street Productions
Unfriended	2014–2018	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Bazelevs Company
The Secret Life of Pets	2016–present	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Trolls	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
Sing	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Unbreakable film series	co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
The Boss Baby	2017–present	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
The Snowman	co-production with Perfect World Pictures
Happy Death Day	co-production with Blumhouse Productions
Insidious	2018; TBA	co-production with FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Films, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One, and Blumhouse Productions
Pacific Rim	co-production with Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.
James Bond	2020	co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Bond 25; one-film contract)

Highest-grossing films

Universal was the first studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions.^[30]

Highest-grossing films in North America[31] Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $651,926,506 2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 $435,110,554 3 Jurassic Park 1993 $402,453,882 4 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $368,362,470 5 Despicable Me 2 2013 $368,061,265 6 Furious 7 2015 $352,786,830 7 Minions 2015 $335,036,900 8 Meet the Fockers 2004 $279,261,160 9 The Grinch 2018 $270,620,950 10 Sing 2016 $270,329,045 11 Despicable Me 3 2017 $261,408,915 12 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 $260,044,825 13 Jaws 1975 $260,000,000 14 Despicable Me 2010 $251,513,985 15 Bruce Almighty 2003 $242,829,261 16 Twister Template:Ref 1996 $241,721,524 17 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $238,679,850 18 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $229,086,679 19 The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 $227,471,070 20 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $225,764,765 21 Ted 2012 $218,815,487 22 King Kong 2005 $218,080,025 23 The Lorax 2012 $214,030,500 24 Back to the Future 1985 $210,609,762 25 Fast Five 2011 $209,837,675

Highest-grossing films worldwide Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $1,670,400,637 2 Furious 7 2015 $1,516,045,911 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $1,308,534,046 4 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $1,238,764,765 5 Minions 2015 $1,159,398,397 6 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $1,029,153,882 7 Despicable Me 3 2017 $1,015,741,270 8 Despicable Me 2 2013 $970,761,885 9 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $875,457,937 10 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $792,910,554 11 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $788,679,850 12 Sing 2016 $631,214,341 13 Fast Five 2011 $626,137,675 14 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $618,638,999 15 Mamma Mia! 2008 $609,841,637 16 Fifty Shades of Grey 2015 $571,006,128 17 King Kong 2005 $550,517,357 18 Ted 2012 $549,368,315 19 Despicable Me 2010 $543,113,985 20 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 2019 $517,049,060 21 Meet the Fockers 2004 $516,642,939 22 The Grinch 2018 $511,303,509 23 Twister Template:Ref 1996 $494,471,524 24 Bruce Almighty 2003 $484,592,874 25 Jaws 1975 $470,653,000

^‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

• List of television shows produced by Universal Studios
• DreamWorks

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Notes

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1. Template:Note International distribution only. Released by Warner Bros. domestically in North America.

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References

External links

v — e — d
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Universal Pictures • Universal Pictures Home Entertainment • Universal Animation Studios • Illumination • Illumination Mac Guff • DreamWorks Animation • Focus Features

Template:Film Studio

This article is a stub. You can help Universal Studios Wiki by expanding it.

Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios, formerly Universal Film Manufacturing Company) is an American film studio owned by Comcast through the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal.^[1] Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, it is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States, the world’s fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film, and the oldest member of Hollywood’s «Big Five» studios in terms of the overall film market.Template:Citation needed Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City.

Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and was one of the «Little Three» majors during Hollywood’s golden age.^[2]

History

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Early years

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. CochraneTemplate:Efn and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day’s takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with partners Abe Stern and Julius Stern.^[3] That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America’s first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century.^[4][5][6][7] Laemmle broke with Edison’s custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as «The Biograph Girl«, and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912.^[8] Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

File:A Great Love — Clifford S. Elfelt — 1916, Universal Big U — EYE FLM25830 — OB 685649.webm

Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912 the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area.

On March 15, 1915,^[9]:8 Laemmle opened the world’s largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Studio management became the third facet of Universal’s operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood, and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns and serials.

In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films—Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures. Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.^[9]:13

Despite Laemmle’s role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle’s personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal’s product a touch of class, but MGM’s head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance Universal became a second-tier studio, and would remain so for several decades.

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler‘s increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary’s films, but at least some of them were exhibited through other, independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York, without benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In the early years, Universal had a «clean picture» policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this to be a mistake as «unclean pictures» from other studios were generating more profit while Universal was losing money.^[10]

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Universal owned the rights to the «Oswald the Lucky Rabbit» character, although Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks had created Oswald, and their films had enjoyed a successful theatrical run. After Charles Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the property, Mintz produced the films with his own group of animators. Instead, Disney and Iwerks created Mickey Mouse, who in 1928 starred in the first «sync» sound animated short, Steamboat Willie. This moment effectively launched Walt Disney Studios’ foothold, while Universal became a minor player in film animation. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.

In 2006, after almost 80 years, NBC Universal sold all Walt Disney-produced Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, back to Disney. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC’s Sunday night NFL football package. However, Universal retained ownership of Oswald cartoons produced for them by Walter Lantz from 1929 to 1943.

Keeping leadership of the studio in the family

In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr. head of Universal Pictures as a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl, Sr.’s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as «Uncle Carl.» Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, «Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle.» Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler.

«Junior» Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber‘s novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), won its year’s Best Picture Oscar.

Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).

The Laemmles lose control

Universal’s forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the depression was risky, and for a time Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl, Jr. held fast to distribution, studio and production operations.

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.’s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family’s controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Although Universal’s 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles’ involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.’s names on the credits and in the advertising campaign of the film. Standard Capital’s J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors, and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal’s German subsidiary, repeated his formula in America. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak’s first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio’s financial problems. The success of the film led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career produced her most successful pictures.

File:Destry-Rides-Again-1939.jpg

When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin’s pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O’Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount.

By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company’s main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials and sequels to the studio’s horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars, and often borrowed talent from other studios, or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan, and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello’s military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

During the war years Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal’s core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio’s Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

As Universal’s main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to have a contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. Technicolor was also utilised for the studio’s remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget, Technicolor films followed.

Universal-International and Decca Records takes control

In 1945, the British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. Rank and International remained interested in Universal, however, culminating in the studio’s reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946.^[11] William Goetz, a founder of International along with Leo Spitz, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures Inc., which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm’s films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer decided to bring «prestige» to the new company. He stopped the studio’s low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal’s horror and «Arabian Nights» cycles. He also reduced the studio’s output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (which was nearly twice the major studio’s output) to thirty-five films a year.^[12] Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc..

File:Universal International Studio 1955.ogv

Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank’s British productions, including such classics as David Lean‘s Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier‘s Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947, and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer «highlights» reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal’s pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder’s Realart Pictures for cinema re-release but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International’s new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out, and the studio returned to low-budget and series films. The inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule and Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), part of a series, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio’s top-grossing productions. But at this point Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International’s films.

In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had a success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, although for film critics they were not so well thought of on first release as they have since become. Among Universal-International’s stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman’s deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester ’73 (1950), proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal, and eventually at other studios as well.

MCA takes over

File:2004-04-04 — 10 — Universal Studios.jpg

In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France, and in the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol‘s Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders, 1967) and Romain Gary‘s Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle‘s Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier‘s Les Valseuses (English title Going Places, 1974), and Fred Zinnemann‘s The Day of the Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), the world’s largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11  million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal’s product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures from Universal-International. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964.

Television production made up much of the studio’s output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions/Embassy Television, including Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall.

At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson‘s Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Although neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company’s fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA’s international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997, due to connections the founders have with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox’s international arm to handle distribution of their titles, an arrangement which remains ongoing.

Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi and NBCUniversal

File:Gate2universalstudios.JPG

Anxious to expand the company’s broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990.

Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion.^[13] Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal’s television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal’s films, such as David Lynch‘s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) which became the second-highest-grossing French language film in the United States since 1980. Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (2003) a $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide.^[14] In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.^[15]

Burdened with debt, in 2004 Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric (GE), parent of NBC. The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006.

In late 2005, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal’s long-time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted and their co-chairperson jobs consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson.^[16] In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal.^[17]

GE purchased Vivendi’s share in NBCUniversal in 2011.^[18]

Comcast era (2011–present)

File:Universal Studios Gate 3 Lankershim 2015-04-19.jpg

GE sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast in 2011. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on Jan 29, 2011.^[19] In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.^[1]

In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to sole-chairman. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman, Jeff Shell, would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company’s operations. Meyers still retains oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.

Universal’s multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013.^[20] In summer 2013, Universal made an agreement with Thomas Tull‘s Legendary Pictures to distribute their films for five years starting in 2014 (the year that Legendary’s similar agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures ends).^[21]

In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal.^[17]
In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label that concentrated on action, sci-fi, and horror films.^[22]

On December 16, 2015, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films will be distributed and marketed by either Universal or Focus Features.^[23][24] It’s unknown whether Focus Features’ subsidiaries Gramercy Pictures and Focus World will distribute any films in the deal.

In early 2016, Perfect World Pictures announced a long term co-financing deal with Universal, which represents the first time a Chinese company directly invest in a multi-year slate deal with a major U.S studio.^[25]

On April 28, 2016, Universal’s parent company announced a $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation.^[26] On August 22, 2016, the deal was completed.^[27] Universal took over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation starting in 2019 with the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, after DreamWorks Animation’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended.

On February 15, 2017, Universal Pictures acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin,^[28] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with DreamWorks Animation.

Logo

The company’s production logo is the planet Earth surrounded by the word «Universal,» in shiny white letters with golden outlining. The background is a space background.

Units

• Universal Television
  • Universal Cable Productions
• Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Universal 1440 Entertainment
  • Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia (JV)
• Focus Features
  • Gramercy Pictures label
  • Focus World
  • High Top Releasing
• NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
• Working Title Films
• Illumination
  • Illumination Mac Guff
• Universal Animation Studios
• DreamWorks Animation
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment (merged with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
  • DreamWorks Classics
    • Big Idea Entertainment
    • Bullwinkle Studios (JV)
  • DreamWorks New Media
• United International Pictures (JV)
• Amblin Partners (minor stake)^[23][24] (JV)^[28]
  • Amblin Entertainment
  • Amblin Television
  • DreamWorks Pictures
  • DreamWorks Television (merged with Amblin Television)
  • Storyteller Distribution^[29]

Film library

Main article: List of Universal Pictures films

Film series

Title	Release date	Notes
Universal Monsters/Dark Universe	1923–1960; 1979; 1999; 2001; 2004; 2008; 2010; 2014; 2017; TBA	co-production with Sommers Company, Alphaville, Relativity Media, Legendary Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Perfect World Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
Sherlock Holmes	1936–1947
Abbott and Costello	1940- 1955
Woody Woodpecker	1941–1972; 2017	co-production with Walter Lantz Studios and Universal Animation Studios
Ma and Pa Kettle	1947-1957
Francis the Talking Mule	1950-1956
Psycho	1960–1998	co-production with Paramount Pictures
The Birds	1963; 1994
King Kong	1963–present	right holders only on behalf of the Cooper Estate; co-production with Toho, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Wingnut Film, Legendary Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
Jaws	1975–1987
The Blues Brothers	1980–1998	co-production with SNL Studios
Halloween	1981–1982, 2018; TBA	co-production with Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 20th Century Fox, Dimension Films, Miramax, The Weinstein Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Blumhouse Productions
Conan the Barbarian	1982–1984; TBA	co-production with Lionsgate and Millennium Entertainment
The Thing	1982–2011	co-production with Morgan Creek Productions and Strike Entertainment
Back to the Future	1985–1990	co-production with Amblin Entertainment
An American Tail	1986–2000	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation and Sullivan Bluth Studios
The Land Before Time	1988–2016	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Sullivan Bluth Studios
Child’s Play / Chucky	1990–1998; 2013–present	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and United Artists
Tremors	1990–present
Darkman	1990–1996	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Beethoven	1992–2014
Jurassic Park	1993–2022	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
The Flintstones	1994–2000	co-production with Hanna-Barbera and Amblin Entertainment
Timecop	1994–2003	co-production with Renaissance Pictures
Babe	1995–1998
Balto	1995–2004	co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Amblimation
Casper	1995–2000; 2016–present	co-production with Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, Saban Ltd., and 20th Century Fox; right holders through DreamWorks Classics
Dragonheart	1996–present
Mr. Bean	1997–2007	co-production with PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, and Tiger Aspect Productions
The Prince of Egypt	1998–2000	co-production with DreamWorks Animation
The Mummy	1999–2008; 2017; TBA	co-production with Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K/O Paper Products, and Perfect World Pictures
American Pie	1999–2012
Jay Ward universe	1999–2014; 2016-present	co-production with Bullwinkle Studios, Mandeville Films, Walt Disney Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, TriBeCa Productions, DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Classics, 20th Century Fox, and Pacific Data Images
Dr. Seuss films	2000–present	co-production with Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios, and Illumination Entertainment
Bring It On	co-production with Strike Entertainment
The Chronicles of Riddick	2000–2013	co-production with Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film, and Relativity Media
Meet the Parents	2000–2010	co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures and TriBeCa Productions
Hannibal Lecter	2001–2002	co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Orion Pictures, Scott Free Productions, The Weinstein Company, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The Fast and the Furious	2001–present	co-production with Original Film, Relativity Media and One Race Films
Shrek	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Illumination Entertainment
Bourne	2002–present	co-production with The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media.
The Scorpion King	2002–2018	co-production with Alphaville and WWE Studios
Johnny English	2003–2018	co-production with StudioCanal and Working Title Films
Hulk	2003–2008; TBA	including MCU’s The Incredible Hulk (distribution only), right of first refusal holders (distribution only) of any future MCU solo Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Almighty	2003–2007	co-production with Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Original Film
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy	2004–2013	co-production with Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Working Title Films and StudioCanal
…of the Dead	2004–2005	co-production with Atmosphere Entertainment, Romero/Grunwald Films, Cruel and Unusual Films and Strike Entertainment
White Noise	2005–2007	co-production with Gold Circle Films
Doom	2005–present	co-production with Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software
Madagascar	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Nanny McPhee	2005–2010	co-production with Working Title Films
Curious George	2006–2015	co-production with Imagine Entertainment
Smokin’ Aces	2007–present	co-production with Relativity Media
Dead Silence	co-production with Twisted Pictures
VeggieTales	2008; 2016–present	right holders through DreamWorks Classics; co-production with Big Idea Entertainment, FHE Pictures, Starz Animation
Kung Fu Panda	2008–present	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Oriental DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Marvel Cinematic Universe	2008; TBA	The Incredible Hulk (distribution right holders) only, distribution right of first refusal holders of future Hulk films; co-production with Marvel Studios
Hellboy	2008	co-production with Dark Horse Entertainment, Revolution Studios, Relativity Media, Mosaic Film Group, Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate, and Millennium Entertainment
Mamma Mia	2008–2018	co-production with Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment and Perfect World Pictures
Death Race	2008–present	co-production with New Horizons, Cruise/Wagner Productions and Relativity Media
The Strangers	co-production with Intrepid Pictures, Relativity Media, Rogue Pictures and Aviron Pictures
Monsters vs. Aliens	2009–2014	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures
How to Train Your Dragon	2010–2019	co-production with DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox
Despicable Me	2010-present	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Kick Ass	2010-2013	co-production with Lionsgate and Marv Films
Ted	2012–2015	co-production with Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films, and Fuzzy Door Productions
The Man with…	co-production with Strike Entertainment and Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect	2012–2017	co-production with Gold Circle Films and Brownstone Productions
The Purge	2013–present	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes
The Croods	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
Ride Along	2014–2016	co-production with Relativity Media and Perfect World Pictures
Dumb and Dumber	2014	co-production with New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. and Red Granite Pictures
Ouija	2014–2016	co-production with Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films, and Platinum Dunes
Neighbors	co-production with Point Grey, Relativity Media, and Good Universe
Fifty Shades	2015–2018	co-production with Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions and Trigger Street Productions
Unfriended	2014–2018	co-production with Blumhouse Productions and Bazelevs Company
The Secret Life of Pets	2016–present	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Trolls	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
Sing	co-production with Illumination Entertainment
Unbreakable film series	co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions
The Boss Baby	2017–present	co-production with DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox
The Snowman	co-production with Perfect World Pictures
Happy Death Day	co-production with Blumhouse Productions
Insidious	2018; TBA	co-production with FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Films, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One, and Blumhouse Productions
Pacific Rim	co-production with Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.
James Bond	2020	co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Bond 25; one-film contract)

Highest-grossing films

Universal was the first studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions.^[30]

Highest-grossing films in North America[31] Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $651,926,506 2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 $435,110,554 3 Jurassic Park 1993 $402,453,882 4 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $368,362,470 5 Despicable Me 2 2013 $368,061,265 6 Furious 7 2015 $352,786,830 7 Minions 2015 $335,036,900 8 Meet the Fockers 2004 $279,261,160 9 The Grinch 2018 $270,620,950 10 Sing 2016 $270,329,045 11 Despicable Me 3 2017 $261,408,915 12 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 $260,044,825 13 Jaws 1975 $260,000,000 14 Despicable Me 2010 $251,513,985 15 Bruce Almighty 2003 $242,829,261 16 Twister Template:Ref 1996 $241,721,524 17 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $238,679,850 18 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $229,086,679 19 The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 $227,471,070 20 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $225,764,765 21 Ted 2012 $218,815,487 22 King Kong 2005 $218,080,025 23 The Lorax 2012 $214,030,500 24 Back to the Future 1985 $210,609,762 25 Fast Five 2011 $209,837,675

Highest-grossing films worldwide Rank Title Year Box office gross 1 Jurassic World 2015 $1,670,400,637 2 Furious 7 2015 $1,516,045,911 3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 $1,308,534,046 4 The Fate of the Furious 2017 $1,238,764,765 5 Minions 2015 $1,159,398,397 6 Jurassic Park ‡ 1993 $1,029,153,882 7 Despicable Me 3 2017 $1,015,741,270 8 Despicable Me 2 2013 $970,761,885 9 The Secret Life of Pets 2016 $875,457,937 10 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡ 1982 $792,910,554 11 Fast & Furious 6 2013 $788,679,850 12 Sing 2016 $631,214,341 13 Fast Five 2011 $626,137,675 14 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 $618,638,999 15 Mamma Mia! 2008 $609,841,637 16 Fifty Shades of Grey 2015 $571,006,128 17 King Kong 2005 $550,517,357 18 Ted 2012 $549,368,315 19 Despicable Me 2010 $543,113,985 20 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 2019 $517,049,060 21 Meet the Fockers 2004 $516,642,939 22 The Grinch 2018 $511,303,509 23 Twister Template:Ref 1996 $494,471,524 24 Bruce Almighty 2003 $484,592,874 25 Jaws 1975 $470,653,000

^‡ Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

• List of television shows produced by Universal Studios
• DreamWorks

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Notes

Template:Refbegin

1. Template:Note International distribution only. Released by Warner Bros. domestically in North America.

Template:Refend

References

External links

v — e — d
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Universal Pictures • Universal Pictures Home Entertainment • Universal Animation Studios • Illumination • Illumination Mac Guff • DreamWorks Animation • Focus Features

Template:Film Studio

Американская киностудия

Universal City Studios LLC

Торговое название	Universal Pictures
Ранее	Компания Компания Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912–1923) Universal Pictures Corporation (1923–1936) Universal Pictures Company, Inc. (1936–1946) Universal-International Pictures Inc. (1946–1963) Universal City Studios, Inc. (1964–1999)
Тип	Дочерняя компания
Промышленность	Film
Основана	30 апреля 1912 г.; 108 лет назад (1912-04-30)
Основатели	Карл Лэммл Пэт Пауэрс Дэвид Хорсли Уильям Суонсон Марк Динтенфасс Чарльз Бауманн Роберт Х. Кокрейн Адам Кессель Жюль Брюлатур
Штаб-квартира	10 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, США
Количество офисов	3
Обслуживаемая территория	По всему миру
Ключевые люди	Донна Лэнгли (Председатель, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group)
Продукция	Кинофильмы
Выручка	4,239 млрд долларов США (2011 г.)
Операционная прибыль	27 млн ​​долларов США (2011 г.)
Материнская компания	NBCUniversal Кино и развлечения. ( Comcast )
Подразделения	Universal Animation Studios Illumination Focus Features Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Дочерние компании	DreamWorks Animation Amblin Partners (меньшинство) Фильмы с рабочим названием NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan United International Pictures (50%) Rede Telecine OTL Releasin g Makeready (при совместной поддержке с Развлечения On e, производственная компания по производству фильмов и телевидения, управляемая Брэдом Вестоном) Back Lot Music
Веб-сайт	universalpictures.com
Сноски / ссылки .

Universal Pictures (юридически Universal City Studios LLC, также известная как Universal Studios и ранее называвшаяся Universal Film Manufacturing Company и Universal-International Pictures Inc. ) — американская киностудия, принадлежащая Comcast через подразделение NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment своего 100% дочерняя компания NBCUniversal.

Основана в 1912 году Карлом Лэммлем, Марком Динтенфассом, Чарльзом О. Бауманом, Адамом Кесселем, Пэт Пауэрса, Уильяма Свонсона, Дэвида Хорсли, Роберта Х. Кокрейна и Жюля Брюлатура, это старейшая сохранившаяся киностудия в США Штатах ; пятое место в мире после Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus и Nordisk Film ; и самый старый член Голливудской «Большой пятерки» студий с точки зрения общего кинорынка. Его студии расположены в Юниверсал-Сити, Калифорния, а его корпоративные офисы расположены в Нью-Йорке.

Юниверсал Пикчерз является членом Motion Picture Association (MPA), и была одной из «Маленькой тройки» во время золотого века Голливуда.

Содержание

• 1 История
  • 1.1 Ранние годы
  • 1.2 Освальд Счастливый Кролик
  • 1.3 Сохранение лидерства студии в семье
  • 1.4 Лэммлес теряют контроль
  • 1.5 Universal-International и Decca Records берут контроль
  • 1.6 MCA берет верх
  • 1.7 Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi и NBCUniversal
  • 1.8 Эпоха Comcast (2011 — настоящее время)
• 2 единицы
• 3 Библиотека фильмов
  • 3.1 Серия фильмов
  • 3.2 Самые прибыльные фильмы
• 4 См. Также
• 5 Примечания
• 6 Ссылки
• 7 Внешние ссылки

История

Ранние годы

Карл Леммле Марк Динтенфасс, соучредитель Universal

Universal Studios был основан Карлом Лаеммле, Марк Динтенфасс, Чарльз О. Бауманн, Адам Кессель, Пэт Пауэрс, Уильям Свонсон, Дэвид Хорсли, Роберт Х. Кокрейн и Жюль Брюлатур. В одной истории Леммле часами смотрит кассовые сборы, подсчитывает количество посетителей и подсчитывает дневные сборы. Через несколько недель после поездки в Чикаго Леммле отказался от галантерейных товаров, чтобы купить несколько первых никелодеонов. Создание в 1908 году поддерживаемой Эдисоном компании по патентам кинофильмов (или «Edison Trust») означало, что экспоненты были платить гонорары за фильмы, произведенные Trust, которые они показывали. Основываясь на Latham Loop, используемом в фотоаппаратах и ​​проекторах, а также на других патентах, Трест собирал сборы за все аспекты производства и показа фильмов и пытался установить монополию на распространение.

Вскоре Леммле и другие недовольные владельцы никелодеонов решили не платить Эдисону, создавая свои собственные фотографии. В июне 1909 года Леммле основал кинокомпанию Янки с области Эйбом Стерном и Юлиусом Стерном. Эта компания быстро превратилась в Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) со студиями в Форт-Ли, штат Нью-Джерси, где было много ранних фильмов первой киноиндустрии Америки Были произведены в начале 20 века. Леммле нарушил обычай Эдисона отказываться счет и исполнителям. Называя кинозвезд, он привлекательных ведущих игроков того времени, внося свой вклад в создание звездной системы. В 1910 году он продвинул Флоренс Лоуренс, ранее известную как «Девушка из биографа », и актера Кинга Бэггота, что может быть первым экземпляром студии. использование звезд в своем маркетинге.

Плакат для Айвенго (1913)

Universal Film Manufacturing Company была создана в Нью-Йорке 30 апреля 1912 года. Леммле, ставший президентом в июле 1912 года, была главной фигурой в партнерстве с Динтенфасс, Бауманн, Кессель, Пауэрс, Суонсон, Хорсли и Брюлатур. Компания была основана 8 июня 1912 года в результате слияния Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), Powers Motion Picture Company, Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, Чемпион Кинокомпания, Нестор Фильм Компани и Нью-Йоркская кинокомпания. В конце концов все было выкуплено Леммле. Новая студия Universal была вертикально интегрированной компанией, с кинопроизводством, дистрибуцией и выставочными площадками, объединенными в одну и ту же организацию, что является центральным элементом системы Studio.

Воспроизвести мультимедиа Мелодрама «Великая любовь» (1916) Клиффорда С. Эльфельта для Universal Big U. Голландские субтитры, 12:33. Коллекция EYE Film Institute, Нидерланды.

Следуя тенденции развития индустрии на запад, к концу 1912 года компания сосредоточила свои производственные усилия в районе Голливуда.

15 марта 1915 года Леммле крупнейшее в мире производство кинофильмов Universal City Studios на переоборудованной ферме площадью 230 акров (0,9 км) чуть выше Перевал Кауэнга из Голливуда. Управление студией стало третьим аспектом деятельности Универсальная, при этом студия отдельной дочерней организацией. В отличие от других киномагнатов, Леммле открыл свою студию для туристов. Универсальная крупнейшая студией Голливуда и оставалась таковой в течение десяти лет. Однако он искал публику в основном в небольших городах, производя в основном недорогие мелодрамы, вестерны и сериалы.

. В первые годы своего существования Universal выпустила три марки художественных фильмов: Red Перышко, малобюджетные программисты; Bluebird, более амбициозные постановки; и Jewel, их престижные фильмы. Среди директоров были Джек Конвей, Джон Форд, Рекс Ингрэм, Роберт З. Леонард, Джордж Маршалл и Лоис Вебер, одна из немногих женщин, снимающих фильмы в Голливуде.

Несмотря на роль Леммле как новатора, он был очень осторожным руководителем студии. В отличие от конкурентов Адольфа Цукора, Уильяма Фокса и Маркуса Лоу, Леммле предпочел не добавить сеть театров. Он также финансировал все свои фильмы, отказываясь брать в долг. Эта политика чуть не обанкротила студию, когда актер-режиссер Эрих фон Штрохайм настоял на чрезмерно высоких ценностях производства своих фильмов Слепые мужья (1919) и Глупые жены (1922))).), но Universal хитроумно окупила часть затрат, запустив сенсационную рекламную кампанию, которая привлекла кинозрителей. Персонаж-актер Лон Чейни стал визитной карточкой Универсальной в 1920-х годах, постоянно появляясь в драмах. Двумя его самыми большими хитами для Universal были Горбун из Нотр-Дама (1923) и Призрак оперы (1925). В этот период Леммле поручил большую часть решений по производственной политике Ирвингу Тальбергу. Тальберг был личным секретарем Леммле, и Леммле был впечатлен его эффективными наблюдениями за тем, эффективно может работать студия. Став руководителем студии, Тальберг придавал продукту Universal немного первоклассного качества, но глава производства MGM Луи Б. Майер переманил Тальберга из Универсального обещания лучшей оплаты. Без его руководства Universal стала студией второго уровня и оставалась таковой в течение нескольких десятилетий.

В 1926 году Universal открыла производственное подразделение в Германии, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, под руководством Джо Пастернака. Это подразделение производило от трех до четырех фильмов в год до 1936 года, мигрируя в Венгрию, а затем в Австрию перед лицом растущего господства Гитлера в Европе. С появлением звука этих произведений стали выпускаться на немецком языке, а иногда и на венгерском или польском. В США Universal Pictures не распространяла фильмы этой дочерней компании. Нацистское преследование и смена материнской организации Universal Pictures привели к роспуску этой дочерней компании.

В первые годы универсальная придерживалась политики «чистой картинки». Однако к апрелю 1927 года Карл Леммле посчитал это ошибкой, поскольку «нечистые фотографии» из других студий принесли больше прибыли, в то время как Универсальная теряла деньги.

Освальд Счастливый кролик

В начале 1927 года Универсальные переговоры с продюсерами мультфильмов, так как они хотят вернуться к их производству. 4 марта Чарльз Минц подписал контракт с Universal в лице ее вице-президента Р. Х. Кокрейна. Компания Минца, Winkler Pictures, должна создать 26 мультфильмов «Освальд, счастливый кролик » для Universal. Уолт Дисней и Уб Иверкс создали персонажа, а Студия Уолта Диснея обеспечила анимацию для мультфильмов под управлением Винклера.

Фильмы пользовались успехом в кинотеатрах, и Минц подписал контракт с Universal, гарантирующий еще три года работы над мультфильмами Освальда. Однако после того, как Минц безуспешно потребовал, чтобы Дисней согласился на более низкую плату за производство фильмов, Минц взял большую часть аниматоров Уолта для работы в своей собственной студии. Дисней и Иверкс создавали Микки Мауса в секрете, пока они заканчивают остальные фильмы Освальда, которые они должны были закончить по контракту. Впервые в серии универсальная разорвала связь с Минцем и создала анимационную студию для мультфильмов. Освальда во главе с Уолтером Ланцем.

. В феврале 2006 года NBCUniversal продала все мультфильмы Освальда, анимированные Диснеем. вместе с правами на самого персонажа, Компания Уолта Диснея. Взамен Дисней освободил ABC спортивного комментатора Ала Майклза из своего контракта, чтобы он мог работать над недавно приобретенным NBC в воскресенье вечером футбольным пакетом NFL. Универсальная сохранила право собственности на остальные мультфильмы Освальда.

Сохранение руководства студией в семье

Борис Карлов в Невеста Франкенштейна (1935)

В 1928 году Леммле-старший сделал своего сына, Карл-младший глава Universal Pictures в подарок на 21-й день рождения. Универсальная уже предположительно репутация кумовства — одно время 70 предположительно репутация зарплаты. Многие из них были племянниками, в результате чего Карл-старший был известен в студии как «дядя Карл». Огден Нэш, как известно, язвительно заметил: «Дядя Карл Леммле / У него очень большая семья». Среди этих родственников был будущий лауреат премии «Оскар», режиссер / продюсер Уильям Уайлер.

«Младший» Леммле убедил своего отца обновить Universal. Он купил и построил театры, переоборудовал студию для производства звука и сделал несколько набегов на производство высококачественной продукции. Его ранние работы включают подвергнутую критике звуковую версию романа Эдны Фербер Show Boat (1929), роскошный мюзикл Broadway (1929), который включал следовать Техниколор ; и первый полноцветный музыкальный фильм (для Universal), King of Jazz (1930). Более серьезный фильм Тихо на Западном фронте (1930) получил премию Лучшая картина Оскар.

. Леммле-младший создал нишу для студии, начав с серии фильмов ужасов, которые продолжались до 1940-х годов и ласково назывались Universal Horror. Среди них Дракула (1931), Франкенштейн (1931), Мумия (1932) и Человек-невидимка (1933). Среди других произведений Леммле этого периода: Имитация жизни (1934) и Мой мужчина Годфри (1936).

Лэммлес теряют контроль.

Набеги универсальное высококачественное производство ознаменовали конец эры Леммле в студии. Брать на себя задачу по модернизации и модернизации киноконгломерата в глубинахии было рискованно, и на-то время Универсальная перешла на приемную. Сеть кинотеатров была ликвидирована, но Карл-младший придерживался распределения, студии и производства.

Конец Лэммлес пришел к появлению роскошной версии Show Boat (1936), ремейка его более раннего частично-Talkie 1929 года производства, произведенного как высококачественный высокобюджетный фильм, а не как B-изображение. В новом фильме участвует несколько звезд из бродвейской сценической версии, основанное на бродвейском мюзикле, а не на романе, в конце 1935 года фильм 1929 года. Привычки Карла-младшего к расходам встревожили акционеров компании. Они не позволят начать производство на Шоу-Бот, если Лэммлес не получит ссуду. Универсальная семья обратилась к производственной ссудой в размере 750 000 долларов США от Standard Capital Corporation, заложив контрольный пакет акций Леммле в Universal в залога. Это был первый раз, когда Universal за свою 26-летнюю историю взяла взаймы деньги на производство. Производство превысило бюджет на 300 000 долларов; Стандарт потребовало ссуду, испытывающая нехватку средств Универсальный не смогла выплатить, Стандарт 2 апреля 1936 года лишенного права собственности и захватило контроль над студией.

Хотя Show Boat 1936 года (выпущенная чуть более месяца спустя) стала критическим и финансовым успехом, этого было недостаточно, чтобы спасти участие Лэммлес в студии. Их бесцеремонно уволили из основанной ими компании. Лэммлес лично курировал производство, Show Boat был выпущен (несмотря на поглощение) с именами Карла Лэммла и Карла Лэммла младшего в титрах и в рекламной кампании фильма. Стандард Кэпитал Дж. Чив Каудин занял пост президента и председателя совета директоров и ввел серьезных производств бюджетов. Ушли в прошлое большие амбиции, и хотя у Universal было несколько громких имен по контракту, те, которые она культивировала, такие как Уильям Уайлер и Маргарет Суллаван, ушли.

Тем временем продюсер Джо Пастернак, который успешно продюсировал легкие мюзиклы с молодыми сопрано для немецкого филиала Универсальный, повторил свою формулу в Америке. Певица-подросток Дина Дурбин снялась в первом американском фильме Пастернака Три умные девушки (1936). Фильм стал кассовым хитом и решил финансовые проблемы студии. Успех фильма побудил «Универсальные предложения ей контракта» по которым в течение первых лет ее карьеры были сняты ее самые успешные картины.

Джеймс Стюарт и Марлен Дитрих в Дестри снова едет (1939)

Когда Пастернак перестал снимать картины Дурбина, она переросла свой экранный образ и стала искать драматичную роль, студия подписала 13-летнюю Глорию Джин для цикла мюзиклов Пастернака 1939 г.; она продолжала сниматься с Бингом Кросби, У. К. Филдс и Дональд О’Коннор. Популярным фильмом Universal в конце 1930-х годов был Дестри снова едет (1939) с Джеймсом Стюартом в роли Дестри и Марлен Дитрих в ее роли возвращения после ухода Paramount.

К началу 1940-х годов компания концентрировалась на низкобюджетных производствах, которые были использованы продуктом компании: вестерны, мелодрамы, сериалы и сиквелы студийных фильмов ужасов, последние теперь были исключительно B картинки. Студия выпустила множество сериалов: Дети тупика и Маленькие крутые парни боевики и сериалы (1938–43); комические приключения младенца Сэнди (1938–41); комедии с Хью Гербертом (1938–42) и Братьями Ритц (1940–43); мюзиклы с участием Роберта Пейджа, Джейн Фрэйзи, Сестер Эндрюс и Веселых Маков (1938–45); и вестерны с Томом Миксом (1932–33), Баком Джонсом (1933–36), Бобом Бейкером (1938–39), Джонни Маком Браун (1938–43); Род Кэмерон (1944–45) и Кирби Грант (1946–47).

Universal редко могла позволить себе собственную конюшню со звездой, и часто заимствовала таланты у других студий или нанимала внештатных актеров. В дополнение к Стюарту и Дитриху, Маргарет Саллаван и Бинг Кросби были двумя именами, которые сделали пару картинок для Universal в этот период. Некоторые звезды пришли с радио, в том числе Эдгар Берген, В. К. Филдс и комедийная команда Эбботта и Костелло (Бад Эбботт и Лу Костелло ). Военная комедия Эббота и Костелло Бак Рядовой (1941) дала бывшим бурлескным комикам национальный и международный статус.

В годы войны Универсальная заключила соглашение о совместном производстве с продюсером Уолтером Вангером и его партнером, режиссером Фрицем Лангом, предоставив студии некоторое количество престижных постановок.. Основную аудиторию Универсальная по-прежнему составляли районные кинотеатры, и студия продолжала радовать публику фильмами с низким и средним бюджетом. Бэзил Рэтбоун и Найджел Брюс в новых загадках Шерлока Холмса (1942–46), подростковых мюзиклах с Глорией Джин, Дональдом О’Коннор и Пегги Райан (1942–43), а также экран адаптации радио Inner Sanctum Mysteries с Лоном Чейни-младшим (1943–45). Альфред Хичкок также был заимствован для двух фильмов из Selznick International Pictures : Диверсант (1942) и Тень сомнения (1943).

1 из последних программ студий, заключивших контракт с Technicolor. Студия не использовала процесс Technicolor с тремя полосами до Arabian Nights (1942) с Джономлом и Марией Монтес в главных ролях.. Technicolor также использовался для ремейка их мелодрамы ужасов 1925 года Призрак оперы (1943) с Клодом Рейнсом и Нельсоном Эдди. С успехом их двух картин последовал регулярный график высокобюджетных фильмов Technicolor.

Universal-International и Decca Records берут на себя управление

В 1945 году британский предприниматель Дж. Артур Ранк, надеясь расширить свое присутствие в Америке, совершил четырехстороннее влияние с Universal, независимой компанией International Pictures и продюсером Кеннетом Янгом. Новый комбинат United World Pictures неудачно и был распущен в течение одного года. Rank и International по-прежнему интересовались Universal, что привело к реорганизации студии Universal-International; о слиянии было объявлено 30 июля 1946 года. Уильям Гетц, основатель International вместе с Лео Спитцем, был назначен главой производства в переименованной Universal-International Pictures, дочерняя компания Universal Pictures Company, Inc., которая также выполняет функции импортно-экспортной дочерней компании и держателя авторских прав на фильмы производственного подразделения. Гетц, зять Луи Б. Майера, решил сделать новую компанию «престижной». Он остановил малобюджетное производство фильмов B, сериалов и сократил цикл ужастиков Universal и «Arabian Nights «. Он также сократил объем производства на студии с пятидесяти фильмов в год в военное время (что почти вдвое превышало производственные мощности основной студии) до тридцати пяти фильмов в год. Распространение и контроль авторских прав остались под именем Universal Pictures Company Inc.

Play media Universal-International Studio, 1955

Гетц установил амбициозный график. Universal-International стала отвечать за американское распространение британской продукции Ранка, включая такие классические произведения, как Дэ Лина Большие надежды (1946) и Лоуренса Оливье. Гамлет (1948). Еще больше расширив сферу своей деятельности, Universal-International вышла в прибыльную нетеатральную сферу, купив контрольный пакет акций дилера домашних фильмов Castle Films в 1947 году и полностью выкупив компанию в 1951 году. На три десятилетия., Castle предлагал любителям домашних фильмов и коллекционерам киноленты из универсальной фильмотеки. Гетц передал лицензию на кинотеку Universal-International до создания Universal-International для фильма Джека Бродера Realart Pictures для переиздания в кино, но Realart не разрешили показывать фильмы по телевидению.

Продюсерский отдел студии все еще боролся. Хотя должно было быть несколько хитов, таких как Убийцы (1946) и Голый город (1948), новые театральные фильмы Universal-International часто встречали разочаровывающий отклик в прокате. К концу 1940-х Гетц ушел, и студия вернулась к малобюджетным и сериальным фильмам. Недорогой фильм Фрэнсис (1950), первый фильм из серии о говорящем муле, и Ма и Па Кеттлы (1949), входящий в серию, стали поставщиком компании. И снова фильмы Эббота и Костелло, в том числе Эбботт и Костелло знакомятся с Франкенштейном (1948), были среди самых кассовых работ студии. Но в этот момент Рэнкял интерес и продал свои акции инвестору Милтону Ракмилу, чья Decca Records в 1952 году перешла под полный контроль Universal. Помимо Эбботта и Костелло, студия сохранила Уолтер Ланц студия мультфильмов, чей продукт был выпущен вместе с фильмами Universal-International.

В 1950-х годах Universal-International возобновила серию фильмов «Арабские ночи», многие из которых играли главную роль Тони Кертис. Студия также имеет успех в фильмах о монстрах и научном фантастике, продюсированных Уильямом Алландом, многие из которых были сняты Джеком Арнольдом. Другим успехом были мелодрамы режиссера Дугласа Сирка и продюсера Росс Хантер, хотя кинокритики не так хорошо продумали их на первом выпуске, как они с тех пор стал. Среди звезд Universal-International были Рок Хадсон, Тони Кертис, Джефф Чендлер, Ауди Мерфи и Джон Гэвин..

Хотя Декка продолжала ограничивать бюджеты на картины, способствовали изменившиеся обстоятельства в кинобизнесе, поскольку другие студии позволили своим контрактным актерам уйти после войны 1948 года. США против Paramount Pictures и др. решение. Ведущие актеры получили все большую свободу работать, и в 1950 году MCA агент Лью Вассерман заключил сделку с Universal для своего клиента Джеймса Стюарта, который изменить правила ведения бизнеса. Сделка Вассермана дала Стюарту долю прибыли от трех картин вместо высокой зарплаты. Когда один из этих фильмов, Winchester ’73 (1950), хитом, аранжировка стала правилом для будущих постановок в Universal, в конечном итоге и на других студиях.

MCA принимает на себя

Церемониальные ворота в Universal Studios Hollywood (тематический парк, примыкающий к студии)

В начале 1950-х годов Universal основала собственную дистрибьюторскую компанию в Франции, а в конце 1960-х компания также основала производственную компанию в Париже, Universal Productions France SA, хотя иногда ее называют дистрибьюторской компанией Universal Фотографии Франция . За исключением двух первых фильмов, он произвел, «Скандал» Клода Шаброля (английское название Убийства с шампанским, 1967) и Ромена Гэри Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (английское название «Птицы в Перу»), он был задействован только во французском или другом европейском совместном производстве, включая Луи Маль Лакомб, Люсьен, Бертран Блиер Les Valseuses ( английское название Going Places, 1974) и Фреда Циннеманна День Шакала (1973). Он участвовал в 20 французских кинопроизводствах. В начале 1970-х подразделение было включено во французское подразделение Cinema International Corporation.

К концу 1950-х годов кинобизнес снова изменился. Комбинация разрыва сети студий / театров и роста телевидения привела к уменьшению размера аудитории для кинопроизводства. Музыкальная корпорация Америки (MCA), крупнейшее в мире агентство по работе с талантами, также стало мощным телевизионным продюсером, арендовав помещение в Republic Studios для своей Revue Productions дочернее предприятие. После периода полной остановки умирающая Universal согласилась продать свой участок студии площадью 360 акров (1,5 км) компании MCA в 1958 году за 11 миллионов, переименовав ее в Revue Studios. MCA принадлежит студия, но не Universal Pictures, но все же она оказывала все большее влияние на продукт Universal. Студия была модернизирована и модернизирована, в то время как клиенты MCA, такие как Дорис Дэй, Лана Тернер, Кэри Грант и режиссер Альфред Хичкок, были подписаны универсальные контракты.

Долгожданное поглощение Universal Pictures компанией MCA, Inc. произошло в середине 1962 года в рамках слияния MCA- Decca Records. Компания вернулась на имя Universal Pictures от Universal-International. В качестве последнего жеста перед уходом из бизнеса кадрового агентства практически каждый клиент MCA подписал контракт с Universal. В 1964 году MCA сформировала Universal City Studios, Inc ., Объединив кинематографические и телевизионные подразделения Universal Pictures Company и Revue Productions (официально переименованные в Universal Television в 1966 году). Итак, под руководством MCA Universal превратилась в полноценную киностудию A-film с ведущими актерами и режиссерами по контракту; предлагая красивые, коммерческие фильмы; и тур по студии, открывшаяся в 1964 году.

Телевизионное производство создает большую часть продукции студии при этом Universal активно участвовала, в частности, в сделках с NBC (которая намного позже объединилась с Universal для создания NBC Universal; см. Ниже), Обеспечивающих до половины всех шоу в прайм-тайм в течение нескольких сезонов. Нововведением того периода, отстаиваемым Universal, был фильм, снятый для телевидения. В 1982 году Universal стала студийной базой для многих шоу, которые были произведены Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions / Embassy Television, включая Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life и Silver Spoons, премьера состоялась NBC той же осенью.

В это время Хэл Б. Уоллис, который работал главным продюсером в Paramount, перешел в Universal, в том числе продюсировал несколько фильмов, в том числе роскошную версию Энн Тысячи дней Максвелла Андерсона (1969) и столь же щедрая Мария, королева Шотландии (1971). Хотя ни один из них не мог претендовать на финансовый успех, оба фильма были номинированы на премию Американской киноакадемии, а Энн была номинирована на лучший фильм, лучшую мужскую (Ричард Бертон) ), Лучшая женская роль (Женевьев Бужольд ) и Лучшая мужская роль второго плана (Энтони Куэйл ). Уоллис ушла из Universal после того, как сняла фильм Петух Когберн (1975), продолжение фильма True Grit (1969), который Уоллис продюсировал в Paramount. Петух Когберн сыграл одну из главных ролей Джона Уэйна, повторив его оскароносную роль из более раннего фильма, и Кэтрин Хепберн, их единственный совместный фильм. Фильм имел умеренный успех.

В начале 1970-х годов Universal объединилась с Paramount, чтобы сформировать Cinema International Corporation, которая распространяла фильмы Paramount и Universal за пределами США и Канады. Хотя Universal действительно время от времени выпускала хиты, среди них Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (также 1973), Землетрясение (1974), и большой кассовый успех, который восстановил состояние компании: Jaws (1975), Универсальный в течение десятилетия в основном была телестудией. Когда Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer купила United Artists в 1981 году, MGM не могла выйти из предприятия CIC и слиться с United Artists за рубежом. Однако в связи с тем, что будущие фильмы от обоих имен будут выпускаться на лейбле MGM / UA Entertainment, CIC решила объединить международные подразделения UA с MGM и преобразовалась в United International Pictures. Были бы и другие кинохиты, такие как E.T. инопланетянин (1982), Назад в будущее (1985), Американский хвост (1986), Земля до начала времен (1988), Поле Грез (1989) и Парк Юрского периода (1993), но кинобизнес был непредсказуем в финансовом отношении. В 1997 году UIP начала распространять фильмы начинающей студией DreamWorks из-за связей ее основателей с Paramount, Universal и Amblin Entertainment. В 2001 году MGM вышла из предприятия UIP и перешла к международному подразделению 20th Century Fox, чтобы заниматься распространением своих изданий, договоренность, которая продолжается до сих пор.

Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi и NBCUniversal

Gate 2, Universal Studios (кажется, когда они закрыты по выходным)

Стремится расширить присутствие компании в сфере вещания и кабельного телевидения, давний глава MCA Лью Вассерман искал богатого партнера. Он обнаружил японского производителя электроники Matsushita Electric (ныне Panasonic ), который согласился приобрести MCA за 6,6 млрд долларов в 1990 году.

Matsushita предоставила денежные вливания, но столкновение культур было слишком велико, чтобы его преодолеть, и пять лет спустя Matsushita продал 80% акций MCA / Universal канадскому дистрибьютору напитков Seagram за 5,7 миллиарда долларов. Seagram продала свою долю в DuPont, чтобы профинансировать расширение в индустрии развлечений. В надежде построить развлекательную империю вокруг Universal, Seagram купила PolyGram в 1999 году и другие развлекательные объекты, но колеблющаяся прибыль, характерная для Голливуда, не могла заменить надежный поток доходов, полученный от ранее удерживаемых акций DuPont.

Чтобы собрать деньги, глава Seagram Эдгар Бронфман-младший продал телевизионные холдинги Universal, включая кабельную сеть США, Барри Диллеру (эти же недвижимость будет выкуплена позже по сильно завышенным ценам). В июне 2000 года Seagram была продана французской коммунальной и медиа-компании Vivendi, которой принадлежала StudioCanal ; затем конгломерат стал известен как Vivendi Universal. Впоследствии Universal Pictures приобрела в США права на распространение нескольких фильмов StudioCanal, таких как Дэвида Линча Малхолланд Драйв (2001) и Братство волка (2001), который стал вторым по величине кассовым фильмом на французском языке в США с 1980 года. Universal Pictures и StudioCanal также были сопродюсерами нескольких фильмов, таких как Реальная любовь (2003) фильм с бюджетом в 40 миллионов долларов, который в конечном итоге собрал 246 миллионов долларов по всему миру. В конце 2000 года Нью-Йоркской киноакадемии было разрешено использовать участок Universal Studios для студенческих кинопроектов в рамках неофициального партнерства.

Обремененный долгами, в 2004 году Vivendi Universal продала 80% кинотеатров. Vivendi Universal Entertainment (включая студии и тематические парки) General Electric (GE), родительской компании NBC. Образовавшийся медиа-суперконгломерат был переименован в NBCUniversal, в то время как Universal Studios Inc. сохранила название производственной дочерней компании. После этой сделки GE владела 80% NBC Universal; Vivendi владела оставшимися 20% с опционом на продажу своей доли в 2006 году.

В конце 2005 года компания Viacom Paramount Pictures приобрела DreamWorks SKG после переговоров о приобретении между GE. и DreamWorks застопорилась. Стейси Снайдер, давний председатель Universal, покинула компанию в начале 2006 года и возглавила DreamWorks. Снайдера сменил тогдашний вице-председатель Марк Шмугер и Focus Features глава Дэвид Линде. 5 октября 2009 года Марк Шмугер и Дэвид Линде были уволены, а должности их сопредседателей были объединены под руководством бывшего президента по международному маркетингу и дистрибуции Адама Фогельсона, который стал единственным председателем. Донна Лэнгли также был назначен сопредседателем. В 2009 году Стефани Спербер основала Universal Partnerships Licensing в рамках Universal для лицензирования потребительских продуктов для Universal.

GE приобрела долю Vivendi в NBCUniversal в 2011 году.

Эпоха Comcast (2011 — настоящее время)

Ворота 3 с указателями для KNBC и Telemundo

GE продала 51% компании кабельному провайдеру Comcast в 2011 году. Comcast объединила бывшую дочернюю компанию GE со своим собственным кабелем. -телевизионные программные активы, создающие текущий NBCUniversal. После утверждения Федеральной комиссией по связи (FCC) сделка с Comcast-GE была закрыта 29 января 2011 г. В марте 2013 г. Comcast купила оставшиеся 49% NBCUniversal за 16,7 млрд долларов.

В сентябре 2013 года Адам Фогельсон был уволен с поста сопредседателя Universal Pictures, в результате чего Донна Лэнгли был назначен единственным председателем. Кроме того, председатель NBCUniversal International Джефф Шелл будет назначен председателем недавно созданной Filmed Entertainment Group. Многолетний руководитель студии Рон Мейер оставил бы руководство киностудией и назначил заместителем председателя NBCUniversal, консультируя генерального директора Стива Берка по всем операциям компании. Мейер сохранил контроль над Universal Parks and Resorts.

Многолетняя сделка Universal по финансированию фильмов с Elliott Management истекла в 2013 году. Летом 2013 года Universal заключила соглашение с Thomas Tull Legendary Pictures для распространения фильмов в течение пяти лет, начиная с 2014 года (год, когда соответствует аналогичное соглашение Legendary с Warner Bros. Картинки ).

В июне 2014 года Universal Partnerships взяла на себя лицензирование потребительских продуктов для NBC и Sprout с ожиданием, что все лицензирование в конечном итоге будет централизовано внутри NBCUniversal. В мае 2015 года Gramercy Pictures была возрождена Focus Features в жанрового лейбла, специализирующегося на боевиках, научной фантастике и фильмах ужасов.

16 декабря 2015 года Amblin Partners объявили о заключении пятилетнего дистрибьюторского соглашения Universal Pictures, по которым будут распространяться и продаваться либо Universal, либо Focus Features.

В начале 2016 года Perfect World Pictures объявила о долгосрочном софинансировании с Universal, что представляет собой первый случай, когда китайская компания напрямую инвестирует в многолетнюю сланцевую сделку с крупной американской студией.

28 апреля 2016 года материнская компания долларов США Компания NBCUniversal заявила о сделке на 3,8 миллиарда долларов по покупке DreamWorks Animation. 22 августа 2016 года сделка была завершена. Универсальная взяла на дистрибьюторскую сделку с DreamWorks Animation, начиная с 2019 года, с выпуском Как приручить дракона: Скрытый мир, после того как закончился контракт DreamWorks Animation с 20th Century Fox.

15 февраля 2017 года Universal Pictures приобрела миноритарный пакет акций Amblin Partners, укрепив отношения между Universal и Amblin и воссоединив миноритарный процент лейбла DreamWorks Pictures с DreamWorks Animation.

В декабре 2019 года Universal Pictures начала предварительные переговоры о распространении свойств будущих художественных фильмов на основе игрушек Lego. Хотя оригинальные персонажи Lego Movie по-прежнему принадлежат Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures будет выступать в качестве дистрибьютора будущих фильмов и будет разрабатывать дополнительные фильмы Lego. Считается, что будущее фильмов, уже существующее, останется прежним.

В 2020 году AMC Theaters заявили, что больше не будут показывать фильмы Universal Studios из-за формулировок Universal, указывающие, что в будущем их фильмы могут быть не выходить в кинотеатры до того, как будут доступны для прямой трансляции. В июне было объявлено, что давний президент Universal International Distribution Дан Кларк уходит в отставункку. В августе он перейдет к роли консультанта в студии, и его заменит Вероника Кван Ванденберг.

Подразделения

• Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Universal 1440 Entertainment
  • Universal Sony Pictures Домашние развлечения Австралия (JV )
• Focus Features
  • Gramercy Pictures этикетка
  • Focus World
  • High Top Releasing
• NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
• Фильмы с рабочим названием
• Illumination
  • Illumination Mac Гуфф
• Universal Animation Studios
• DreamWorks Animation
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment (объединено с Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
  • DreamWorks Classics
    • Big Idea Entertainment
    • Bullwinkle Studios (СП)
    • Harvey Entertainment
  • DreamWorks New Media
• United International Pictures (СП)
• Amblin Partners (незначительная доля) (СП)
  • Amblin Развлечения
  • Amblin Television
  • DreamWorks Pictures
  • DreamWorks Television ( объединено с Ambli n Телевидение )
  • Storyteller Distribution

Библио тека фильмо в

В дополнение к собственной библиотеке Универсальный выпускает каталог ЭМКА, ООО 1929–1949 гг. Paramount Pictures, принадлежит дочерней компании Universal Television.

Серия фильмов

Название	Дата выпуска	Примечания
Universal Monsters / Dark Universe	1925–56; 1979; 1999 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Sommers Company, Alphaville, Relativity Media, Legendary Entertainment, K / O Paper Products, Perfect World Pictures и Blumhouse Productions
Шерлок Холмс	1936–47
Эбботт и Костелло	1940–55
Вуди Вудпекер	1941–72; 2017	совместное производство с Walter Lantz Studios и Universal Animation Studios
Ма и Па Кеттлы	1947–57
Фрэнсис Говорящий мул	1950– 56
Психо	1960–98	совместное производство с Paramount Pictures
Птицы	1963; 1994
Кинг Конг	1963 год — настоящее время	правообладатели только от имени Cooper Estate ; совместное производство с Toho, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Wingnut Film, Legendary Entertainment и Warner Bros.
Аэропорт	1970–79
Шакал	1973–97	совместное производство Warwick Films, Alphaville и Mutual Film Company
Jaws	1975– 87
Братья Блюз	1980–98	совместное производство с SNL Studios
Хэллоуин	1981–82, 2018-21	совместное производство с Compass International, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 20th Century Fox, Dimension Films, Miramax, Вайнштейн Компания, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer и Blumhouse Productions
Конан-варвар	1982–84; TBA	совместное производство с Lionsgate и Millennium Entertainment
The Thing	1982–2011; TBA	совместное производство с Morgan Creek Productions и Strike Entertainment
Назад в будущее	1985–90	совместное производство с Amblin Развлечения
Американский хвост	1986–99	совместное производство с Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation и Sullivan Bluth Studios
Земля до времен	1988 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Amblin Entertainment, Lucasfilm и Sullivan Bluth Studios
Child’s Play / Chucky	1988–98; 2013 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer и United Artists
Tremors	1990 — настоящее время
Darkman	1990–96	совместное производство с Renaissance Pictures
Бетховен	1992–2014 гг.
Парк Юрского периода	1993 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment и The Kennedy / Marshall Company
The Flintstones	1994–2000	совместное производство с Hanna-Barbera и Amblin Entertainment
Timecop	1994–2003	совместное производство с Renaissance Pictures
Babe	1995– 98
Балто	1995–2004	совместное производство с Amblin Entertainment и Amblimation
Каспер	1995–2000; 2016 г. — настоящее время	совместное производство с Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Films, Saban Ltd. и 20th Century Fox ; правообладатели через DreamWorks Classics
Dragonheart	1996 — настоящее время
Mr. Бин	1997–2007 гг.	совместное производство с PolyGram Films, Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal и Tiger Aspect Productions
Принц Египта	1998–2000	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation
Мумия	1999–2008; 2017; TBA	совместное производство с Relativity Media, Sommers Company, Alphaville, K / O Paper Products и Perfect World Pictures
Американский пирог	1999–2012 гг.
Джей Уорд вселенная	1999–2014 гг.; 2016 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Bullwinkle Studios, Mandeville Films, Walt Disney Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, TriBeCa Productions, DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Classics, 20th Century Fox и Pacific Data Images
Dr. Сьюз фильмы	2000 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Imagine Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios и Illumination Entertainment
Bring It On	совместное производство с Strike Entertainment
Хроники Риддика	2000–13	совместное производство с Gramercy Pictures, USA Films, Original Film и Relativity Media
Знакомство с родителями	2000–10	совместное производство с DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures и TriBeCa Productions
Ганнибал Лектер	2001–02	Производство совместно осуществляется совместно с Metro -Голдвин-Майер, Orion Pictures, Scott Free Productions, The Weinstein Company и De Laurentiis Entertainment Группа
The Fast and The Furious	2001 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Original F ilm, Relativity Media и One Race Films
Шрек	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures и 20th Century Fox
Bourne	2002 — настоящее время	совместное производство с The Kennedy / Marshall Company и Relativity Media.
Король Скорпионов	2002–18	совместное производство с Alphaville и WWE Studios
Джонни Инглиш	2003–18	совместное производство с StudioCanal и Фильмы с рабочим названием
Халк	2003–08; TBA	включая MCU The Incredible Hulk (только распространение), право первого отказа держателей (только распространение) любых будущих MCU сольные Халка фильмы; совместное производство с Marvel Studios
Всемогущий	2003–07	совместное производство с Spyglass Entertainment, Shady Acres Entertainment и Оригинальный Фильм
Трилогия Три аромата Cornetto	2004–13	совместное производство с Rogue Pictures, Relativity Media, Focus Features, Рабочее название Фильмы и StudioCanal
… of the Dead	2004–05	совместное производство с Atmosphere Entertainment, Ромеро / Грюнвальд Фильмы, Жестокие и необычные фильмы и Strike Entertainment
Белый шум	2005–07	совместное производство с Gold Circle Films
Doom	2005 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bethesda Softworks и id Software
Мадагаскар	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures и 20th Century Fox
няня Макфи	2005–10	совместное производство с рабочим названием Films
Curious George	2006 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Imagine Entertainment
Smokin ‘Aces	2007 — настоящее время	со- производство с Relativity Media
Dead Silence	совместное производство с Twisted Картинки
VeggieTales	2008; 2016 — настоящее время	правообладатели через DreamWorks Classics ; совместное производство с Big Idea Entertainment, FHE Pictures, Starz Animation
Kung Fu Panda	2008 — настоящее время	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation, Oriental DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures и 20th Century Fox
Кинематографическая вселенная Marvel	2008 г.; TBA	Только «Неверный Халк» (правообладатели на распространение), право на распространение первых отказавшихся обладателей будущих фильмов Халка ;. совместное производство с Marvel Studios
Хеллбой	2008	совместное производство с Dark Horse Entertainment, Revolution Studios, Relativity Media, Mosaic Film Group, Колумбия Pictures, Lionsgate и Millennium Entertainment
Mamma Mia	2008–18	совместное производство с Relativity Media, Playtone, LittleStar, Legendary Entertainment и Perfect World Pictures
Death Race	2008 — настоящее время	совместное производство с New Horizons, Cruise / Wagner Productions и Relativity Media
Незнакомцы	совместное производство с Intrepid Pictures, Relativity Media, Rogue Pictures и Aviron Pictures
Monsters vs. Aliens	2009–14	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation и Paramount Pictures
Как приручить дракона	2010–19	совместное производств о с DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, Paramount Pictures и 20th Century Fox
Гадкий Я	2010– время	совместное производство с Illumination Entertainment
Kick Ass	2010–13	совместное производство с Lionsgate и Marv Films
Тед	2012–15	совместное производство с Media Rights Capital, Bluegrass Films и Fuzzy Door Productions
Человек с…	совместное производство с Strike Entertainment и Bluegrass Films
Pitch Perfect	2012–17	совместное производство с Gold Circle Films и Brownstone Productions
The Purge	2013 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Blumhouse Productions и Platinum Dunes
The Croods	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation и 20th Century Fox
Ride Along	2014 –16	совместное производство с Relativity Media и Perfect World Pictures
Dumb and Dumber	2014	совместное производство с New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. и Red Granite Pictures
Ouija	2014–16	совместное производство с Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro Studios, Genre Films и Platinum Dunes
Соседи	совместное производство с Point Grey, Relativity Media и Good Universe
Fifty Shades	2015–18	совместное производство с Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions и Trigger Street Productions
Unfriended	2014–18	совместное производство с Blumhouse Productions и Bazelevs Company
The Secret Life of Pets	2016 — настоящее время	совместное производство с Illumination Entertainment
Тролли	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation и 20th Century Fox
Синг	в совместном производстве с Иллюминация E ntertainment
Серия фильмов Unbreakable	настоящее сотрудничество с Touchstone Pictures, Bl, включая Edge Pictures и Blumhouse Productions
The Boss Baby	2017 — время	совместное производство с DreamWorks Animation и 20th Century Fox
Снеговик	совместное производство с Perfect World Pictures
Happy Death Day	совместное производство с Blumhouse Productions
Insidious	2018; TBA	совместное производство с FilmDistrict, Focus Features, Gramercy Pictures, IM Global, Alliance Фильмы, Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One и Blumhouse Productions
Pacific Rim	совместное производство с Legendary Entertainment и Warner Bros.
Джеймс Бонд	2020	совместное производство с Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. (Бонд 25; контракт на один фильм)

Самые прибыльные фильмы

Universal была первой студией, выпустившей три фильма на три миллиарда долларов за один год; эта награда была достигнута в 2015 году с фильмами Форсаж 7, Мир Юрского периода и Миньоны.

Самые прибыльные фильмы в Северной Америке Рейтинг Название Год Кассовые сборы 1 Мир Юрского периода 2015 $ 652 270 625 2 Мир Юрского периода: Павшее Королевство 2018 417 719 760 долларов 3 Тайная жизнь домашних животных 2016 368 384 330 долларов 4 Гадкий Я 2 2013 368 061 265 долларов 5 ET Инопланетянин 1982 359 197 037 долларов 6 Парк Юрского периода 1993 357 067 947 долларов 7 Форсаж 7 2015 353 007 020 долларов 8 Миньоны 2015 336 045 770 долларов 9 Знакомство с Фокерами 2004 279 261 160 долларов 10 Гринч 2018 270 620 950 долларов 11 Синг 2016 270 329 045 долларов 12 Гадкий Я 3 2017 264624300 долларов 13 Доктор. Сьюз ‘Как Гринч украл Рождество 2000 260 044 825 долларов 14 Челюсти 1975 260 000 000 долларов 15 Гадкий Я 2010 251 513 985 долл. 16 Брюс Всемогущий 2003 242 829 261 долл. 17 Форсаж 6 2013 238 679 850 долл. 18 Затерянный мир: Парк Юрского периода 1997 229 086 679 долларов 19 Ультиматум Борна 2007 227 471 070 долларов 20 Неистовая судьба 2017 226008 385 21 Тед 2012 218 815 487 долларов 22 Кинг-Конг 2005 218080 025 долларов 23 The Lorax 2012 214 030 500 долларов 24 Назад в будущее 1985 210 609 762 долларов 25 Fast Five 2011 209 837 675 долларов

Самые кассовые фильмы в Рейтинг Название Год Кассовые сборы 1 Мир Юрского периода 2015 1 670 400 637 долларов 2 Форсаж 7 2015 1 516 045 911 долларов 3 Мир Юрского периода: Павшее Королевство 2018 1 308534 046 долларов 4 Судьба неистовства 2017 1 238 764 765 долларов 5 Миньоны 2015 1 159 398 397 долларов 6 Парк Юрск о го периода 1993 1 029 153 882 долл. США 7 Гадкий Я 3 2017 1 015 741 270 долл. США 8 Гадкий Я 2 2013 г. 970 761 885 долл. США 9 Тайная жизнь домашних животных 2016 875 457 937 долларов 10 ET инопланетянин 1982 792 910 554 доллара 11 Форсаж 6 2013 788 679 850 долларов 12 Форсаж: Хоббс Шоу 2019 721 040 050 долларов 13 Синг 2016 631214 341 доллар 14 Fast Five 2011 626 137 675 долларов 15 Затерянный мир: Парк Юрского периода 1997 618 638 999 долларов 16 Мама Миа! 2008 609 841 637 долларов 17 Пятьдесят оттенков серого 2015 571006 128 долларов 18 Кинг-Конг 2005 550 517 357 долларов 19 Тед 2012 549 368 315 долларов 20 Гадкий Я 2010 543 113 985 долларов 21 Как приручить дракона: Скрытый мир 2019 517 049 060 долларов 22 Знакомство с Фокерами 2004 516 642939 долларов 23 Гринч 2018 511 303 509 долларов 24 Twister 1996 494 471 524 долл. США 25 Брюс Всемогущий 2003 484 592 874 долл. США

Включает театральное переиздание (а).

См. Также

• Список телешоу, созданных Universal Studios
• DreamWorks

Примечания

Ссылки

>Старые ссылки

• Официальный сайт
• Universal Pictures на IMDb
• Universal Studios на IMDb