Searchlight Pictures

Searchlight Pictures, Inc.
FormerlyFox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. (1994–2020)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFilm
FoundedApril 29, 1994 (1994-04-29)
FounderTom Rothman[1]
Headquarters10201 West Pico Boulevard, ,
United States[2]
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsMotion pictures
OwnerFox Entertainment Group (1994–2019)
The Walt Disney Studios (2019–present)
Number of employees
100+
DivisionsSearchlight Television
Websitesearchlightpictures.com[a]

Searchlight Pictures, Inc.[2] is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Walt Disney Studios sub-division of Disney Entertainment, a business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures for 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), the studio focuses primarily on producing, distributing, and acquiring specialty films.

Searchlight is known for distributing the films Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, The Shape of Water, and Nomadland, all of which have won an Academy Award for Best Picture. The studio has grossed over $5.3 billion worldwide and amassed 51 Academy Awards, 30 Golden Globe Awards, and 56 BAFTA awards. Slumdog Millionaire is the studio's largest commercial success, with over $377 million (US) of box office receipts, against a production budget of only $15 million.[3]

Searchlight Pictures was one of the 21st Century Fox film production units that was acquired by Disney in 2019. The studio's current name was adopted in order to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation. Searchlight is currently one of five live-action film studios within the Walt Disney Studios, alongside Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and its larger sister unit 20th Century Studios. Compared to 20th Century, whose distribution operations have folded into Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Searchlight retains its autonomous distribution unit.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference BW6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Company Overview of Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc". Bloomberg News.
  3. ^ "Slumdog Millionaire (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  4. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2020). "Emma Watts Leaves Disney's 20th Century Studios". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020. Post-merger, Fox Searchlight, now re-branded Searchlight Pictures, enjoys a lot of autonomy in the Disney empire, greenlighting pics they know and operating their own distribution, publicity and marketing teams. 20th Century Studios (which recently dropped the Fox) was melded into the bigger Disney fold, fusing all its operations.


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