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CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019.
CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and produce four to six $50 million budget films a year. After October 11, 2019, CBS Films was re-configured to be a production company for to be carried by CBS All Access (now Paramount+).
The studio's launch seemed to well timed to its executives with the closure or restructuring of many film studios including the formerly prominent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Miramax and Warner Independent Pictures. Also CBS was able to well market its films with all its parent corporation's advertising channels from broadcast to billboards.
The studio released its first film, Extraordinary Measures, on January 22, 2010. CBS Films released its second film, a romantic comedy The Back-up Plan, in April 2010. Opening over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, Faster, its third film and the Dwayne Johnson action flick, was weak at the box office with a $12 million start. In August, the company purchased distribution rights for the first time for the remake movie, The Mechanic. CBS moved to replace Bruce Tobey, chief operations officer, with Wolfgang Hammer in November 2010.
After releasing five films and only one gross over $30 million, CBS Films decided to change direction and become an acquirer of films rather than a producer in March 2011. Baer was released after the ended of her contract in October, with a trio of senior executives left to head up the division.
On April 23, 2012, CBS Films named Hammer and Terry Press as co-presidents. Press, who had been consulting for the studio since 2010, oversees creative, distribution, marketing and physical production. Hammer will oversees all business, finance, legal affairs and acquisitions, including financed, co-financed and completed projects for the division. Hammer moved CBS Films into becoming a major film acquisition mover thus allowing internal projects to development more. CBS's highest profile purchase was $4 million for Inside Llewyn Davis which won Cannes' Grand Prix and nominations for two Academy and 3 Golden Globe awards.
On July 22, 2014, Hammer moved from being co-president to being a consultant for digital. In 2015, Lionsgate took over CBS Films' American distribution and global sales functions. In 2017, Deadline.com reported CBS Films would finance Jane the Virgin actor Justin Baldoni's first directing/producing effort based on an original script by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.
On January 12, 2019, it was reported that CBS Films would release four theatrical films in 2019, then be folded into the main CBS Entertainment Group, switching its focus to creating original film content for CBS All Access. Jexi was CBS Films' final theatrical release on October 11, 2019. The ViacomCBS merger, which closed on December 4, 2019, returned Paramount Pictures to being a sister company of CBS, making a theatrical subsidiary for the network superfluous.
Filmography
See also
Categories: Defunct American Film Studios, American Companies Established In 2007, Film Distributors Of The United States, Entertainment Companies Established In 2007, Mass Media Companies Established In 2007, American Companies Disestablished In 2019, Entertainment Companies Disestablished In 2019, Mass Media Companies Disestablished In 2019
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