TriStar Pictures

Early era (1982–1987)

The concept for Tri-Star Pictures can be traced to Victor Kaufman, a senior executive of Columbia Pictures (then a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company),^[3] who convinced Columbia, HBO, and CBS to share resources and split the ever-growing costs of making movies, leading to the creation of a new joint venture on March 2, 1982. On May 16, 1983, it was given the name Tri-Star Pictures (when the new company was formed and did not have an official name, the press used the code-name "Nova", but the name could not be obtained as it was being used as the title for the PBS science series^[4][5]). Tri-Star became the first new major Hollywood motion picture studio to be established since RKO Pictures was founded in 1928.^[6] Tri-Star embarked on a 12 to 18 feature film slate per year, with a combined budget of $70 to $80 million and signed producer Walter Colbenz as vice president of the Tri-Star feature film studio, and signed initial development deals with director John Schlesinger and producers Jeffrey Walker and Michael Walker.^[7] Tri-Star's first project to roll out was The Muppets Take Manhattan.^[8]

On May 11, 1984, the studio's first produced film was released, The Natural starring Robert Redford. Tri-Star's first release, however, was the film, Where the Boys Are '84; a 1984 remake of the 1960 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, Where the Boys Are that was co-distributed on behalf of ITC Entertainment after Universal rejected it; the film was a commercial flop.^[9]

Many of Tri-Star's productions were released on VHS by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, HBO/Cannon Video, or CBS/Fox Video. In addition, HBO owned exclusive cable distribution rights to the films, with broadcast television licenses going to CBS.^[10]

On May 8, 1984, Tri-Star Pictures secured North American distribution rights for the film Supergirl from Warner Bros., which enabled the film to be ready for distribution by Christmas 1984.^[11] On May 15, 1984, the studio hit big through its association with Carolco Pictures, with the distribution of second part of the Rambo franchise, Rambo: First Blood Part II, which eventually became a smash hit for the studio the following year.^[12][13] The company once partnered with Producers Sales Organization to handle theatrical distribution of the PSO titles.^[14]

Early in the 1980s, Tri-Star Pictures and Columbia set up a film partnership with Delphi Film Associates and acquired an interest in various film releases. In 1984, Delphi Film Associates III acquired an interest in the Tri-Star and Columbia film slate for 1984, which included $60 million in financing for film production.^[15]

CBS dropped out of the Tri-Star venture in 1985,^[16] though they still distributed some of Tri-Star's films on home video until at least 1992. In 1986, HBO also dropped out of the venture and sold half of its shares to Columbia Pictures.^[17] That same year, 1986, Tri-Star entered into the television business as Tri-Star Television. Tri-Star television was formed when the studio joined forces with Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions and created a television distribution company called TeleVentures. Carolco would eventually expand its relations with Tri-Star Pictures and decide to distribute films such as Rambo III and Air America. Carolco was able to retain all foreign, cable, TV and videocassette rights.^[18] On August 20, 1986, Tri-Star Pictures and Taft/Barish Productions, a joint venture of Taft Broadcasting and Keith Barish Productions, signed a $200 million domestic distribution deal, where they would receive four to six pictures a year, with ten pictures total, with options to do more, with ancillary rights being handled for cable TV by HBO and on video by Vestron Video.^[19]

In 1987, they had proposed a home video label, Tri-Star Video, to release Tri-Star material, with Saul Melnick serving as president of the unit.^[20] Tri-Star had plans to convert into a major film studio, growing enough by the success of TV syndication and home video, in order to start a new umbrella distribution Tri-Star Telecommunications Group, to take over videocassette distribution of Tri-Star films from RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, beginning in 1988, and the plans for the first three Tri-Star films to go on home video was Sweetheart's Dance, Like Father, Like Son and Sunset, and Arnold Messner became president of the Tri-Star Telecommunications Group, handles up to 15 Tri-Star titles and 15-20 additional titles from the outside. The television side of Tri-Star Telecommunications Group is the syndication unit TeleVentures, and represents its interest in the joint venture, and locked up rights to 36 CBS television movies, as well as Sha Na Na, and distribution of Stephen J. Cannell product and handle syndication of Tri-Star's theatrical product which was effective to go production that year. Tri-Star Telecommunications Group has plans to assume worldwide distribution of its product instead of preselling them in the past.^[21] In 1987, Tri-Star International was set up with former head of Columbia Pictures International, S. Anthony Macke to be hired as executive vice president in charge of production for the newly created international division, the company already had worldwide rights to its product in order to need up its international apparatus.^[22]

Also, in July 1987, Tri-Star Pictures made a pact with CPI Film Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, whereas the latter had bought out 3.3 million shares at $15 per share for a total purchase price of $50 million, boosting its stake in Tri-Star to 29.3%, and Victor Kaufman said that the new capital would "enhance our ability to continue to expand our business activities", and decided to maintain our goal of achieving a dividend payout of 40%.^[23] In September 1987, Hemdale Film Corporation had signed an agreement with Tri-Star Pictures whereas Tri-Star would allow Hemdale to release fifteen major motion pictures over the next three years, and the company would receive a 17% free for donations that would be handled jointly by both Tri-Star and Hemdale, and more specialized productions could go to the company's distribution arm.^[24]

Columbia Pictures Entertainment era (1987–1989)

On December 21, 1987, Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. when Coca-Cola sold its entertainment business to Tri-Star for $3.1 billion. Both studios continued to produce and distribute films under their separate names.^[25]

That year, once Coca-Cola sold its entertainment business, Tri-Star's television division was consolidated into a single operating entity with Columbia/Embassy Television to form a new incarnation of the Columbia Pictures Television. Merv Griffin Enterprises would continue to operate separately.^[26][27]

On April 13, 1988, CPE spun off Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. as a reformed company of the Tri-Star studio.^[28] Around that time, Tri-Star has shut down its video division, absorbing it into RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video.^[29]

Sony era (1989–present)

In 1989, Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. was acquired by Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation, which re-merged Columbia and Tri-Star, but continued to use the separate labels. On July 11, 1990, Tri-Star Pictures dissolved and sold its venture in TeleVentures to Stephen J. Cannell Productions and TeleVentures became Cannell Distribution Co. Most of the series and the Tri-Star film packages that were distributed by TeleVentures were transferred to Columbia Pictures Television Distribution.^[30] Sony Pictures Entertainment later revived TriStar Television as a television production banner in 1991 and merged with its sister television studio Columbia Pictures Television to form Columbia TriStar Television on February 21, 1994.^[31][32] Both studios continued to operate separately under the CTT umbrella until TriStar folded in 1999 and CPT in 2001.

In addition to its own slate, TriStar was the theatrical distributor for many films produced by Carolco Pictures (the rights to only one of its films, Cliffhanger, has been retained by TriStar). TriStar also theatrically distributed some FilmDistrict movies. In 1992, the deal with Carolco lapsed when TriStar, along with Japan Satellite Broadcasting signed an agreement with The IndieProd Company to distribute movies produced by the pact in order to fill the void.^[33]

Around summer 1998, SPE merged Columbia and TriStar to form the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, but just like Columbia Pictures Entertainment, both divisions continued producing and distributing films under their own names. Some of the movies slated to be released by TriStar, including Stepmom would go to its flagship label Columbia Pictures following the merger.^[34]

TriStar was relaunched on May 13, 2004, as a marketing and acquisitions unit that had a "particular emphasis on genre films".^[35] Screen Gems' executive vice president Valerie Van Galder was tapped to run the revived studio after being dormant.^[36] However, the release of its 2013 film Elysium represented the label's first big-budget release since The Mask of Zorro in 1998.

The same year, former 20th Century Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman joined Sony Pictures and created TriStar Productions as a joint venture with existing Sony Pictures executives. The new TriStar will develop, finance and produce up to four films per year, as well as television programming and acquisitions, starting on September 1.^[37][38][39] Sony's TriStar Pictures unit will be retained for "other product, including titles from Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions", and will distribute product from the new TriStar.^[40]

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Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The drink industry company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. The company's stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of the DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes.

HBO

HBO

Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan's West Side district. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs.

CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global.

Cinema of the United States

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios along with some independent films, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of American cinema is classical Hollywood cinema, which developed from 1910 to 1969 and is still typical of most films made there to this day. While Frenchmen Auguste and Louis Lumière are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema, American cinema soon came to be a dominant force in the emerging industry. As of 2017, it produced the third-largest number of films of any national cinema, after India and China, with more than 600 English-language films released on average every year. While the national cinemas of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also produce films in the same language, they are not part of the Hollywood system. Because of this, Hollywood has also been considered a transnational cinema, and has produced multiple language versions of some titles, often in Spanish or French. Contemporary Hollywood often outsources production to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

RKO Pictures

RKO Pictures

RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA executive David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone, and in early 1929 production began under the RKO name. Two years later, another Kennedy concern, the Pathé studio, was folded into the operation. By the mid-1940s, RKO was controlled by investor Floyd Odlum.

John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger

John Richard Schlesinger was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Midnight Cowboy, and was nominated for the same award for two other films.

Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cecil B. DeMille Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2014, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Remake

Remake

A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same story as the original but uses a different cast, and may alter the theme or change the story's setting. A similar but not synonymous term is reimagining, which indicates a greater discrepancy between, for example, a movie and the movie it is based on.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924, and based in Beverly Hills, California.

ITC Entertainment

ITC Entertainment

The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes.

CBS/Fox Video

CBS/Fox Video

The CBS/Fox Company, doing business under the brand CBS/Fox Video, was a home video entertainment company formed and established in June 1982, as a merger between 20th Century-Fox Video and CBS Video Enterprises. CBS/Fox released videos in the VHS, Laserdisc, and Betamax home video formats.

Original Tri-Star logo used from 1984 until 1993 with the release of Cliffhanger.

The TriStar logo used from 1993 to 2015.

TriStar's logo features a Pegasus (either stationary or flying across the screen). The idea came from executive Victor Kaufman and his family's interest in riding horses. The original logo was created with the assistance of Sydney Pollack, who was an adviser at Tri-Star. The horse in the original filmed logo was the same one used in Pollack's film The Electric Horseman.^[41]

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Cliffhanger (film)

Cliffhanger (film)

Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Renny Harlin and co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone alongside John Lithgow, Michael Rooker and Janine Turner. Based on a concept by climber John Long, the film follows Gabe (Stallone), a mountain climber who becomes embroiled in a heist of a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, and was released in the United States on May 28, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. It earned $255 million worldwide.

Pegasus

Pegasus

Pegasus is a winged divine stallion, usually depicted as pure white in color, in Greek mythology. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing when his mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets wrote about his ascent to heaven after his birth and his obeisance to Zeus, king of the gods, who instructed him to bring lightning and thunder from Olympus.

Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack

Sydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film Out of Africa (1985), Pollack won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture. He was also nominated for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Tootsie (1982).

The Electric Horseman

The Electric Horseman

The Electric Horseman is a 1979 American western comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack. The film is about a former rodeo champion who is hired by a cereal company to become its spokesperson and then runs away on a $12 million electric-lit horse and costume he is given to promote it in Las Vegas after he finds that the horse has been abused.

Film series

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List of TriStar Pictures films

List of TriStar Pictures films

This is a list of films produced and/or released by American film studio TriStar Pictures. Some of the films listed here were distributed theatrically in the United States by the company's distribution division, Sony Pictures Releasing (formerly known as Triumph Releasing Corporation and Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International.

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Carolco Pictures

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Short Circuit (1986 film)

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Short Circuit is a 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by John Badham and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. The film's plot centers on an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains a human-like intelligence, prompting it to escape its facility to learn more about the world. The film stars Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton and G. W. Bailey, with Tim Blaney as the voice of the robot named "Number 5". A sequel, Short Circuit 2, was released in 1988, directed by Kenneth Johnson.

Iron Eagle

Iron Eagle

Iron Eagle is a 1986 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Alyn Elders, and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr. While it received negative reviews, being unfavorably compared to the similarly-themed Top Gun released the same year, the film earned $24,159,872 at the U.S. box office. Iron Eagle was followed by three sequels: Iron Eagle II, Aces: Iron Eagle III, and Iron Eagle on the Attack, with Gossett being the only actor to appear in all four films.

Look Who's Talking

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3 Ninjas

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