Major movie studios
film production and distribution company with high output
Big Five are the United States's major movie production studios which also distribute their product. All of them have historic flagship production facilities near Hollywood. All Big Five major studios (Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures) are parts of much larger business enterprises, with their corporate headquarters offices far from Hollywood. The group of major studios long numbered seven, but was reduced to six with the fading from importance of MGM in the 1980s. They became five when, on November 6, 2017 - Disney announced its deal to buy Fox for $52.4 billion.
- Universal Pictures - NBCUniversal / Comcast
- Warner Bros. Pictures - Warner Bros. Discovery
- Columbia Pictures / TriStar Pictures - Sony Pictures Entertainment
- Paramount Pictures - Paramount Global
- Walt Disney Pictures / 20th Century Studios - The Walt Disney Company
The logos of the "Big Five" film studios, arranged in order by the year each studio was founded
Big Four studios in the San Fernando Valley, in Burbank, California (Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios)
- Gaumont Film Company
- Pinewood Studios
- Nordisk Film
- BBC Films
- Pathé Frères
- Constantin Film
- SF Studios
- Titanus - closed down in 1964; revived as a small studio in 1970.
- Sheperton Studios - sold to Pinewood Group in 2001.
- Rank Organisation - bought by The Rank Group in 1996; motion picture involvement ended in 2006.
- Optimum Releasing - bought by StudioCanal in 2006; later renamed as StudioCanal UK in 2011.