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TriStar Pictures



 
 
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled Tri-Star until 1991) is a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 subsidiary of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an United States film production company and distribution company. It was one of the so-called studio system among the eight major film studios of Hollywood Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood....
, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1982.

The concept for TriStar came about in 1982 when Columbia Pictures (then a subsidiary of Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States....
), HBO, and CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 decided to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making movies.






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TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled Tri-Star until 1991) is a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 subsidiary of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an United States film production company and distribution company. It was one of the so-called studio system among the eight major film studios of Hollywood Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood....
, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1982.

The concept for TriStar came about in 1982 when Columbia Pictures (then a subsidiary of Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States....
), HBO, and CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 decided to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making movies. Their first release, in 1984, was The Natural
The Natural (film)

The Natural is a 1984 in film film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball The Natural. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and stars Robert Redford....
, starring Robert Redford. Their second movie was a flop remake
Where the Boys Are '84

Where the Boys Are '84 is a 1984 remake of the 1960 Teen film Where the Boys Are, starring Lisa Hartman Black, Lorna Luft, Wendy Schaal and Lynn-Holly Johnson....
 of the 1960 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture Where the Boys Are
Where the Boys Are

Where the Boys Are is a Cinema of the United States coming-of-age comedy film, written by George Wells based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout, about four Midwestern college co-eds who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
. During this venture, many of Tri-Star's releases were released on VHS by either RCA-Columbia Pictures Home Video (now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in 1978 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment....
), CBS/FOX Video
CBS/Fox Video

CBS/Fox Video was a home video company formed and established in 1982, as a merger between 20th Century Fox Video, formerly Magnetic Video Corporation, and CBS Video Enterprises....
 (CBS' label now CBS Home Entertainment and Fox's label now 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and Fox Video....
), and HBO Video.

CBS dropped out of the venture in 1984, though they still distributed some of TriStar's films on home video until at least 1992. In April 1987, Tri-Star entered into the television business as TriStar Television
TriStar Television

TriStar Television was an American television production company that was launched on April 2, 1987 by TriStar Pictures . In December 1987, TriStar Television was bought by Columbia Pictures Television, and merged to create the new CPT , although Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures were sold in 1989 to Sony Corporation of Japan....
. In December 1987, HBO dropped out of the Tri-Star venture as well and Columbia Pictures bought their venture shares and merged Columbia and Tri-Star into Columbia Pictures Entertainment, also creating Columbia/Tri-Star. Both companies continued to produce and distribute films under their separate names.

In 1989, all of Coke's entertainment holdings were acquired by Sony
Sony

is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....
 Corporation of Japan, who merged Columbia and TriStar, but continued to use the separate names. Sony Pictures Entertainment later revived TriStar Television as a television production banner in 1991 and co-launched Columbia TriStar Television
Columbia TriStar Television

Columbia TriStar Television was the third name of the television studio Screen Gems, adopted with the Sony Pictures Entertainment merger of 1991 and last used in 2002....
 in 1994 with its sister television studio Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television

Columbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974....
.

Around summer 1998, Sony Pictures Entertainment merged Columbia and TriStar to form Columbia TriStar Pictures (or Columbia TriStar Entertainment, Inc. or the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group) but just like Columbia Pictures Entertainment, both divisions continued producing and distributing films under their own names.

TriStar was relaunched in 2004 as a marketing and acquisitions unit that will have a "particular emphasis on genre films".

TriStar was the theatrical distributor for many films produced by Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures

'Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments' was an independent production company, that within a decade went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being made bankrupt by bombs such as Cutthroat Island and Showgirl...
 (the rights to only one of their films, Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (film)

Cliffhanger is a 1993 in film action film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow. Stallone plays a climbing, who becomes embroiled in a failed Robbery set in a U.S....
, has been retained by TriStar).

About the TriStar Pictures logo


The 1984 company's logo of a Pegasus
Pegasus

In Greek mythology, Pegasus was a winged horse sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa....
, either stationary or flying across the screen has become something of a cultural icon, spawning many parodies, including one on the popular animated television show Family Guy
Family Guy

Family Guy is an animated cartoon Television in the United States Situation comedy created by Seth MacFarlane that airs on Fox Broadcasting Company and regularly on other television networks in syndication....
. The second logo was originally painted by Alan Reingold.

See also

  • 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.1984*Silent Night, Deadly Night *Birdy ...