 Logo used since 2018 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation |
| Predecessor | Screen Gems (1931–1949) Adelaide Productions |
| Founded | May 9, 2002; 23 years ago (2002-05-09) |
| Headquarters | 5750 Wilshire Boulevard,Los Angeles,California ,United States |
Key people |
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| Products |
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Number of employees | 255 (2018)[3] |
| Parent | Sony Pictures Digital (2002–2015) Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group (2015–present) |
| Website | sonypicturesanimation.com |
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to asSony Animation and abbreviated toSPA) is an Americananimation studio owned bySony Pictures Entertainment through theirMotion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio is based inLos Angeles,California. Most of the studio's films — either theatrical or streaming-service exclusive — are distributed worldwide bySony Pictures Releasing underColumbia Pictures or throughNetflix, while direct-to-video releases are released bySony Pictures Home Entertainment.
The studio has produced30 feature films, the first beingOpen Season, which was released on September 29, 2006, and the most recent beingGoat, which was released on February 13, 2026. Their upcoming slate of films includeBuds on March 12, 2027,Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse on June 18, 2027,Wish Dragon 2 in summer 2027 and anuntitledKPop Demon Hunters sequel in 2029.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the studio's highest-grossing film, whileKPop Demon Hunters is the most-watched title on Netflix which also became the first Netflix film to top the box office.[4]
In 2001,Sony Pictures considered selling off its visual effects facilitySony Pictures Imageworks but after failing to find a suitable buyer, having been impressed with theCGI sequences ofGood Burger and seeing the box office successes ofDreamWorks Animation'sShrek, SPI was reconfigured to become an animation studio.Astro Boy, which had been in development at Sony since 1997 as a live-action film, was set to be SPI's first all-CGI film, but never made it to fruition.[5] On May 9, 2002, Sony Pictures Animation was established to develop characters, stories and movies with SPI taking over the digital production while maintaining its visual effects production.[6] Meanwhile, SPI produced two short films, theAcademy Award-winningThe ChubbChubbs! andEarly Bloomer, as a result of testing its strengths and weaknesses in producing all-CGI animation.[7]
Before the establishment of SPA, Columbia Pictures distributed a few animated films from 1959 to 2006 that were produced by outside studios, including1001 Arabian Nights,The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon,Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!,The Man Called Flintstone,Jack and the Beanstalk,American Pop,Heavy Metal,Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation,Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,Eight Crazy Nights, andMonster House.
On its first anniversary on May 9, 2003, Sony Pictures Animation announced a full slate of animated projects in development:Open Season, an adaptation of a Celtic folk balladTam Lin,Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,Surf's Up, and a feature-length film version ofThe ChubbChubbs![8]
On May 27, 2014, it was announced thatNetflix had acquired streaming rights to films produced by Sony Pictures Animation.[9]
On November 3, 2014, the studio collaborated withFrederator Studios'Cartoon Hangover onGO! Cartoons, an incubator series consisting of 12 short films, with at least one short film being developed into a series. The short films were funded by SPA, with the additional goal of attracting new talent for the studio.[10][11]
In June 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that they had launched an "International" division headed byAron Warner at the 2019Annecy International Animated Film Festival, withWish Dragon set to be the division's first film. The same day, they also announced an "Alternative" division aimed at producingadult animated content, headed by Katie Baron and Kevin Noel. In addition to Tartakovsky's filmsBlack Knight andFixed, the division's TV shows are set to includeSuperbago, a co-production withStoopid Buddy Stoodios that was originally greenlit as a feature film; andHungry Ghosts, a series based on theDark Horse graphic novel byAnthony Bourdain andJoel Rose.[12] They had previously announced their plans to produce adult content at the 2017 Annecy festival.[13]
In April 2021, Disney andSony Pictures reached a multi-year deal to let Sony's titles (such as films from theSpider-Man,Jumanji,Hotel Transylvania,Ghostbusters franchises, and other films made by Sony Pictures Animation, etc., and anime licensed byFunimation/Crunchyroll likeAttack on Titan andFate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works) to stream onHulu andDisney+. A significant number of Sony titles began streaming on Disney+ starting in September 2022. It includes films from 2022 onwards.[14][15]
In a similar fashion toWarner Bros. Pictures Animation,Paramount Animation and20th Century Animation, the studio outsources their films to other animation companies and visual effects studios, with the majority of their films being animated by sister companySony Pictures Imageworks. Some films, such asArthur Christmas andThe Pirates! Band of Misfits were acquired by Sony Pictures Animation to be released under their banner while others, such asGoosebumps andPeter Rabbit, were made with no involvement from the studio.
According toKristine Belson, president of SPA, the studio produces films on a 1:1 development-to-production ratio, meaning that the studio puts films into development as much as it places films in production, unlike other animation studios.[13]
Sony Pictures Animation's first feature film wasOpen Season, released in September 2006, which became Sony's second-highest-grossing home entertainment film in 2007 and spawned threedirect-to-videosequels. Its second feature film,Surf's Up was released in June 2007, was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature, and won two Annie Awards. SPA's first 3D movie since the IMAX 3D release ofOpen Season,Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, was released in September 2009 and was nominated for four Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.The Smurfs (2011) was the studio's first CGI/live-action hybrid. SPA's parent company Sony Pictures had partnered in 2007 withAardman Animations to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films.[16] Together, they produced two films:Arthur Christmas (2011), andThe Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012), the latter which was SPA's first and currently only stop-motion film. In 2012, SPA releasedHotel Transylvania, which grossed over $350 million worldwide and launched a successfulfranchise with three sequels and aTV series. Two sequels were released in 2013:The Smurfs 2 andCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
SPA's latest releases areGoat, a sports film starring a goat fromStephen Curry and Erick Peyton ofUnanimous Media,KPop Demon Hunters, anurban fantasy film about aK-pop group with magical powers,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animatedsuperhero film based on theSpider-Man comics and featuring theMiles Morales incarnation of the character and its sequelSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Other recent movies from SPA includeThe Angry Birds Movie 2, the sequel to the 2016 filmThe Angry Birds Movie produced byRovio Animation,The Mitchells vs. the Machines, a robot apocalypse/road trip film written and directed byMichael Rianda andJeff Rowe while produced by longtime collaboratorsPhil Lord and Christopher Miller,[13][17]Wish Dragon, a co-production withBase FX, themusical film,Lin-Manuel Miranda'sVivo, which marks Sony Pictures Animation's first musical film,Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the fourth installment in theHotel Transylvania franchise. SPA has since signedGenndy Tartakovsky to a long-term deal with the studio to develop and direct original films starting with Tartakovsky's R-rated animated filmFixed.[18]
As of February 2026, upcoming films from the studio includeBuds (releasing on March 12, 2027),[19] andSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (releasing on June 18, 2027),.[20] TheK-Pop Demon Hunters sequel, directed byMaggie Kang, andChris Appelhans, is in on-going production. (releasing TBD 2029)[21] Projects in development include an animatedGhostbusters spin-off film,[22][23] another Tartakovsky project titledBlack Knight,[24]Tao, a China-set science-fiction adventure film directed byThe Lego Movie 2: The Second Part story artist Emily Dean,[25]Tut, anafro-futuristic coming-of-age story set in ancient Egypt directed byHair Love creatorMatthew A. Cherry,[26] and an animated film adaptation based on thescience fiction podcastBubble (a co-production withPoint Grey Pictures andMatt Tolmach Productions).[27]
| Titles | Films | Shorts | Seasons | Release dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Season | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2006–2024 |
| Surf's Up | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2007–present |
| Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2009–2018 |
| The Smurfs | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2011–2017 |
| Hotel Transylvania | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2012–present |
| Goosebumps[a] | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2015–2018 |
| Angry Birds[b] | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2016–2019 |
| Peter Rabbit[c] | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2018–2021 |
| Spider-Verse | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2018–present |
| The Mitchells vs. the Machines | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2021–present |
| Wish Dragon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2021–present |
| KPop Demon Hunters | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2025–present |
| Rank | Title | Year | Box office gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | 2023 | $381,593,754 |
| 2 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | 2018 | $190,241,310 |
| 3 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | 2015 | $169,305,890 |
| 4 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | 2018 | $167,510,016 |
| 5 | Hotel Transylvania | 2012 | $148,313,048 |
| 6 | The Smurfs | 2011 | $142,614,158 |
| 7 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | 2009 | $124,870,275 |
| 8 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | 2013 | $119,793,567 |
| 9 | Peter Rabbit | 2018 | $115,253,424 |
| 10 | The Emoji Movie | 2017 | $86,089,513 |
| 11 | Open Season | 2006 | $85,105,259 |
| 12 | Goosebumps | 2015 | $80,080,379 |
| 13 | The Smurfs 2 | 2013 | $71,017,784 |
| 14 | Surf's Up | 2007 | $58,867,694 |
| 15 | Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween | 2018 | $46,700,633 |
| Rank | Title | Year | Box office gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | 2023 | $690,824,738 |
| 2 | The Smurfs | 2011 | $563,749,323 |
| 3 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | 2018 | $541,504,608 |
| 4 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | 2015 | $475,186,976 |
| 5 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | 2018 | $393,602,435 |
| 6 | Hotel Transylvania | 2012 | $358,488,860 |
| 7 | Peter Rabbit | 2018 | $351,516,614 |
| 8 | The Smurfs 2 | 2013 | $347,545,360 |
| 9 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | 2013 | $274,325,949 |
| 10 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | 2010 | $243,006,136 |
| 11 | The Emoji Movie | 2017 | $217,776,646 |
| 12 | Open Season | 2006 | $200,811,689 |
| 13 | Smurfs: The Lost Village | 2017 | $197,183,546 |
| 14 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | 2019 | $193,000,000 |
| 15 | Goosebumps | 2015 | $158,261,424 |
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