Top 10 All Time Favourite Film Distribution Companies

Making films is one thing, but when you want to show those films to a much wider audience, its the distributors that will do just that while also provide the film makers with whatever they need and will give them a budget too. Each of the following distributors have made some huge hits over the past several years and these are my top 10 of them. For this list, each of the distribution companies I have seen the works of will be on this list and the films they have made, have had to be big hits, but at the same time, there has to be a few that are bad or everyone just has a mixed response to it. That said, let's begin the list:

10 - StudioCanal

They may not be the biggest of the ones on this list, but it is responsible for giving us hits like the second Terminator and Rambo films, The Graduate, The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Ladykillers, but it is also responsible for giving us Santa Claus: The Movie (not the Disney one) and The Avengers (the TV show, not the superhero team). So generally, its a bit of a mixed bag with StudioCanal, but I think they have done well in the past several years and maybe we'll see them make more big hits in the future.

9 - Lionsgate

Possibly the youngest of the companies listed here, Lionsgate have given us hits, cult hits and have had a successful run of mini major films and television programmes and has been making the most profit in those fields. They have given us The Expendables films, the Sin City films, American Psycho and The Hunger Games films, but unfortunately have got Summit Entertainment (responsible for the Twilight films) under their belt as well. I think generally they have had more success than failures and while some of the films they have done have had a bit of a mixed reception, I believe that they do films well and will continue to do well for the next few years.

8 - DreamWorks

Now DreamWorks is a bit of a funny one as the company is divided into two parts. One part distributes the live action and mature films and are owned by Paramount while the other known as DreamWorks Animation which was part of Paramount for a 10 year deal and now part of 20th Century Fox for a 5 year deal, distributes the animated films which out of the two is what DreamWorks does best and makes them quite the opponent for Pixar. The animation side of things has made hits like the Shrek films, the Dragon films, the Kung Fu Panda films and numerous others while the live action side of things has given us 2 of the 4 Transformers films (damn you Michael Bay), the Fockers films and numerous others. I think again its a mixed bag with animation doing better than live action in the sense that the films look like they have been in production for years and a lot of work has gone into them. Despite this, they are still a good company that I'm sure will continue to give us great animated films in the future and hopefully will sort out their live action films too.

7 - Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)

So the other distributor that has a lion in either its logo or name, is MGM. They have been in the business for a very long time dating all the way back to 1924 and in that time, they have given us hits like the Rocky films, the RoboCop films, the James Bond films and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but were responsible for giving us one of the worst films ever made, The Garbage Pail Kids. Despite this, they have been in the business for a very long time, making them so far the company that's been in the business the longest. They even gave us Tom & Jerry before they were handed over to Warner Bros. Its amazing what facts we find out about some companies.

6 - Paramount

So I've talked briefly about Paramount already having said that they own part of DreamWorks so now I'm going to talk about them as a whole. They have been around since the 1910s meaning that they have basically been making films since the very beginning. They have given us the Godfather films, the Mission Impossible films, the Star Trek films (and I believe the TV series as well), the Paranormal Activity films, The Indiana Jones films and part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and part of the Terminator films. Unfortunately they are also responsible for the Transformers films and the G.I. Joe films. They have had a lot of success over the years and while some of the decisions they make are a bit hit and miss, they seem to know what they are doing most of the time and having been around for over 100 years now, they will be fine as long as they stop ruining our childhoods by working with Michael Bay.

5 - Sony Pictures

Sony have pretty much done everything at this point. They've made electrical equipment, established a video game publisher and video game console and obviously they have made films as well. For a while, many of us didn't even knew that they were making films until they acquired Columbia and TriStar and as such distribute their films through them and others too. Among these films, they have given us the live action Spider-Man films as well as the 21 Jump Street films, the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films, 2 Aardman films and many many others, but they have also given us The Smurfs films, a Godzilla film that lacked the god like element and 2012. And like with Paramount, the company do make some very odd decisions and have been a victim of hacking which has caused a lot of controversy over the years, but we learn from these mistakes and I'm sure there will be a day when Sony actually realise that they need to be more secure than they already are. Despite this, I still think they make a number of great and not so great films, but they need to up their game if they want the top spot on this list.

4 - 20th Century Fox

I've had doubts with this company for a very long time, but having seen some of their more recent films, I think they are good at what they do. 20th Century Fox is part of the FOX corporation who specialise mostly in news, but have done television and films as well through this and other companies that they own. This company gave us the X-Men films, the Planet of the Apes films, the Alien and Predator films, the Die Hard films, the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, the cult hits The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club and some bad films like the Alvin and the Chipmunks films. I feel that they are good with action, superhero and sci-fi films and often get success with romance films as well. Personally, I should've never doubted them because after what I've seen from them, they are good with what they do. I mean yeah, there have been a few bad films that they have done, but generally, they've done pretty well and will no doubt continue to do well in the future (though how will they survive when X-Men and Fantastic Four are given to Marvel and Disney is beyond me).

3 - Universal

So in the top 3 we have a film company that have been in the business just as long as Paramount have and have established themselves well with giving us the original horror monsters, helped kick start Stephen Speilberg's career and are masters when it comes to satires and I guess when it comes to adaptations too. For a while, they seemed to be the go to company for the distribution of British films which they are still are today, but its not as big of a deal as it was back in the day. Among the many films that they have given us, there is the Bourne series, the Three Flavour Cornetto trilogy, the Hellboy films, Green Street, Scarface, the Riddick films and so many other great hits and cult hits too. They have done well over the 100 years that they have been around with the majority of the work being more successful than failures which is what I expect to see in a film company and they have done really well.

2 - Warner Brothers

Quite possibly one of the biggest of the bunch. Warner Bros. have been around for a very long time and have given us a number of great films like the Harry Potter films, the Middle-Earth films, every known film associated with DC comics, The Matrix films and many others. Like with Universal, they do well with adaptations and will always strive to do their very best. They also played a huge part in the 90s with cartoons like Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series. They were also the creators of the old Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoons which makes them one of the biggest if not the biggest company on this list. Though I think my number one choice says otherwise.

1 - Walt Disney

The biggest, I mean the biggest company in this list. Disney have been making films for many years and a lot of them have been big hits. Yes they do generally tailor to child friendly audiences, but with Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Studio Ghibli and Touchstone Pictures under their belt, that could all change for better or worse. Like with Paramount and Sony, they have made a few odd, but surprising decisions over the years and have made a number of great films like The Lion King, Toy Story, Frozen and so many others. They are big in all areas and have even gone as far as having their own theme parks and their own cruise line of all things. Doesn't get any better than that and I love it.