StudioCanal

StudioCanal (a.k.a. Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image) is a French-based production (as StudioCanal S.A.) and distribution (as StudioCanal Images S.A.) company that owns the third-largest film library in the world. The company is a unit of the Canal+ Group, owned by Vivendi.

Background
The company was founded in 1988 by Pierre Lescure as a spin-off of the Canal+ pay-TV network. The original function was to focus on French and European productions, but later made strategic deals with American production companies. StudioCanal's most notable productions from its early years include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, JFK, Basic Instinct, Cliffhanger, Under Siege, Free Willy, and the original Stargate movie. In those days, it was known as Le Studio Canal+.

It has strong links to Universal Studios (Studiocanal and Universal Studios were owned by the same company between 2000 and 2004, hence StudioCanal co-produced a fair number of Universal's films).

Other films the company financed include U-571, Bully, and Bridget Jones's Diary. StudioCanal also funded the last third of David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive. StudioCanal also financed French-language films, such as Brotherhood of the Wolf (which became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades) and Intimate Strangers (which is being remade by Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures ).The biggest box office hits for StudioCanal have been Terminator 2: Judgment Day which grossed US$519 million, Basic Instinct which grossed US$352 million and The Tourist which grossed US$278 million worldwide.

Film library
StudioCanal acquired film libraries from studios that either went defunct or had merged with it over the years. As a result, the company's library is the third-largest in the world, behind Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer respectively.

StudioCanal's library includes the film libraries of:
 * Carolco Pictures
 * De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
 * Embassy Pictures
 * British Lion Films
 * The films of Anglo-Amalgamated
 * The Ealing Studios library
 * The EMI Films library
 * The Lumiere Pictures and Television output
 * The Associated British Picture Corporation library
 * The London Films library
 * The Videocraft International theatrical film library

Distribution
StudioCanal acquired UK-based distributor Optimum Releasing in 2006. In 2008 StudioCanal acquired German distributor Kinowelt which had distributed their films up to that point. Both companies have since been renamed StudioCanal. StudioCanal also acquired the Australian distribution company, Hoyts Distribution in 2012.

Outside France, Britain and Germany, StudioCanal does not have a formal distribution unit per se, relying on other studios and video companies to handle their product, in the United States for example, Criterion, Rialto Pictures, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment, MGM and Universal Pictures, distribute StudioCanal's back catalogue on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (in addition of Anchor Bay Entertainment previously handling several of their titles). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment handles distribution of StudioCanal/Hoyts' films in Australia & New Zealand for DVD & Blu-ray release.

StudioCanal also handles home entertainment distribution of 550 titles from the Miramax Films library internationally (Lions Gate handles US distribution and Entertainment One handles Canadian distribution) since February 2011.

Selected filmography
These lists also includes films that are released by Studio Ghibli and Hoyts Distribution.