Type Division Founder Bob Weinstein | Industry Film
Television Area served Worldwide | |
Founded 1992; 25 years ago (1992) Headquarters New York City, New York, United States | ||
Dimension Films is an American film production company and independent film distributor formerly owned by The Walt Disney Studios and now owned by The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films. The Weinsteins took this label with them when they departed the Disney-owned Miramax in October 2005 and paired it under their company, The Weinstein Company. It is one of the American "mini-majors", i.e. small to medium independent television and motion picture production studios.
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All films released by Dimension Films prior to October 1, 2005, remain the property of Miramax Films; half the profits of sequels made to Miramax-era films went to Disney until Miramax was sold to Filmyard Holdings, a joint venture of Colony Capital, Tutor-Saliba Corporation, and Qatar Investment Authority in 2010.
The studio's movie franchises include the later Halloween films, later Hellraiser films, Children of the Corn, Scream, Spy Kids and Scary Movie. Its films are currently released on DVD and Blu-ray by Beverly Hills–based Anchor Bay Entertainment under The Weinstein Company, due to the Weinsteins' 25% purchase of Starz Media, which is Anchor Bay's parent. Before the purchase, they were distributed by Genius Products and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The pre-2005 Dimension films were originally released to home video through Buena Vista Home Entertainment while Miramax was owned by Disney. They are currently distributed on home video through Lionsgate (with the exception of the overseas rights to The Brothers Grimm, in which is now owned by Disney as of 2015), with Echo Bridge Home Entertainment briefly handling some as well.
The company also produces the Scream TV series for MTV.
Dimension Films also has involvement with One Ball Pictures who owns the "Funny Or Die" online series. They released their first episode, "A Lesson with John McEnroe", with Dimension Films.
History
The studio was founded by Bob Weinstein to distribute horror films, but was expanded to release other genres. Originally owned by Miramax Films, but in 1993, Dimension Films became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios due to their full purchase of Miramax Films. Bob and Harvey Weinstein left Miramax Films to make their own film company, taking Dimension Films with them. Currently, the highest-grossing movie in the company is Scary Movie, which was released in 2000. Dimension Films distributes higher-budget releases than its parent company.