
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE)
is the film and television production arm of the Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony. They count the Columbia and TriStar studios, SPE Television, SP Animation and SPE Home Entertainment as their leading subsidiaries, and own and operate the Sony Pictures Studios (previously the old Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) lot for films, TV shows, and audio post-production services.
Beyond production, Sony Pictures houses a variety of TV and streaming outlets. These include Game Show Network, Crackle (an ad-supported streaming service now majority owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul), GetTV (a network for classic movie and television series from the Sony libraries), and Funimation's streaming service (following their majority acquisition by Sony Pictures Television in 2017).
As of 2021, it is the only one of the "Big Six" studios (including mini-major Lionsgate) to not have launched or acquired a paid all-inclusive streaming service/premium cable channel, choosing instead to license its library to other outlets (currently Starz and FX, soon to be Netflix and Disney's various media arms among many others) for a lucrative payday. It has, however, created the mixed streaming/download platform Sony Pictures Core (formerly Bravia Core) which is exclusive to Sony hardware products (Bravia and PlayStation) and allows free streaming for a one-two year period as well as download purchases of much of Sony's film and TV library. Prior to this, it ran the free streaming platform Crackle from 2006 until 2019, when it was sold to Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment. Crackle was shut down in 2025 following CSSE's 2024 bankruptcy.
Sony Pictures divisions and subsidiaries:
- Columbia Pictures
- TriStar Pictures
- Screen Gems
- Sony Pictures International Productions
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- Sony Pictures Releasing International
- Gaumont Columbia TriStar Films (joint venture between Gaumont and Sony Pictures)
- Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan
- Sony Pictures Animation
- Sony Pictures Imageworks
- Sony Pictures Studios
- Sony Pictures Television
- Crunchyroll (Jointly operated with Aniplex)
- Funimation
- Nozomi Entertainment
- Lucky Penny Entertainment
- Manga Entertainment (UK division, the US division is owned by Lionsgate)
- Crunchyroll (Jointly operated with Aniplex)
- Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
- Stage 6 Films
- Affirm Films
- Affirm Originals
- Destination Films
- Sony Pictures Classics
List of films released under the Sony Pictures banner:
- El Camino (with Netflix)
- Cinderella (2021) (with Amazon Studios)
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (outside of Japan; with Square Enix)
- Fixed (with Netflix)
- Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (with Amazon Studios)
- KPop Demon Hunters (with Netflix)
- The Man from Toronto (with Netflix)
- Project Hail Mary (outside of the US)
- Resident Evil (with Capcom)
- Metal Gear (Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection releases only; with Konami, Kojima Productions, IDW Publishing, and Sony Computer Entertainment)
- The Sheep Detectives (outside of the US)
- Thrash (with Netflix)
- Vivo (with Netflix)
