TriStar Pictures

TriStar Pictures is a division of Sony and a sister company of Columbia Pictures. Founded in 1982 as Nova Pictures by a joint venture of Columbia, CBS and HBO, the company's name changed to Tri-Star Pictures and began distributing films in 1984 (their first release was Where The Boys Are '84, a pickup from ITC). Over the next three years Columbia would buy CBS and HBO's shares of the company and finally in 1987, Columbia had taken over the whole company. Throughout its first 15 years, TriStar served as an equal to Columbia by producing similar product while also distributing the films of Carolco Pictures (an arrangement that lasted until 1994, when they switched to Metro Goldwyn Mayer, who distributed most of the studio's final films).

After the flop of Godzilla, Sony decided to downscale TriStar and put more emphasis on its then-new B-movie division, Screen Gems. TriStar continued to exist as a division for titles acquired from different companies and the occasional Direct to Video product, but still managed to get a successful film every once in a while (such as District 9 and Looper).

In 2013, the TriStar brand started a resurgence. Tom Rothman, a former 20th Century Fox chairman, joined forces with other Sony executives to form TriStar Productions. TriStar Productions is intended to supplement the output of Columbia, Screen Gems, and other labels, producing up to four films a year. In addition to continuing with acquiring other companies' work, TriStar Pictures will distribute these in-house productions. In addition, the company will return to full production of TV series (TriStar had previously produced TV series, from 1987, just before HBO left, to 1999) under Sony Pictures Television. Also known for its Pegasus mascot and their fanfare, the present version of which was composed by Academy Award winner Dave Grusin.

Films Released by Tri Star include:

 * The Natural
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan
 * Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
 * The Last Dragon
 * The Legend of Billie Jean
 * Real Genius
 * Iron Eagle and Iron Eagle II
 * The Hitcher
 * Labyrinth
 * Night of the Creeps
 * Peggy Sue Got Married
 * Angel Heart
 * The Monster Squad
 * The Running Man
 * The Blob - the 1988 remake
 * Fright Night Part 2
 * Look Who's Talking and its sequels
 * Glory
 * Air America
 * Jacobs Ladder
 * L.A. Story
 * Hudson Hawk
 * The Fisher King
 * Hook
 * Basic Instinct
 * Universal Soldier and Universal Soldier: The Return
 * Candyman
 * Cliffhanger
 * Sleepless in Seattle
 * So I Married an Axe Murderer
 * Rudy
 * Philadelphia
 * all three 3 Ninjas sequels
 * Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
 * Legends of the Fall
 * Johnny Mnemonic
 * Jumanji
 * Mary Reilly
 * Matilda
 * Jerry Maguire
 * My Best Friend's Wedding
 * Starship Troopers - co-production with Touchstone Pictures
 * As Good as It Gets
 * The Big Hit
 * Godzilla
 * Madeline
 * The Mask of Zorro
 * Stepmom - co-production with Columbia Pictures
 * Jawbreaker
 * Baby Geniuses
 * I Know Who Killed Me
 * District 9
 * Faster - international distribution
 * Colombiana
 * Sparkle (2012 remake)
 * Looper
 * the Japanese Godzilla films from the 1990s up to Godzilla 2000
 * Distribution of many Carolco Pictures films, notably Rambo First Blood Part II and Rambo III, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Total Recall.
 * Distribution of some Film District titles, such as Insidious, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Drive.