Sony Pictures Classics

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox company Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment and part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. It was founded in January 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom.<ref name="SPC at 15">Template:Cite web Alt URL</ref> It distributes, produces and acquires specialty films such as documentaries, independent and arthouse films. As of 2015, Barker and Bernard are co-presidents of the division.

History

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Co-founder and co-president Michael Barker

Sony Pictures Classics (also known as Sony Classics or SPC) was formed in 1992 by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom, and set up as an autonomous division of Sony Pictures<ref name="SPC at 15"/> to produce, acquire and/or distribute independent films from the United States and internationally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It has released films that have won 38 Academy Awards and received 164 nominations,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> including Best Picture nominations for I'm Still Here, The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash, Amour, Midnight in Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

SPC has a history of making reasonable investments for small films and getting a decent return.<ref name="SPC at 15"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has a history of not overspending.<ref name="SPC at 15"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its largest commercial success of the 2010s is Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011), which grossed over $56 million in the U.S., becoming Allen's highest-grossing film ever in the United States.

SPC has been a pioneer in theatrical distribution. In 2001 championed the Chinese-language film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which earned the most Oscar nominations ever for a non-English-language film and win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and a Golden Globe in 2001. The film earned over $213 million worldwide on a $17 million budget, including $128 million in the U.S. as a Sony Pictures Classics release.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2006, SPC promoted The Lives of Others to an Oscar and BAFTA, after it was rejected by the Cannes, Berlin, Venice and New York Film Festivals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Co-founder and co-president Tom Bernard

SPC occasionally agrees to release films for Sony's other film divisions; however, under its structure within Sony, none of the other divisions (including the parent company) can force SPC to release any film it does not want to release.<ref name="SPC at 15"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2025, The New York Times polled over 500 filmmakers, actors, and film buffs around the world, compiling a list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century by collating voters' top ten submitted films; ten titles released by Sony Pictures Classics made the list: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, A Separation, A Prophet, Call Me By Your Name, Amélie (re-released by SPC in 2024), The Lives of Others, Toni Erdmann, Whiplash, Amour, and Volver.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Film library

Highest-grossing films

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) was the company's first film to cross the $100 million mark worldwide, followed by Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Midnight in Paris (2011), and Blue Jasmine (2013).

Highest-grossing films worldwide

Rank	Title	Year	Gross
1	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	2000	$213,966,221<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2	Midnight in Paris	2011	$162,051,975<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
3	Blue Jasmine	2013	$102,912,961<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
4	Kung Fu Hustle	2004	$102,034,104<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
5	House of Flying Daggers	2004	$92,863,945<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
6	The Lives of Others	2006	$81,197,047<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
7	To Rome with Love	2012	$74,290,305<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
8	Talk to Her	2002	$64,826,117<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
9	Whiplash	2014	$50,431,161<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
10	Capote	2005	$49,924,079<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website