MGM merged to form MGM/UA in the 1980's. By 1986, Turner Broadcasting had purchased United Artists and its impressive film library. The main lot became Lorimar Telepictures. MGM moved across the street to the modern Filmland building until its final move to Santa Monica in 1992.

In 1989, Sony Corporation purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment (which then shared The Burbank Studios lot with Warner Bros. in Burbank) as well as the old MGM lot in Culver City, later renaming the company Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Soon major renovations were underway to turn the property into a state-of-the-art facility. The studio became known throughout the motion picture and television industry as the model for the renovation efforts of others. The nearby Culver Studios joined the SPE family in 1991 and was sold in 2004. Today, preservation efforts have turned the studio into a modern facility and an historic landmark.