Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipment and production company, as well as a major producer of

phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s. In 1908, Pathé invented the

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

that was shown in cinemas before a feature film. Pathé is the second-oldest operating film company, behind Gaumont, which was established in 1895.

History

The company was founded as Société Pathé Frères (; "Pathé Brothers Company") in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France on 28 September 1896, by the four brothers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, Émile, Théophile and Jacques Pathé. During the first part of the 20th century, Pathé became the largest film equipment and production company in the world, as well as a major producer of

phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

Film House 142 Wardour Street London Redvers

Pathé Records

The driving force behind the film operation and phonograph business was

Charles Pathé Charles Morand Pathé (; 26 December 1863 – 25 December 1957) was a pioneer of the French film and recording industries. As the founder of Pathé, Pathé Frères, its roots lie in 1896 Paris, France, when Pathé and his brothers pioneered ...

, who had helped open a

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

shop in 1894 and established a phonograph factory at

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

on the western outskirts of Paris. The Pathé brothers began selling Edison and Columbia phonographs and accompanying

cylinder record Phonograph cylinders (also referred to as Edison cylinders after its creator Thomas Edison) are the earliest commercial medium for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their heyda ...

s and later, the brothers designed and sold their own phonographs that incorporated elements of other brands. Soon after, they also started marketing pre-recorded cylinder records. By 1896 the Pathé brothers had offices and

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

s not only in Paris, but also in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and St. Petersburg. Pathé manufactured cylinder records until approximately 1914. In 1905, the Pathé brothers entered the growing field of disc records. In France, Pathé became the largest and most successful distributor of cylinder records and phonographs. These, however, failed to make headway in foreign markets such as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where other brands were already in widespread use. In December 1928, the French and British Pathé phonograph assets were sold to the British

Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managem ...

. In July 1929, the assets of the American Pathé record company were merged into the newly formed

American Record Corporation American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company in operation from 1929 to 1938, and again from 1978 to 1982. Overview ARC was crea ...

. The Pathé and Pathé-Marconi labels and catalogue still survive, first as imprints of EMI and now currently EMI's successor

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

. In 1967

EMI Italiana EMI Italiana was a record label, it was an Italian offshoot of British Electric and Musical Industries, based in Milan. It was founded in 1931 as VCM and, in 1967 it was renamed EMI Italiana followed by EMI Music Italy in 1997 and, finally, EMI ...

took control of the entire catalog. In turn, the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

acquired EMI Italiana in 2013.

Pathé films

As the phonograph business became successful, Pathé saw the opportunities offered by new means of entertainment and in particular by the fledgling

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

industry. Having decided to expand the record business to include film equipment, the company expanded dramatically. To finance its growth, the company took the name Compagnie Générale des Établissements Pathé Frères Phonographes & Cinématographes (sometimes abbreviated as CGPC) in 1897, and its shares were listed on the

Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...

. In 1896, Mitchell Mark of Buffalo, New York, became the first American to import Pathé films to the United States, where they were shown in the Vitascope Theater. In 1907, Pathé acquired the

Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: Buildings * Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France * Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...

' patents and then set about to design an improved studio camera and to make their own film stock. Their technologically advanced equipment, new processing facilities built at

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

, and aggressive merchandising combined with efficient distribution systems allowed them to capture a huge share of the international market. They first expanded to

in 1902 where they set up production facilities and a chain of cinemas.Abel 1999, p. 25. By 1909, Pathé had built more than 200 cinemas in France and Belgium and by the following year they had facilities in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

plus Australia and Japan. Slightly later, they opened a film exchange in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Through its American subsidiary, it was part of the MPPC cartel of production in the United States. It participated in the

Paris Film Congress The Paris Film Congress was a major meeting of European film producers and distributors in the French capital Paris from 2–4 February 1909. It intended to create an association to protect the interests of the participants through the formation ...

in February 1909 as part of a plan to create a similar European organisation. The company withdrew from the project in a second meeting in April which fatally undermined the proposal. In 1906, Pathé Frères had pioneered the luxury cinema with the opening of the Omnia Cinéma-Pathé in Paris. Prior to the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Pathé dominated Europe's market in motion picture cameras and projectors. It has been estimated that at one time, 60 percent of all films were shot with Pathé equipment. In 1908, Pathé distributed '' Excursion to the Moon'' by Segundo de Chomón, an imitation of

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...

's ''

A Trip to the Moon ''A Trip to the Moon'' ( , ) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film written, directed, and produced by Georges Méliès. Inspired by the Jules Verne novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' (1865) and its sequel '' Around the Moon ...

''. Pathé and Méliès worked together in 1911. Méliès made a film ''

Baron Munchausen's Dream ''Baron Munchausen's Dream'' (), also known as ''Les Aventures de baron de Munchausen'' and ''Monsieur le Baron a trop bien dîné'', is a 1911 French short silent film in the fantasy film genre, directed by Georges Méliès. Synopsis After an e ...

'', his first film to be distributed by Pathé. Pathé's relationship with Méliès soured, and after he went bankrupt in 1913, his last film was never released by Pathé. After World War I, Charles Pathé started divesting himself from various film interests, believing that the French film industry would never recover after 1918. The company's subsequent decline relegated Pathé primarily as a distributor of short subjects and it became a minor player in the mainstream film industry.

Innovations

Worldwide, the company emphasised research, investing in such experiments as hand-coloured film and the synchronisation of film and gramophone recordings. In 1908, Pathé invented the

that was shown in theatres prior to the feature film. The news clips featured the Pathé logo of a crowing rooster at the beginning of each reel. In 1912, it introduced 28 mm non-flammable film and equipment under the brand name Pathescope. Pathé News produced cinema newsreels from 1910, up until the 1970s when production ceased as a result of mass television ownership.''Researcher's Guide to British Newsreels'' 1993, p. 80. In the United States, beginning in 1914, the company built film production studios in Fort Lee and Jersey City, New Jersey, where their building still stands.

The Heights, Jersey City The Heights or Jersey City Heights is a neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey, located atop the New Jersey Palisades, along the west side of the Hudson River. It is bound by Paterson Plank Road on the north, Highway 139 on the south, Hobok ...

produced the extremely successful serialised episodes called '' The Perils of Pauline''. By 1918 Pathé had grown to the point where it was necessary to separate operations into two distinct divisions. With Emile Pathé as chief executive,

Pathé Records Pathé Records was an international record company and label and producer of phonographs, based in France, and active from the 1890s through the 1930s. Early years The Pathé record business was founded by brothers Charles and Émile Pathé, ...

dealt exclusively with phonographs and recordings. Brother Charles managed ''Pathé-Cinéma'', which was responsible for film production, distribution, and exhibition.Abel 1999, pp. 32–35. In 1922 they introduced the ''Pathé Baby'' home film system using a new 9.5 mm film stock, which became popular during the next few decades. In 1921, Pathé sold off its United States motion picture production arm. It was renamed "

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's silent film, silent era. Known for its trailblazing newsreel and wide array of short film, s ...

" and later merged into

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

, disappearing as an independent brand in 1931. Pathé sold its British film studios to

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

in 1927, while maintaining the theatre and distribution arm.

Natan to Parretti

Pathé was already in substantial financial trouble when Bernard Natan took control of the company in 1929. Studio founder

had been selling assets for several years to boost investor value and keep the studio's cash flow healthy. The company's founder had even sold Pathé's name and "rooster" trademark to other companies in return for a mere two percent of revenues. Natan had the bad luck to take charge of the studio just as the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

convulsed the French economy.Willems, Gilles "Les origines de Pathé-Natan" In ''Une Histoire Économique du Cinéma Français (1895–1995), Regards Croisés Franco-Américains'', Pierre-Jean Benghozi and Christian Delage, eds. Paris: Harmattan, Collection Champs Visuels, 1997. English translation
"The origins of Pathé-Natan."
''La Trobe University''. Retrieved: 1 January 2017.Abel, Richard. ''French Cinema: The First Wave 1915–1929'' Paperback ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987, . Natan attempted to steady Pathé's finances and implement modern film industry practices at the studio. He acquired another film studio, Société des Cinéromans, from Arthur Bernède and Gaston Leroux, which let Pathé expand into projector and electronics manufacturing. He also bought the Fornier chain of motion picture theatres and rapidly expanded the chain's nationwide presence. The French press, however, attacked Natan mercilessly for his stewardship of Pathé. Many of these attacks were

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Pathé-Natan did well under Natan's guidance. Between 1930 and 1935, despite the world economic crisis, the company made 100 million

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

in profits, and produced and released more than 60 feature films (just as many films as major American studios produced at the time). He resumed production of the newsreel Pathé News, which had not been produced since 1927. Natan also invested heavily into research and development to expand Pathé's film business. In 1929, he pushed Pathé into

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

. In September, the studio produced its first sound feature film, and its first sound newsreel a month later. Natan also launched two new cinema-related magazines, ''Pathé-Revue'' and ''Actualités Féminines'', to help market Pathé's films and build consumer demand for cinema. Under Natan, Pathé also funded the research of

Henri Chrétien Henri Jacques Chrétien (; 1 February 1879, Paris – 6 February 1956, Washington, D.C.) was a French astronomer and an inventor. Born in Paris, France, his most famous inventions are: * the anamorphic widescreen process, using an anamorphic ...

, who developed the anamorphic lens (leading to the creation of

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

and other

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...

film formats common today). Natan expanded Pathé's business interests into communications industries other than film. In November 1929, Natan established France's first

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

company, Télévision-Baird-Natan. A year later, he purchased a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

station in

and formed a holding company (Radio-Natan-Vitus) to run what would become a burgeoning radio empire. In order to finance the company's continued expansion, Pathé's board of directors (which still included Charles Pathé) had voted in 1930 to issue shares worth 105 million francs. Then the

hit France in 1931, and only 50 percent of the shares were purchased. One of the investor banks collapsed due to financial difficulties unrelated to Pathé's problems, and Pathé was forced to follow through with the purchase of several cinema chains it no longer could afford to buy. Although the company continued to make a profit, it lost more money thanks to these acquisitions than it could bring in. In 1935, a commercial court began examining Pathé's accounts, and by 1936 it was declared bankrupt and Natan was dismissed. The studios were not doing badly and continued to make films, but his companies went into receivership and were claimed by the state. French authorities pursued charges of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

against Natan, including financing the purchase of the company without any collateral, of bilking investors by establishing fictitious

shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

s, and financial mismanagement. He was also accused of hiding his Romanian and Jewish heritage by changing his name. In 1938, Natan was arrested and imprisoned, never to regain his freedom. In 1939 he was indicted and sentenced to four years in jail. As a result, he was in prison when France fell to the Nazis, a time when other Jewish filmmakers fled or went into hiding. On his release from prison in 1942, he was delivered to the Nazis, and by September 1942 had been deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, where he was murdered. In 1943, the company was forced to undergo a restructuring, and was acquired by Adrien Ramauge, changing its name to Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinema. Over the years, the business underwent a number of changes including diversification into producing programmes for the burgeoning television industry. During the 1970s, operating theatres overtook film production as Pathé's primary source of revenue. In the late 1980s, Italian financier

Giancarlo Parretti Giancarlo Parretti (born 23 October 1941) is an Italian financier, who has bought, sold, and operated numerous businesses. Early life Parretti was born in Orvieto, north of Rome, Italy. He worked as a waiter in London before moving to Sicily. ...

tried to make a bid for Pathé, even taking over

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

and renaming it Pathé Communications in anticipation of owning the storied studio. Parretti's shady past, however, raised enough eyebrows in the French government that the deal fell through. It turned out to be a fortunate decision, as Parretti later took over

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, and merged it with his Pathé Communications Group to create

MGM-Pathé Communications MGM-Pathé Communications was an American film production company that operated in Los Angeles County, California from 1990 to 1992. The company was founded and controlled by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti through his purchase and merger o ...

in 1990, only to lose it in bankruptcy in late 1991.

Jérôme Seydoux

In 1990 Chargeurs, a French conglomerate led by Jérôme Seydoux, took control of the company. As a result of the deregulation of the French telecommunications market, in June 1999 Pathé merged with

Vivendi Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a French investment company headquartered in Paris. It currently wholly-owns Gameloft as well as a number of investments in several companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and t ...

, with the exchange ratio for the merger fixed at three Vivendi shares for every two Pathé shares. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' estimated the value of the deal at US$2.59 billion. Following the completion of the merger, Vivendi retained Pathé's interests in

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers a ...

and CanalSatellite, a French broadcasting corporation, but then sold all remaining assets to Jérôme Seydoux's family-owned corporation, Fornier SA, which changed its name to Pathé.

Assets

A list of current and former assets of Pathé.

Current assets

* Pathé Cinémas (cinema chain) * Pathé Films (film production in France & distribution in France and Switzerland, with a catalogue of over 800 films) * Pathé BC Afrique (film distribution in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

and French-speaking

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

) * Pathé Live (distributor of event cinema)

Former assets

* The OL Groupe (19,98% capital / 24,33 voting rights) (football club) * Comédie+ bought in 2003, sold in 2004 to the

Canal+ Group Canal+ S.A., formerly Groupe Canal+, is a French Media conglomerate, media and telecommunications Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Paris. It runs its own Canal+ (streaming service), eponymous Over-the-top media service, over-the-to ...

(via MultiThématiques). * Cuisine.tv created in 2001 with RF2K, sold in 2011 to the

(via MultiThématiques). * Histoire created in 1997, owned 30%, sold in 2004 to the

TF1 Group TF1 Group () is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987 in which the channel was launched back on January 6 1975 twelve years prior. It is ...

. * Pathé Sport bought in 1998, sold in 2002 to

. * TMC bought 80% in 2002, sold in 2004 to

and AB Groupe. * Voyage bought in 1997, sold in 2004 to Fox International Channels. * Vis Pathé Cinemas sold in 2010 to UCI Italia. * Fox Pathé Europa (joint venture with

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) is the home entertainment distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

and EuropaCorp), closed in 2020. * Pathé News * GP Archives (owned 42.5%, sold its shares in 2019 to Gaumont)

Distribution

Current

France

In its home country France, Pathé self-distributes its films through Pathé Films (formerly called AMLF (Agence méditerranéenne de location de films) from 1972 to 1998). On home video, their films are distributed by Fox Pathé Europa, a joint venture between

, Pathé and EuropaCorp.

Former

United Kingdom

In August 1992, Pathé's then-parent company Chargeurs purchased Guild Entertainment from Wembley PLC, becoming Pathé's de-facto UK distributor. Initially, PolyGram Video distributed Guild's VHS releases until March 1995, when Chargeurs formed a UK rental joint-venture with

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

, who became Guild/Pathé's home video distributor, the rental joint-venture would be named Fox Guild Home Entertainment. After the Chargeurs demerger in 1996, Pathé began retiring the Guild brand, initially rebranding the theatrical arm as Guild Pathé Cinema and eventually in June 1997, as Pathé Distribution after securing a deal to produce films in the country. The home video division followed suit toward the end of the year, rebranding under the Pathé name, the video rental division Fox Guild Home Entertainment would be renamed Fox Pathé Home Entertainment the following year. Despite this, Guild Home Video remained as an in-name-only dormant business of Pathé until folding on 17 December 2019. On 12 March 2009, Pathé announced that they would close their UK/Ireland theatrical distribution unit and form a new partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures to handle the theatrical distribution of their titles in the UK, following a handful of films that flopped at the box office. The move was made so Pathé could focus more on the development and production of its own titles instead of acquisitions. The partnership would allow the two companies working together to identify co-production opportunities. Pathé would remain as an international sales agent for films, while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment would remain as the distributor for home video. Select film acquisitions that were planned to be distributed by Pathé, such as ''

Chatroom The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

'' and '' Dead Man Running'', were sold to

Revolver Entertainment Revolver Entertainment is a film distributor in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Justin Marciano founded it in 1997 in the UK and Revolver UK entered administration in April 2013. Justin's brother, Seb Marciano formed Revolver En ...

. On 1 February 2011, it was announced that

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

would take over as Pathé's theatrical distributor. Pathé UK's co-CEO Francois Ivernel deemed it easier for one company to handle the licensing process for both theatrical and home video. With the purchase of 20th Century Fox by

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

on 20 March 2019,

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

took over distribution of Pathé's material, releasing both '' Misbehaviour'' and '' The Human Voice'',

would release the two films on home video. The longstanding deal with Fox/Disney deal expired on 30 June 2021, and Pathé decided not to renew. Pathé UK managing director Cameron McCracken was pleased with Disney's treatment of the company's films, deeming them to have given the films the same treatment that Fox did. On 7 June 2021, a few weeks before the expiration of the Fox deal, Pathé UK announced they would revert their distribution to Warner Bros. Pictures, with the first films being released under the new deal being '' Parallel Mothers'' and '' The Duke''. Unlike the 2009 deal, this new deal would also include home video and digital rights as well, which Fox/Disney previously handled. On 15 November 2023, Pathé UK announced that they would exit out of the UK theatrical market and restructure to focus on the premium television market instead. The exit was due to structural changes in the film industry following the impact of

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, issues with the structure of independent distribution in the country (which led to fellow rival Entertainment One (now

Lionsgate Canada Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...

) closing their UK distribution arm earlier in the year), some of their films flopping at the box office, and the retirement of Cameron McCracken. Some time later,

StudioCanal UK StudioCanal Limited, trade name, doing business as StudioCanal UK (formerly known as Optimum Releasing), is a British film distribution division and the official British branch of the French film & television production and distribution company ...

took over distribution of their material on home video through their Elevation Sales joint-venture with

Lionsgate UK Lions Gate UK Limited (formerly Redbus Film Distribution, and briefly known as Helkon SK between 2001 and 2003) is the British subsidiary of the American film company, Lionsgate Studios. Founded in 1999 by Simon Franks and Zygi Kamasa, Redbus ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Abel, Richard. ''The Red Rooster Scare: Making Cinema American, 1900–1910''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1999. . * Gant, Tina. ''International Directory of Company Histories'', Volume 8; Volume 29. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 1999. . * ''Researcher's Guide to British Newsreels''. London: British Universities Film & Video Council. 1993. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pathe French cinema pioneers Cinemas and movie theaters chains Cinema chains in France Cinema chains in Belgium French film studios Film distributors of France Film production companies of France Newsreels Entertainment companies established in 1896 Mass media companies established in 1896 1896 establishments in France Mass media in Paris Film production companies established in the 1890s International sales agents 2023 disestablishments in England 2023 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British companies disestablished in 2023 Defunct film and television production companies of the United Kingdom Mass media companies disestablished in 2023 Companies disestablished due to the COVID-19 pandemic Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema Companies of France French companies established in 1896 19th-century initial public offerings Companies listed on Euronext Paris