United Artists (UA) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, UA was founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios.[1]
After numerous ownership and structural changes and revamps, United Artists was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 for a reported $350 million ($1.2 billion today).[2] On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media and merged them to revive the television production unit of United Artists as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). MGM itself acquired UAMG on December 14, 2015, and folded it into their own television division.[3]
MGM briefly revived the United Artists brand as United Artists Digital Studios for the Stargate Origins web series as part of its Stargate franchise, but retired the name after 2019 and instead used its eponymous brand for subsequent releases.
A local joint distribution venture between MGM and Annapurna Pictures launched on October 31, 2017[4] was rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, in honor of its 100th anniversary.[5] However, Amazon, MGM's now-parent company, folded UAR into MGM on March 4, 2023, citing "newfound theatrical release opportunities" following the box-office opening success of Creed III.[6]
In July 2024, Amazon MGM Studios announced the company's revival, entering a multi-year first look deal with film producer Scott Stuber, who will also be involved with all releases under the freshly revived banner.
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References[]
- ↑ Woo, Elaine. "Mo Rothman dies at 92; found new audience for Chaplin", Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2011.
- ↑ Cole, Robert J.. "M-G-M is Reported Purchasing United Artists for $350 Million", The New York Times, May 16, 1981.
- ↑ McNary, Dave (December 14, 2015). Mark Burnett Named President of MGM Television. Variety.
- ↑ McNary, Dave. "MGM, Annapurna Form U.S. Distribution Partnership", Variety, Penske Media Corporation, October 31, 2017.
- ↑ Donnelly, Matt. "Annapurna, MGM Joint Distribution Venture Rebrands as United Artists Releasing", Variety, February 5, 2019. “As part of the agreement, MGM and Annapurna also announced that they have formed a Mirror releasing entity to pursue theatrical releasing opportunities for third-party films.”
- ↑ McClintock, Pamela (March 4, 2023). Box Office: 'Creed III' Wins Title with Series-Best $51M Opening. The Hollywood Reporter. “Amazon protected its newfound theatrical apparatus by folding United Artists Releasing into MGM.”
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Artists. |
- United Artists at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
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