United Artists Releasing, LLC (UAR) was an American

film distribution Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a film available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketin ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

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 Annapurna Pictures and the successor to

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

(UA) that operated from October 31, 2017 to March 4, 2023. Founded by former MGM CEO Gary Barber and Annapurna founder Megan Ellison on October 31, 2017, it operated within the offices of the headquarters of the respective companies in West Hollywood and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and offered alternative services to the

major film studios Major film studios are filmmaking, production and film distributor, distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American ...

and

streaming media Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...

companies with 10–14 films released annually. The venture rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, to commemorate 100 years since the founding of United Artists. On May 26, 2021,

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of th ...

and

technology company A technology company (or tech company) is a company that focuses primarily on the manufacturing, support, research and development of—most commonly computing, telecommunication and consumer electronics–based—technology-intensive products and ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

acquired

MGM Holdings MGM Holdings, Inc. was an American holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. It was launched on February 11, 2005, by a creditor-oriented consortium and the former parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (from which the "MGM" initials ...

, the former parent company of MGM, for $8.45 billion which closed on March 17, 2022, and consequentially placed United Artists Releasing under the control of

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

. Amazon then folded United Artists Releasing into MGM on March 4, 2023, in a push towards theatrical distribution alongside streaming releases on their streaming service

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

History

American media companies Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) and Annapurna Pictures announced the formation of a local film distribution joint-venture and a film releasing entity under the name Mirror to release third-party films in theatres. This marked the return of MGM to domestic distribution seven years after its closure following the 2010 bankruptcy and subsequent reorganization, in which approximately six to eight films would be released commencing on March 2, 2018 with the release of '' Death Wish''. The initial staff of the joint venture composed of those of Annapurna's own distribution division. By January 31, 2019, the venture released eight titles in total, none of which were credited under the touted ''Mirror Releasing'' banner. The joint venture was rebranded on February 5, 2019 to United Artists Releasing, in commemoration of a century (100 years) of the creation of the original

, with the rationale being to "better compete against the major studios, especially with respect to their tentpole films that dictate the release calendar". Former

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

executive Pam Kunath was appointed to be its chief operating officer and one of MGM's subsidiaries,

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

, added its films and staff from its distribution division to the venture. A board of directors consisting of executives from the partner companies was created to oversee the three UAR executives; Kunath, David Kaminow and president of Annapurna's distribution and marketing, Erik Lomis. The inaugural film release post-rebrand was the 2019 stop-motion animated film '' Missing Link'', which won the company its inaugural and only

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Animated Feature Film. On October 7, 2020, MGM revived the

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

label for digital and limited theatrical releases of acquired films with United Artists Releasing, beginning with the 2021 film '' Breaking News in Yuba County''. On May 17, 2021, online shopping and technology company

entered negotiations to acquire MGM's former parent company,

, principally green-lighted by MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich whose company, Anchorage Capital Group, was a major MGM shareholder. A week later, the proposed acquisition by Amazon was officially announced, pending local and global regulatory approvals, for $8.45 billion and completed on March 17, 2022. Later that same day, Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of

and

, emphasized at a

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

that his company would continue to partner with its new division United Artists Releasing, which would remain in operation post-acquisition. On March 4, 2023, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' revealed that Amazon folded United Artists Releasing into MGM due to Amazon's optimism of the feasibility of theatrical distribution. The announcement was a day after ''

Creed III ''Creed III'' is a 2023 American sports drama film starring and directed by Michael B. Jordan in his directorial debut, and produced by Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Eliza ...

'' was released, which was also the first film distributed by MGM itself under Amazon's ownership.

Filmography

References

External links

(archived) {{Film studios Film distributors of the United States American companies established in 2017 Mass media companies established in 2017 American companies disestablished in 2023 Mass media companies disestablished in 2023 Former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiaries 2017 establishments in California