Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American multinational entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, distributes and acquires motion pictures and television programs. The studio was formed by the Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation Sony following its acquisition of Columbia Pictures along with its subsidiary TriStar Pictures in the late 1980s. Its headquarters is in Culver City, California.It is one of the Big Five major studios in Hollywood.
SPE's film franchises included Ghostbusters, Marvel's Spider-Man (including the Spider-Verse and Venom films), Men in Black, Bad Boys, Starship Troopers, Zombieland, Underworld and Capcom's Resident Evil. SPE's other subsidiaries are Screen Gems, Destination Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Triumph Films, Stage 6 and Affirm Films. Its animation department is Sony Pictures Animation. Sony Pictures Entertainment also owns the American anime distribution company, Crunchyroll (formerly known as Funimation) that operates an anime streaming service of the same name.
Sony Pictures Entertainment bought the film rights to Garfield in 2016, three years before Viacom (now Paramount Global) acquired Paws Incorporated. The fully CGI movie, starring Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson, was released theatrically on May 24, 2024 by Sony Pictures through Columbia Pictures with Alcon Entertainment.