Watch: Columbia Pictures Celebrates 100 Years of Film in Video Tribute
by Alex Billington
December 21, 2024
Source: YouTube
“It’s showtime, folks!” Columbia Pictures celebrated its 100th birthday in 2024. As the year comes to an end, Sony Pictures (who now owns Columbia) released a tribute video celebrating the movie studios’ 100 years. “For our 100th birthday, we celebrate you.” The video features various filmmakers, actors, and many other workers at Columbia talking about why they love Columbia movies, some of their favorite movies and moments, and the legacy of the studio. Disney and Warner Bros celebrated their 100th birthday last year, as both of these studios were founded in 1923. Columbia Pictures, at least this iconic Hollywood name, was created in 1924 by Harry & Jack Cohn and Joe Brandt (originally called Cohn-Brandt-Cohn CBC Film Sales Corporation until they changed this name in Jan 1924). Columbia’s most commercially successful franchises include Spider-Man, Jumanji, Bad Boys, Men in Black, The Karate Kid, Robert Langdon, & Ghostbusters, and the studio’s highest-grossing movie worldwide is Spider-Man: No Way Home earning $1.92 billion. The last time they won Best Picture was for 1987’s The Last Emperor. Enjoy this warm-hearted tribute below. If you’re looking for more to watch, they released this live-stream with 100 trailers from 100 years right here.
“That lady has been holding up that lamp for a super long time…” “Well done, lady.” Ha ha – yes indeed. That lady is actually Lady Columbia or Miss Columbia – the original female national personification of the United States. The iconic movie studio is officially 100 years old according to their name change. Via Wiki: On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded the studio as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use the image of Columbia, the female personification of the United States, as its logo. Their big break came in the late 1920s when they partnered with filmmaker Frank Capra and started making screwball comedies – their biggest early hits were The Three Stooges and It Happened One Night (in 1934). Sony Pictures bought them in 1991 though they still run it as Columbia anyway. The studio has been located on the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (currently known as the Sony Pictures Studios) lot in Culver City, California since 1990. For updates and a look back at their 100 years, visit the celebration website here.