Sony Pictures History (cont'd)

 

In motion pictures, Columbia turned out a string of successes in the ’70’s such as THE WAY WE WERE, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, TAXI DRIVER, THE DEEP, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and KRAMER VS. KRAMER (which won the 1980 Best Picture Oscar®). During this time, Columbia shuttered its Gower Street lot and moved to Burbank. In 1972, it merged its real estate holdings with Warner Communications Inc. to form The Burbank Studios, sharing the facility for 18 years.

 A new division was launched in 1979, Columbia Pictures Home Video, marking the company’s entry into the revolutionary home entertainment market. With the introduction of Columbia Pictures’ hit films on the Beta and VHS formats, the studio established a new distribution system which would prove to be very profitable. By 2002 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, as it was then called, broke industry records by shipping more than 40 million copies of SPIDER-MAN™ worldwide. With the rapid evolution of digital video technology, home entertainment leaders battled in the high-definition format wars in 2005. Ultimately, Sony’s Blu-ray Disc™ format succeeded and was universally adopted. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, as it is known today, is a world leader in distributing SPE and acquired third-party theatrical and non-theatrical product on Blu-ray Disc™, DVD, UMD and through new media (mobile and digital distribution). More than 3,500 film and television titles in the SPHE catalog are available in these various formats, including popular hits such as HANCOCK and the SEINFELD TV series as well as classics like DR. STRANGELOVE and GANDHI.

The 1980’s meant change and growth for Columbia, beginning with its purchase by The Coca-Cola Company in 1982. Operations expanded into other forms of entertainment such as home video. Television programs were acquired, adding ALL IN THE FAMILY, GOOD TIMES, THE JEFFERSONS and more to an already impressive television library. Merv Griffin Enterprises, producer of the top two game shows WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY!, joined the company in 1986. In 1987 Columbia TriStar Television acquired the distribution rights to Castle Rock Entertainment’s sitcom SEINFELD, the highest-earning, number one syndicated show in television history. The studio continued to turn out some of its biggest box offices hits with TOOTSIE, THE KARATE KID, STRIPES and GHOSTBUSTERS. 1982’s epic film, GANDHI, added another Best Picture Oscar® statue to Columbia’s growing collection.