United Artists

United Artists (UA) is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded on February 5, 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. After numerous ownership and structural changes and revamps, United Artists was acquired by media conglomerate Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 for a reported $350 million ($1.2 billion today). On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media and merged them to revive the television production unit of United Artists as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). MGM itself acquired UAMG on December 14, 2015, and folded it into their own television division. MGM briefly revived the United Artists brand as United Artists Digital Studios for the Stargate Origins web series as part of its Stargate franchise, but retired the name after 2019 and instead used its eponymous brand for subsequent releases. A local joint distribution venture between MGM and Annapurna Pictures launched on October 31, 2017 was rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, in honor of its 100th anniversary. However, Amazon, MGM's now-parent company, folded UAR into MGM on March 4, 2023, citing "newfound theatrical release opportunities" following the box-office opening success of Creed III. On July 26, 2024, Amazon MGM Studios announced the company's revival, entering a multi-year first look deal with film producer Scott Stuber, who will also be involved with all releases under the freshly revived production company.