 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | January 1992; 33 years ago (January 1992), inNew York,New York, U.S. |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | Motion pictures |
Number of employees | 25[1] |
| Parent | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
| Website | sonyclassics.com |
Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an Americanarthouse film production and distribution company that is a division ofSony Pictures Entertainment and part of theSony Pictures Motion Picture Group. It was founded in January 1992 by formerOrion Classics headsMichael Barker,Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom.[2] It distributes, produces and acquires specialty films such asdocumentaries,independent andarthouse films. As of 2015, Barker and Bernard are co-presidents of the division.
Sony Pictures Classics (also known as Sony Classics or SPC) was formed in 1992 by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom, and set up as an autonomous division ofSony Pictures[2] to produce, acquire and/or distribute independent films from the United States and internationally.[3]
It has released films that have won 38 Academy Awards and received 164 nominations,[4] including Best Picture nominations forI'm Still Here,The Father,Call Me By Your Name,Whiplash,Amour,Midnight in Paris,An Education,Capote,Howards End, andCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.[5]
SPC has a history of making reasonable investments for small films and getting a decent return.[2][6][7] It has a history of not overspending.[2][8] Its largest commercial success of the 2010s isWoody Allen'sMidnight in Paris (2011), which grossed over $56 million in the U.S., becoming Allen's highest-grossing film ever in the United States.
SPC has been a pioneer in theatrical distribution. In 2001 championed the Chinese-language filmCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which earned the most Oscar nominations ever for a non-English-language film and win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and aGolden Globe in 2001. The film earned over $213 million worldwide on a $17 million budget, including $128 million in the U.S. as a Sony Pictures Classics release.[9]
In 2006, SPC promotedThe Lives of Others to an Oscar and BAFTA, after it was rejected by the Cannes, Berlin, Venice and New York Film Festivals.[10]
SPC occasionally agrees to release films for Sony's other film divisions; however, under its structure within Sony, none of the other divisions (including the parent company) can force SPC to release any film it does not want to release.[2][11]
In 2025,The New York Times polled over 500 filmmakers, actors, and film buffs around the world, compiling a list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century by collating voters' top ten submitted films; ten titles released by Sony Pictures Classics made the list:Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,A Separation,A Prophet,Call Me By Your Name,Amélie (re-released by SPC in 2024),The Lives of Others,Toni Erdmann,Whiplash,Amour, andVolver.[12]
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) was the company's first film to cross the $100 million mark worldwide, followed byKung Fu Hustle (2004),Midnight in Paris (2011), andBlue Jasmine (2013).
| Rank | Title | Year | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | 2000 | $213,966,221[13] |
| 2 | Midnight in Paris | 2011 | $162,051,975[14] |
| 3 | Blue Jasmine | 2013 | $102,912,961[15] |
| 4 | Kung Fu Hustle | 2004 | $102,034,104[16] |
| 5 | House of Flying Daggers | 2004 | $92,863,945[17] |
| 6 | The Lives of Others | 2006 | $81,197,047[18] |
| 7 | To Rome with Love | 2012 | $74,290,305[19] |
| 8 | Talk to Her | 2002 | $64,826,117[20] |
| 9 | Whiplash | 2014 | $50,431,161[21] |
| 10 | Capote | 2005 | $49,924,079[22] |
They stay behind the films and manage to find a significant core audience for a large number of them, with the occasional $130 million blowout likeCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' [former United Artists president Bingham] Ray says. 'But they spend a fraction of what a major studio would spend to get the same number. Their philosophy is not to pile a lot of money on everything. They run a tight ship; they don't have an army of people working for them. They keep things simple.Alt URL
It doesn't release blockbusters or Best Picture winners, but its understated business plans reduce risk and keep it in business.
As Bernard explained, 'We're not looking for home runs; we're looking for singles and doubles.' [...] The tortoise-rather-than-the-hare strategy helped the company capture movies that were under the radar of buyers, and as Bernard argued, even sellers.
SPC had nothing to do with the DVD release, which Jones is unhappy about.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
