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StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S., also known as StudioCanal International and Canal+ Production and formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution and Canal+ D.A., is a French film and television production and distribution company and a subsidiary of Canal+ S.A.
As of September 2025[update], the company has 13 production companies in Europe and the United States, and holds around 9,000 titles in its extensive film library. The company ensures the preservation and restoration of their titles for home video releases and digital platforms worldwide.
On 1 January 1987, Canal+ Productions was founded as a cinema film co-production subsidiary of the cable channel Canal+. The subscription channel was co-founded by André Rousselet and Pierre Lescure in 1984. This was to reduce Canal+'s dependence on the American major studios by building its own library that the pay-TV channel could use on their own channels and internationally.
By December 1990, Canal+ Productions rebranded to Le Studio Canal+, and released its first film, The Double Life of Veronique, by Krzysztof Kieslowski. By the early 1990s, it became apparent that Canal+ was a major contributor to the French film industry, with its obligation to spend 10% of its income on French-made films, as well as being Europe's largest buyer of American film rights. Canal+ also made investments in other companies. In 1991 it bought a five percent stake in the independent American studio Carolco Pictures. However, in 1992, Le Studio Canal+ suffered financial difficulties after Carolco Pictures entered a corporate restructure.[citation needed]
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 either Le Studio Canal+ or simply Canal+.[citation needed]
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 sixth-highest-grossing French-language film of all time in the United States) and Intimate Strangers. Films such as 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, have been big box-office hits for StudioCanal.
In January 1996, Le Studio Canal+ made a $56 million bid for the library of the American independent film studio Carolco Pictures. 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), which had originally agreed to buy the library for $50 million, had dropped their bid to $47.5 million and ultimately dropped out of contention, making this acquisition Canal+'s first foray into library acquisitions.
Le Studio Canal+'s original plan was to build a pan-European distribution network. They made their first known acquisition into a foreign market in 1997 when they bought a 20% minority stake in German film distribution company Tobis Film, marking their first entry into the German movie distribution market; they would later increase their stake to 60% in February 2000, renaming the company Tobis StudioCanal.
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StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S., also known as StudioCanal International and Canal+ Production and formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution and Canal+ D.A., is a French film and television production and distribution company and a subsidiary of Canal+ S.A.
As of September 2025[update], the company has 13 production companies in Europe and the United States, and holds around 9,000 titles in its extensive film library. The company ensures the preservation and restoration of their titles for home video releases and digital platforms worldwide.
On 1 January 1987, Canal+ Productions was founded as a cinema film co-production subsidiary of the cable channel Canal+. The subscription channel was co-founded by André Rousselet and Pierre Lescure in 1984. This was to reduce Canal+'s dependence on the American major studios by building its own library that the pay-TV channel could use on their own channels and internationally.
By December 1990, Canal+ Productions rebranded to Le Studio Canal+, and released its first film, The Double Life of Veronique, by Krzysztof Kieslowski. By the early 1990s, it became apparent that Canal+ was a major contributor to the French film industry, with its obligation to spend 10% of its income on French-made films, as well as being Europe's largest buyer of American film rights. Canal+ also made investments in other companies. In 1991 it bought a five percent stake in the independent American studio Carolco Pictures. However, in 1992, Le Studio Canal+ suffered financial difficulties after Carolco Pictures entered a corporate restructure.[citation needed]
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 either Le Studio Canal+ or simply Canal+.[citation needed]
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 sixth-highest-grossing French-language film of all time in the United States) and Intimate Strangers. Films such as 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, have been big box-office hits for StudioCanal.
In January 1996, Le Studio Canal+ made a $56 million bid for the library of the American independent film studio Carolco Pictures. 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), which had originally agreed to buy the library for $50 million, had dropped their bid to $47.5 million and ultimately dropped out of contention, making this acquisition Canal+'s first foray into library acquisitions.
Le Studio Canal+'s original plan was to build a pan-European distribution network. They made their first known acquisition into a foreign market in 1997 when they bought a 20% minority stake in German film distribution company Tobis Film, marking their first entry into the German movie distribution market; they would later increase their stake to 60% in February 2000, renaming the company Tobis StudioCanal.