| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion pictures |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, United States |
| Parent | CBS Corporation |
CBS Films is an American film production company founded in 2007, a feature film division of CBS Corporation. CBS Films is located on Wilshire Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
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CBS made a brief move into film production in the late 1960s, creating Cinema Center Films. This profit-free unit was brought to a close in 1972; today the distribution rights to the Cinema Center library rest with Paramount Pictures for home video (via CBS DVD) and theatrical release, and with CBS Television Distribution for TV distribution (most other ancillary rights remain with CBS). It released such films as The Reivers (1969), starring Steve McQueen, and the musical Scrooge (1970), starring Albert Finney. In 1979 CBS launched a new theatrical films division, which was officially named CBS Theatrical Films the following year. While this was in operation, CBS entered into a joint venture with Columbia Pictures and HBO called Tri-Star Pictures. CBS eventually dropped out of the venture in 1985[1], and CBS Theatrical Films came to an end that same year. In 2000, CBS was bought by Viacom, which also owned Paramount Pictures.
In 2007, following the split from Viacom and Paramount, CBS Corp. announced its plans to get back into the feature film business, launching CBS Films and hiring key executives in the Spring of 2007 to startup the new venture. CBS Films plans to develop and produce four to six movies a year spanning all genres, with production budgets up to $50 million per film. CBS Films is located in West Los Angeles, California.
In mid-September 2008, former Executive Vice President at Columbia Pictures, Amy Baer was officially announced as Chief Executive Officer to CBS Films. Bruce Tobey joined CBS Films as Chief Operating Officer. Debbie Miller, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, joined CBS Films and established a Senior Marketing Team in April 2008, appointing Mimi Slavin to Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Promotions, Teri Boggess as Senior Vice President for Creative Advertising, Cherie Crane as Senior Vice President for Media and Research and Maggie Schmidt as Senior Vice President for Publicity.
The studio released its first film, Extraordinary Measures,[2][3] on January 22, 2010. The film is an inspirational drama starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, and co-starring Keri Russell, directed by Tom Vaughan and written by Robert Nelson Jacobs. CBS Films released its second film: a romantic comedy The Back-up Plan, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin, directed by Alan Poul and written by Kate Angelo. The company will be releasing an edgy teen romance, Beastly starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer based on the novel "Beastly" written by Alex Flinn. The film was directed by Daniel Barnz.
The Company's development slate includes the Susannah Grant-penned romantic drama I'll Be There, (a remake of the successful Korean film A Moment To Remember); a series of action-thrillers based on the Mitch Rapp character from the bestselling Vince Flynn novels, starting with Consent To Kill[4]; the romantic thriller The Eternals written by Chris Hauty and directed by Jeff Wadlow; The Station, a thriller set against the International Space Station and based on a popular Boom! Studios comic book series; an action-adventure feature adaptation of the long-running TV show Gunsmoke; and a remake of My Fair Lady, based on the classic musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which is being co-developed with Columbia Pictures.[5]
The pay-cable rights to the new CBS Films' library are held by CBS's premium cable network Showtime, while pay-per-view/on-demand rights are held via Sony Pictures Television. Sony also has foreign theatrical and home entertainment distribution rights for all CBS Films products.[6]
With Amy Baer announced as new CEO for CBS Films, Hilary Lewis spoke negatively on the official "comeback" of CBS. Often, Lewis contradicted Baer's statements and gives out "factors working against it":[7]
First, dwindling DVD sales and rental rates prove that "the movie business" is not recession-proof, not to mention the difficulty of many studios and producers to raise money in this credit-crunched environment. For some reason, yes, people are still going to the theater, but no exec should think that the "movie business is recession-proof".
| Title | Release Date | Genre | Director | Starring | Co-produced with | Budget | Gross (worldwide) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extraordinary Measures | January 22, 2010 | Drama | Tom Vaughan | Brendan Fraser Harrison Ford Keri Russell |
N/A | $30 million | $15,134,168 |
| The Back-up Plan | April 23, 2010 | Romantic comedy | Alan Poul | Jennifer Lopez Alex O'Loughlin |
Escape Artists | $35 million | $77,477,008 |
| Faster | November 24, 2010 | Action | George Tillman, Jr. | Dwayne Johnson Billy Bob Thornton |
TriStar Pictures Castle Rock Entertainment |
$24 million | $35,542,923 |
| The Mechanic | January 28, 2011 | Action-thriller | Simon West | Jason Statham | Millennium Films Nu Image |
$40 million | $51,070,807 |
| Beastly | March 4, 2011 | Fantasy romance | Daniel Barnz (Also writer) | Vanessa Hudgens Alex Pettyfer |
Alliance Films | $17 million | $28,834,009 |
| My Fair Lady | 2012 | Musical | John Madden | Carey Mulligan | Columbia Pictures Toledo Productions |
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| Who Gets Bob?[8][9] | TBA | Romantic comedy | |||||
| The Keep[10] | TBA | Horror | Niels Arden Oplev | ||||
| Cell 211[11] | TBA | Prison film | Hwy 61 Films | ||||
| Freaky Monday[12] | TBA | Comedy | Gunn Films | ||||
| Sleeper Spy[13] | TBA | Thriller | Jeff Wadlow | ||||
| Gunsmoke | TBA | Action-adventure | |||||
| It Takes a Village[14] | TBA | Comedy | Keenan Ivory Wayans (Also writer) | TriStar Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| Regenesis | TBA | Science fiction | Cameron Crowe | Vinyl Films | |||
| Consent to Kill[15] | TBA | Action | Antoine Fuqua | ||||
| Gambit | TBA | Comedy | Michael Hoffman | Colin Firth Cameron Diaz |