This article is about the film distribution unit. For the related and similarly-named production studio, see Walt Disney Pictures. For the parent umbrella division, see Walt Disney Studios (division).
The company was originally established by Walt Disney in 1953 as Buena Vista Film Distribution Company Inc. (later renamed Buena Vista Distribution Inc. and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Inc.). It took on its current name in late 2007.[7][8]
History
Before in 1953, Disney's productions were previously distributed by:
A dispute with RKO Pictures in 1953 over the distribution of The Living Desert, Disney's first full-length film in the True-Life Adventures series,[9] led Walt and his older brother Roy O. Disney to form its wholly owned subsidiary, the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company, Inc. (BVDC), to handle North American distribution of their own products.[7] RKO refused to distribute the film.[9] The name "Buena Vista" came from the eponymous street in Burbank, California, where the Walt Disney Studios was located (and remains to this day). Buena Vista's first release was the Academy Award-winning live-action feature The Living Desert on November 10, 1953, along with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Buena Vista's first animated release.[10] Notable subsequent releases included the Austrian film Victoria in Dover, the Japanese Daiei film Princess Yang Kwei Fei (Most Noble Lady), released in US theaters in September 1956,[11][12][13]The Missouri Traveler in March 1958,[10] and The Big Fisherman in July 1959 (the first third-party production financed by Disney).[10]
By July 5, 1957, RKO Japan, Ltd. was sold to Disney Productions and British Commonwealth Film Corporation. In allocating the foreign film licenses to the company, Disney would use 5 and Commonwealth 8.[14]
In April 1960, the company dropped "Film" from its name.[8] In 1961, Disney incorporated Buena Vista International (BVI),[15] distributing its first PG-rated film, Take Down, in January 1979.[10] The low-budget movie was not produced by the Disney studios and was acquired from an independent studio, making The Black Hole the first PG-rated Disney film.[16] In July 1987, Buena Vista changed its name to Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. (BVPD).[8]
Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a controlling stake in one of Pacific Theatres' chains[17] leading to Disney's Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate the El Capitan Theatre and the Crest by 1989.[18] The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19, 1991.[19]
In 1992, Buena Vista made production loans totaling $5.6 million to Cinergi Pictures for its film Medicine Man and its 1994 films Renaissance Man and Color of Night and were distributing Cinergi's films. The corporation purchased a 12.8% share in Cinergi with its initial public offering in 1994.[20] Soon, BVPD signed a 25 picture distribution deal with Cinergi.[21][22]
In September 1996, following Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. was merged[8] into ABC, Inc.,[28] the parent company of that group.
For the November 1995 premiere of Toy Story, Disney rented the Hollywood Masonic Temple—adjacent to the El Capitan Theatre—for Totally Toy Story, a multimedia funhouse and a promotional event for the movie.[29] On July 17, 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the Hollywood Masonic Temple building to continue using it as a promotional venue.[30]
By 1997, BVPD's share in Cinergi dropped to 5%. After nine films were delivered under the agreement, Cinergi sold on November 22, 1997 all of its 12-film library with the exception of Die Hard with a Vengeance to Disney, plus $20 million in exchange for Disney's Cinergi share holdings, production advances of $35.4 million and other loans.[31][22] In 2002, Disney signed a four animated film deal with Vanguard Animation;[32] however, only one film was released under that negotiation.[33]
In 2004, BVI and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International.[23] Buena Vista International agreed to a distribution deal with MegaStar Joint Venture Company Limited in April 2006 for the Vietnam market.[34]
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
On April 25, 2007, Disney discontinued the usage of the Buena Vista brand in its distribution branding.[7]
In early 2009, Disney entered a distribution agreement with a reorganized DreamWorks; the deal called for an estimated 30 films over a five-year period from DreamWorks and they would be released through the Touchstone banner.[35] In 2011, GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights of the Ghibli films, with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment retaining the home video rights until July 2017 when Shout! Factory took over the home video rights. However, Disney only handles home video distribution of the company's films in Japan and formerly Taiwan and China.[36][37]
Disney's distribution deal with DreamWorks expired in August 2016, after the two studios decided to not renew their agreement on December 16, 2015, with Universal Pictures replacing Disney as DreamWorks' distributor.[38][39] By the end of the deal, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks's original 30-picture agreement; thirteen through Touchstone and one through Walt Disney Pictures.[40][41] Disney took complete ownership rights of those 14 DreamWorks films from Amblin Partners in exchange for loans made to that company.[42]The Light Between Oceans, the final film in that distribution deal, was also the last film released under Touchstone.
On December 14, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox, which included 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures. On March 20, 2019, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox was completed.[43] Following the reorganization and renaming of the acquired film units, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing 20th Century Studios films in the United States, while Searchlight continued to operate their autonomous distribution unit.[44][6]
In late 2020 and early 2021, Disney reorganized the studio, placing it under the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution unit which also oversees distribution to Disney+.[45] Under this structure, the Theatrical Distribution unit oversaw the domestic and international films produced by all the studios within the Walt Disney Studios umbrella.[46] In February 2023, returning CEO Bob Iger reversed this decision and reorganized the studio again, returning it as a division under the purview of The Walt Disney Studios.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures currently distributes films from across all units of Walt Disney Studios with the exception of Searchlight Pictures, which maintains its own autonomous distribution and marketing operations for releases in the United States and select markets.[44][6] Other Disney film units and some third-party studios including:
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International (for Disney branded films only) Buena Vista International (non-US and non-Disney and non-Star Studios theatrical movies in countries outside the United States only)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International was formed in 1961 as Buena Vista International.[10] On May 4, 1987, despite being industry rivals, Disney signed a theatrical distribution agreement with Warner Bros. International for the release of Disney and Touchstone films in many overseas markets except in Australia and New Zealand, where distribution went through Roadshow Distributors instead (due to Roadshow also theatrically distributing Warner films as well during this period), with Disney retaining full control of all distribution and marketing decisions on their product (one notable practice in this policy is obscuring Warner references in posters and it is credited only in very small text with the exception of some UK posters where sometimes the full logo is shown).[78] Warner previously had an overseas distribution partnership with Columbia Pictures, but it was dissolved in 1988.
In 1992, Disney opted to end their joint venture with Warner Bros. to start autonomously distributing their films in these aforementioned overseas markets beginning with Aladdin, inspiring Warner Bros. to establish the Family Entertainment label to self-distribute family-friendly films under the Warner umbrella at the same period. In those territories from 1993 to 2007, Disney reactivated the Buena Vista International name, and also sent distribution under it in countries that did not have any current arrangements with other companies.[citation needed] Disney would then continue its overseas film distribution relationship with Warner Bros. through a home video distribution deal in Europe and Australia in which Warner Home Video distributed select Disney material on DVD from 1999 to 2002, when Disney opted to self-distribute DVDs in these aforementioned territories.
Italia Film, a Lebanese film distribution and production company, is Disney's exclusive theatrical film distribution partner for various Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets since 1993, after making a deal directly with Buena Vista International at the time. Prior to this, Warner Bros. originally handled said MENA markets except in Israel where Buena Vista handled theatrical distribution by themselves.[79]
In Taiwan, MGM first handled Disney's distribution, with 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. later taking over. A local distributor called Era Communications took over distribution from 1992 to 1995. At that time, Buena Vista began its Taiwanese operations. Columbia ended its joint distribution unit with Fox and switched to Buena Vista in 1999.[80]
Rights to Disney's films in West Germany were originally released by MGM (under CIC in the early 1970s) and later to 20th Century Fox, and then to United International Pictures[81] before the Warner Bros. joint venture. In September 2004, Buena Vista International announced they would begin to start theatrically distributing certain films from Universum Film in Germany and Austria beginning in February 2005, replacing a previous deal with United International Pictures.[72] The deal ended in late 2019 after Universum was sold by the RTL Group to Tele München Group, who began to self-distribute releases afterwards under the Leonine Distribution name.
In Spain, Filmayer S.A. originally released Disney's movies, with Warner Española S.A. later taking over.
In the United Kingdom, Disney's movies were released through a collaboration of Disney and 20th Century Fox known as UK Film Distributors Ltd. before the Warner Bros. joint venture.
In Australia and New Zealand, Disney's movies were distributed initially by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, before distribution switched to British Empire Films (later Greater Union Film Distributors) following the merger of the Australian MGM cinema chains until the latter merged with Village Roadshow in 1987 and Roadshow Films took over distribution.[82] The company begin distributing films in Australia and New Zealand in 1999 after its own distribution deal with Roadshow expired in 1998.[83]
Disney and Sony Pictures formed in 1997 a film distribution joint venture in Southeast Asia.[84] By December 2006, 14 joint distribution ventures with Sony Pictures Releasing International were formed and exist in countries including Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. In January 2007, their fifteenth such partnership began operations in Russia and CIS.[85] In February 2017, Sony starting leaving the Southeast Asia venture with the Philippines. On August 14, 2017, Sony terminated the joint venture agreement for their own operations.[84] On January 31, 2019, in anticipation of the then-pending acquisition of the most 21st Century Fox assets (which includes 20th Century Fox), Disney agreed to sell its stake in the Mexican joint venture named Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing de México to Sony Pictures Releasing.[86]
In Greece and Cyprus, Disney's movies are distributed through local distributor Feelgood Entertainment, which also distributes Sony Pictures films in those territories.
In Japan, to adapt Japan's theatrical and home media distribution model, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Japan and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Japan were merged as Walt Disney Studios Japan on March 1, 2010, the distribution unit was renamed Walt Disney Japan on November 22, 2016.[87]
In China, due to its regulated policies on international film distribution, all of Disney's films in China are distributed by China Film Co., Ltd. and/or Huaxia Film Distribution, but Disney still hold all promotional rights of their films unless it's sold to third-party companies.
Disney distributed the 2008 Indian Tamil film Dasavathaaram in Canada under the Buena Vista International banner.[88]
The Australian-produced film Subdivision was released in the Australian and New Zealand theaters on August 20, 2009, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under the Buena Vista International label in Australia with Lightning Entertainment handling the international distribution.
On October 3, 2017, it was announced that Disney would be handling international distribution of M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, released in early 2019, through the Buena Vista International banner. The film is a sequel to his earlier films Unbreakable (distributed by Disney through Touchstone) and Split (distributed by Universal Pictures). Through an arrangement made with Disney, Universal retained domestic rights to the film, while Disney distributed in international territories under the label.[89] The UK-produced film Patrick was also released in 2018 by Disney under the Buena Vista International label in the UK.[90]Missing Link was also released by Disney under Buena Vista International in Latin America, Russia and some countries in Asia.[91][92]
On February 11, 2022, the Latin American branch of Buena Vista International was renamed Star Distribution, as the Star branding replaced the Buena Vista brand company-wide in the Latin American region by Disney Latin America.[93]
On November 3, 2022, the Brazilian branch of Buena Vista International was also renamed Star Distribution following the dropping of the Buena Vista brand in the Latin American region on February 11, 2022. However, the Buena Vista International name is still used on Latin American and Brazilian prints of 20th Century/Searchlight titles.[76][94]
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has released 31[p] films that have crossed the $1 billion mark in worldwide grosses—the most of any major Hollywood studios—with thirteen of the twenty highest-grossing films of all time being distributed by Disney; including the highest-grossing films in North America (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and worldwide (Avatar).[96] Of those thirteen films, six of them have crossed the $2 billion mark in worldwide grosses, the most for any studio. Disney has directly released three of the top five highest-grossing films in history (Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and has owned the rights to the other two films (Avatar and Titanic) since their release.[97]
In addition, Disney is the first of only three studios that have released at least two billion-dollar films in the same year (the others being Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures).[98] Furthermore, Disney is the only studio that has achieved this eight times, in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2024. 2016 included four $1 billion releases, and 2019 included seven $1 billion releases, both records for any studio. Disney has released seven of the top ten highest-grossing animated films, the highest-grossing G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated films of all time, and sixteen of the twenty highest-grossing G-rated films.[99] In addition, four of the top five opening weekends were Disney releases.[100] In 2015, Disney achieved its largest yearly box-office gross worldwide and in North America.[101][102] In 2016, Disney surpassed $7 billion in worldwide yearly box-office gross—the first of any major studio—surpassing the previous 2015 record.[103] In 2019, Disney became the first studio ever to have seven releases cross $1 billion each in a single year. In the same year, Disney broke the previous records by making an unprecedented $13.2 billion at the global box office.[104]
† Indicates films playing in theaters in the week commencing 22 November 2024.
^New Regency began a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox in 1997. This deal was absorbed by Disney, when it acquired Fox in 2019 and was subsequently renewed by Disney and New Regency in 2021.[55]
^After Disney acquired worldwide distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli library in 1996; excluding the UK which were handled by StudioCanal in the region until 2024; Disney produced the English dubs and released 15 of Ghibli's films through the Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Home Video, Miramax and Touchstone Pictures banners. The North American theatrical rights to Studio Ghibli's film library were acquired by GKIDS from Disney in 2011. Disney continued to distribute the existing films they owned on home media (as well as The Wind Rises) until 2017, when GKIDS acquired home media rights to Ghibli's library, excluding The Wind Rises. The rights to that film reverted from Disney to GKIDS in 2020. Disney continues to distribute Studio Ghibli's film library in Taiwan (through Deltamac), China (through Excel Video) and Japan (through Happinet).
^Starting on February 11, 2022, Buena Vista International Latin America has been rebranded to Star Distribution along with Buena Vista International Brazil which has also been rebranded to Star Distribution on November 3, 2022.
^On November 3, 2022, Buena Vista International Brazil was renamed Star Distribution as Disney Latin America retired the Buena Vista brand on February 11, 2022.[76]
^Star Distribution still uses the Buena Vista International name as legal name seen in the trailer of Un viaje al corazón: The Wingwalker.
^Ridenour, Al (May 2, 2002). "A Chamber of Secrets". Los Angelest Times. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
^Peers, Martin; Busch, Anita M.; Fleming, Michael; Weiner, Rex (March 20, 1997). "Mouse House will absorb Cinergi". Variety. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
^Hipes, Patrick (March 21, 2019). "After Trying Day, Disney Sets Film Leadership Lineup". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019. Fox Animation (including Blue Sky Studios) will continue to be led by Co-Presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.
^ abD'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2020). "Emma Watts Leaves Disney's 20th Century Studios". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020. Post-merger, Fox Searchlight, now re-branded Searchlight Pictures, enjoys a lot of autonomy in the Disney empire, greenlighting pics they know and operating their own distribution, publicity and marketing teams. 20th Century Studios (which recently dropped the Fox) was melded into the bigger Disney fold, fusing all its operations.
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