TriStar Pictures (spelled Tri-Star until 1991) is a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures.

The idea for TriStar came about in 1982 when Columbia (then a subsidiary of Coca-Cola), HBO, and CBS, decided to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making movies. Their first release, in 1983, was The Natural. Their second movie was a flop remake of the 1960 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (who ironically would eventually become co-owned with Columbia and Tristar) picture, Where the Boys Are.

CBS dropped out of the venture in 1984 and in 1987, HBO did as well. That same year, Tri-Star enter into the television business as Tri-Star Television. Columbia Pictures bought their venture shares and merged Columbia and Tri-Star into Columbia Pictures Entertainment. In 1989, all of Coke's entertainment holdings were acquired by Sony, 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 in 1994 with its sister television studio Columbia Pictures Television. TriStar was relaunched in 2004 as a marketing and acquisitions unit that will have a "particular emphasis on genre films". [1]

Notable films

1980s

• Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

• Birdy (1984)

• Meatballs 2 (1984)

• The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

• The Natural (1984)

• Supergirl (1984, distribution)

• Places in the Heart (1984)

• Where the Boys Are '84 (1984)

• Runaway (1984)

• Lifeforce (1985)

• The Last Dragon (1985)

• Private Resort (1985)

• The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)

• Real Genius (1985)

• Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

• About Last Night (film) (1986)

• Labyrinth (1986)

• Nothing in Common (1986)

• Rad (1986)

• Short Circuit (1986)

• Short Circuit 2 (1988)

• Angel Heart (1987, distribution)

• Blind Date(1987)

• The Principal (1987)

• Extreme Prejudice (1987, distribution)

• Ironweed (1987)

• The Monster Squad (1987)

• The Running Man (1987) (distribution)

• Sunset (1988)

• Fright Night II (1988)

• The Bear (1988)

• The Blob (1988)

• The Seventh Sign (1988)

• Steel Magnolias (1989) (co-production with Rastar)

• Tap (1989)

• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)

• Look Who's Talking (1989) (plus sequels in 1991 and 1993)

• See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

1990s

• Avalon (1990)

• I Love You to Death (1990)

• Total Recall (1990, distribution)

• Bugsy (1991)

• The Fisher King (1991)

• Jack's Way (1991, distribution)

• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, USA distribution only) (co-production with Carolco Pictures)

• Another You (1991)

• Bingo (1991)

• Hook (1991)

• Basic Instinct (1992, distribution)

• Candyman (1992)

• Chaplin (1992, distribution)

• City of Joy (1992)

• Husbands and Wives (1992)

• Cliffhanger (1993, distribution)

• So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

• Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

• Philadelphia (1993)

• Rudy (1993)

• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

• Sniper (1993)

• 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994)

• Guarding Tess (1994)

• It Could Happen to You (film 1994) (1994)

• Legends of the Fall (1994)

• Only You (1994)

• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

• Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

• 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995)

• Jumanji (film) (1995)

• Magic in the Water (1995)

• Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

• The Quick and the Dead (1995)

• The Fan (1996)

• Jerry Maguire (1996)

• Matilda (1996) (co-production with Jersey Films)

• Sunset Park (1996)

• My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

• Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (1997)

• Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

• Starship Troopers (1997)

• Anaconda (1997)

• Godzilla (1998) (co-production with Centropolis Entertainment)

• Madeline (1998)

• The Mask of Zorro (1998) (plus Columbia Pictures sequel in 2005) (co-production with Amblin Entertainment)

• Urban Legend (1998) (plus Columbia Pictures sequel in 2000)

• Baby Geniuses (1999)

• Crazy in Alabama (1999)

• Jawbreaker (1999)

2000s

• Godzilla 2000 (2000, dubbing)

• Metropolis (2001, subtitles)

• New Best Friend (2001, distribution)

• The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2003, distribution)

• The Medallion (2003, distribution)

• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) (co-production with Screen Gems)

• Oliver Twist (2005, distribution)

• Silent Hill (2006)

• Premonition (2006) (co-production with MGM)

LINKS

• TriStar Pictures at the Internet Movie Database

• The official Sony Pictures site: http://www.sonypictures.com/

• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Columbia Pictures Cartoons (http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Columbia_Pictures/index.html)

• Columbia Tristar Films Australia: http://www.columbiafilms.com.au/

• The History of a Logo: The Lady with the Torch (http://www.reelclassics.com/Studios/Columbia/columbia-article-logo.htm)

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