Amblin Entertainment

Amblin Entertainment, Inc. is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg in 1970. The company's headquarters are located in Bungalow 477 of the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. The company distributes all of the films from Amblin Partners under the Amblin Entertainment name.[1]

This article is about the production company. For the parent company, see Amblin Partners. For the television division, see Amblin Television.

"Amblin" redirects here. For the movie, see Amblin'.

Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

Formerly	Amblin' Productions (1970-1984)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Film
Founded	December 17, 1970 (1970-12-17)
Founder	Steven Spielberg
Headquarters	100 Universal Plaza Bungalow 477, Universal City, California , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steven Spielberg Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall
Products	Motion pictures
Services	Film production
Parent	Amblin Partners
Divisions	Amblin Television
Subsidiaries	Amblimation (formerly)
Website	amblin.com/

Amblin Entertainment logo, appeared in some of the company's film ending credits.

Overview

Amblin is named after Spielberg's first commercially released film, Amblin' (1968), a short independent film about a man and woman hitchhiking through the desert. The film, which cost $15,000 to produce, was shown for Universal Studios and won Spielberg more directing roles.[2] Although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot.[3]

Its logo features the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket on Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon from the 1982 movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

History

Amblin Productions

On December 17, 1970, Steven Spielberg established and incorporated the company as Amblin Productions, Inc.

On July 14, 1975, Spielberg signed a four-picture agreement with Universal Pictures to produce its feature films through its Amblin label, to built upon the success of its first two theatrical pictures The Sugarland Express and Jaws.[4]

In 1981, Frank Marshall joined the company, followed it up in 1982 by Kathleen Kennedy. They both leave in 1992 to start their own production company.[5][6]

Amblin Entertainment

In 1983, Amblin started making a split partnership between Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., and the first pictures made for the latter were Gremlins and Fandango.[7] Later that year, it was renamed to Amblin Entertainment.

In 1984, the company started developing TV shows with its first project, Amazing Stories.[8]

In 1985, Spielberg and Don Bluth started a partnership to produce animated feature films. The only two films that were made from the Spielberg-Bluth deal were An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988).[9]

In 1989, a dispute over film-making budgets caused Spielberg and Bluth to part ways, and Amblin's animation department was rebranded to Amblimation, which was headquartered in London. The only three films that were released under the Amblimation banner were An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story (1993) and Balto (1995).[10] A fourth film, an animated film adaptation of Cats, was in development, but it was cancelled following the studio's closure in 1997.

The same year, Amblin signed a deal with Turner Network Television to produce TV movies.[11]

In 1992, Amblin launched a visual effects studio Amblin Imaging, headed by visual effects pioneer John Gross. It was later shut down in 1995.[12]

In 1993, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, joined the company and merged its Aerial Pictures banner with Amblin Entertainment, and the first picture Parkes involved was Little Giants.[13]

In 1994, DreamWorks Pictures was launched, making Amblin Entertainment a subsidiary of it, and relegating it for films directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, and sequels for films developed prior to the formation of DreamWorks.[14]

In 1995, Amblin Entertainment and Playwrights Horizons signed a deal to make plays.[15]

Amblin Partners

On December 16, 2015, Spielberg, Reliance, Entertainment One and Participant Media partnered to launch the content production company Amblin Partners,[16] relegating Amblin Entertainment to a brand for family-themed films produced under the new company.[16][17] In addition to Amblin Entertainment, the new company also would produce films under the DreamWorks and Participant banners.

On the same day, Amblin Partners announced a five-year distribution deal with Universal, under which the company's films would be distributed and marketed by either the main Universal label or its specialty label, Focus Features.[18][19] The Girl on the Train was the first film released under the new agreement.[20]

On February 15, 2017, Universal acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin[21] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with DreamWorks Animation (which, in 2016, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast's NBCUniversal).[22]

Motion pictures

Title	Release date	U.S. distributor	Co-production companies
The Sugarland Express	March 30, 1974	Universal Pictures	The Zanuck/Brown Company
Jaws	June 20, 1975
Close Encounters of the Third Kind	November 16, 1977	Columbia Pictures	EMI Films Philips Productions
I Wanna Hold Your Hand	April 21, 1978	Universal Pictures	Rose & Assyev Productions
1941	December 14, 1979	Universal Pictures Columbia Pictures	A-Team Productions
Used Cars	July 11, 1980	Columbia Pictures
Continental Divide	September 18, 1981	Universal Pictures	as Amblin production
Poltergeist	June 4, 1982	MGM/UA Entertainment Co.	SLM Production Group
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (20th Anniversary)	June 11, 1982	Universal Pictures
Twilight Zone: The Movie	June 24, 1983	Warner Bros.
Gremlins	June 8, 1984
Fandango	January 25, 1985
The Goonies	June 7, 1985
Back to the Future	July 3, 1985	Universal Pictures	U-Drive Productions
Young Sherlock Holmes	December 4, 1985	Paramount Pictures
The Color Purple	December 18, 1985	Warner Bros.	The Guber-Peters Company
The Money Pit	March 26, 1986	Universal Pictures	U-Drive Productions
An American Tail	November 21, 1986		Sullivan Bluth Studios U-Drive Productions
Harry and the Hendersons*	June 5, 1987		U-Drive Productions
Innerspace	July 1, 1987	Warner Bros.	The Guber-Peters Company
Empire of the Sun	December 9, 1987
Batteries Not Included	December 18, 1987	Universal Pictures
Who Framed Roger Rabbit	June 22, 1988	Buena Vista Pictures	Silver Screen Partners III Touchstone Pictures
The Land Before Time	November 18, 1988	Universal Pictures	Lucasfilm Sullivan Bluth Studios U-Drive Productions
Dad	October 27, 1989		Ubu Productions
Back to the Future Part II	November 22, 1989		U-Drive Productions
Always	December 22, 1989
Joe Versus the Volcano	March 9, 1990	Warner Bros.
Back to the Future Part III	May 25, 1990	Universal Pictures	U-Drive Productions
Gremlins 2: The New Batch	June 15, 1990	Warner Bros.
Arachnophobia	July 18, 1990	Buena Vista Pictures (Hollywood Pictures)	Tangled Web Productions
Cape Fear*	November 13, 1991	Universal Pictures	Cappa Films TriBeCa Productions
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West	November 22, 1991		credited under Amblimation
Hook	December 11, 1991	TriStar Pictures
Noises Off*	March 20, 1992	Buena Vista Pictures (Touchstone Pictures)	Nothing On Productions Touchwood Pacific Partners
A Far Off Place*	March 12, 1993	Buena Vista Pictures (Walt Disney Pictures)	Touchwood Pacific Partners
Jurassic Park	June 11, 1993	Universal Pictures
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story	November 24, 1993		credited under Amblimation
A Dangerous Woman*	December 3, 1993		Gramercy Pictures (distributing label) Island World Rollercoaster Productions
Schindler's List	December 15, 1993
The Flintstones	May 27, 1994		Hanna-Barbera Productions
The Little Rascals*	August 5, 1994		King World Productions
Little Giants*	October 14, 1994	Warner Bros.
Casper	May 26, 1995	Universal Pictures	The Harvey Entertainment Company
The Bridges of Madison County*	June 2, 1995	Warner Bros.	Malpaso Productions
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar*	September 8, 1995	Universal Pictures
How to Make an American Quilt*	October 6, 1995
Balto	December 22, 1995		credited under Amblimation
Twister	May 17, 1996	Warner Bros. Universal Pictures	Constant c Productions
The Trigger Effect*	August 30, 1996	Universal Pictures	Gramercy Pictures (distributing label)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park	May 19, 1997
Men in Black	July 2, 1997	Columbia Pictures	Parkes/MacDonald Productions
Amistad	December 10, 1997	DreamWorks Pictures	HBO Pictures
Deep Impact	May 8, 1998	Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	The Zanuck/Brown Company
Small Soldiers* (Copyright holder)	July 10, 1998	DreamWorks Pictures Universal Pictures
The Mask of Zorro	July 17, 1998	TriStar Pictures
Saving Private Ryan	July 24, 1998	DreamWorks Pictures Paramount Pictures	Mark Gordon Productions The Mutual Film Company
In Dreams*[23]	January 15, 1999	DreamWorks Pictures
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas*	April 28, 2000	Universal Pictures	Hanna-Barbera Productions
A.I. Artificial Intelligence	June 29, 2001	Warner Bros. Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	Stanley Kubrick Productions
Jurassic Park III	July 18, 2001	Universal Pictures
Minority Report	June 21, 2002	20th Century Fox DreamWorks Pictures	Blue Tulip Productions Cruise/Wagner Productions
Men in Black II	July 4, 2002	Columbia Pictures	Parkes/MacDonald Productions
Catch Me If You Can	December 25, 2002	DreamWorks Pictures	Kemp Company Parkes/MacDonald Productions Splendid Pictures
The Terminal	June 18, 2004		Parkes/MacDonald Productions
War of the Worlds	June 29, 2005	Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	Cruise/Wagner Productions
The Legend of Zorro	October 28, 2005	Columbia Pictures	Spyglass Entertainment Tornado Productions
Memoirs of a Geisha	December 9, 2005		Red Wagon Productions Spyglass Entertainment
Munich	December 23, 2005	Universal Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	Alliance Atlantis Barry Mendel Productions The Kennedy/Marshall Company Peninsula Films
Monster House	July 21, 2006	Columbia Pictures	ImageMovers Relativity Media
Flags of Our Fathers	October 20, 2006	Warner Bros. Pictures	Malpaso Productions
Letters from Iwo Jima	December 20, 2006
Hereafter (credit only)	October 22, 2010		Malpaso Productions The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Super 8	June 10, 2011	Paramount Pictures	Bad Robot Productions
The Adventures of Tintin	December 21, 2011	Paramount Pictures Columbia Pictures	The Kennedy/Marshall Company WingNut Films Nickelodeon Movies
War Horse	December 25, 2011	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Touchstone Pictures)	DreamWorks Pictures Reliance Entertainment The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Men in Black 3	May 25, 2012	Columbia Pictures	Parkes/MacDonald ImageNation Media Magik Entertainment Hemisphere Media Capital
Lincoln	November 16, 2012	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Touchstone Pictures) 20th Century Fox	DreamWorks Pictures Participant Media Reliance Entertainment The Kennedy/Marshall Company
The Hundred-Foot Journey	August 8, 2014	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Touchstone Pictures)	DreamWorks Pictures Reliance Entertainment Participant Media Image Nation Harpo Films
Jurassic World	June 12, 2015	Universal Pictures	Legendary Pictures
Bridge of Spies	October 15, 2015	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Touchstone Pictures) 20th Century Fox	DreamWorks Pictures Participant Media Reliance Entertainment Marc Platt Productions TSG Entertainment Afterworks Limited Studio Babelsberg
The BFG	July 1, 2016	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Walt Disney Pictures)	Walt Disney Pictures Walden Media Reliance Entertainment The Kennedy/Marshall Company
A Dog's Purpose*	January 27, 2017	Universal Pictures	Reliance Entertainment Walden Media Pariah Entertainment Group
The Post	December 22, 2017	20th Century Fox	DreamWorks Pictures Participant Media Pascal Pictures Star Thrower Entertainment
Ready Player One	March 29, 2018	Warner Bros. Pictures	Village Roadshow Pictures De Line Pictures Farah Films & Management[24]
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom	June 22, 2018	Universal Pictures	The Kennedy/Marshall Company Legendary Entertainment
The House with a Clock in Its Walls*	September 21, 2018		Mythology Entertainment
A Dog's Journey	May 17, 2019		Walden Media
Men in Black: International	June 14, 2019	Columbia Pictures	Parkes+MacDonald Productions Image Nation Abu Dhabi
Cats	December 20, 2019	Universal Pictures	Monumental Pictures The Really Useful Group Working Title Films
The Turning	January 24, 2020		DreamWorks Pictures Vertigo Entertainment
West Side Story[25]	December 18, 2020[26]	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (20th Century Studios)
Bios	April 16, 2021	Universal Pictures
Jurassic World: Dominion	June 11, 2021

Note: The films marked with "*" are ones that Spielberg had no involvement with.

Short films

• Tummy Trouble (1989)
• Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990)
• Trail Mix-Up (1993)
• I'm Mad (Animaniacs short) (1994)

Direct-to-video

• Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
• Wakko's Wish (1999)

Television shows

Main article: Amblin Television

Theme park attractions

While Amblin has never had its own theme park, theme parks have made rides based on Amblin films and co-productions.

• Back to the Future: The Ride, a simulator ride at Universal Studios Japan. Also existed at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood.
• Gremlins Invasion, a ride at Warner Bros. Movie World and Warner Bros. Movie World Germany.
• Jurassic Park: The Ride, a water ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
• Men in Black: Alien Attack, a dark ride at Universal Studios Florida.
• Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, a dark ride in Mickey's Toontown, a land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
• Twister...Ride it Out, a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida.
• E.T. Adventure, a dark ride at Universal Studios Florida. Also existed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan.

References

1. "About Us | Amblin". Amblin Official Site. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
2. "Big Directors Small Films: Steven Spielberg's Amblin'". /Film. 2008-12-28. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
3. Lang, Brent; Rainey, James (2015-12-16). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Bring Amblin Partners to Universal". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
4. "Spielberg, Universal Sign Four-Picture Agremeent". Los Angeles Times. 1975-07-14.
5. Rainey, James (2016-04-11). "Frank Marshall: Harrison Ford Is One and Only 'Indiana Jones,' 'Not Going to Do the Bond Thing'". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
6. Marx, Andy (1992-12-17). "Marshall, Kennedy in pact at Par". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
7. "Spielberg, Philosophical Over Defeat". Los Angeles Times. 1983-04-13.
8. Bennetts, Leslie (1984-07-31). "Spielberg to Produce Adventure Series for Nbc". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
9. "ANIMATED SPIELBERG". Los Angeles Times. 1985-08-11. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
10. Longsdorf, Amy. "ANIMATION REALLY KEEPS STEVEN SPIELBERG MOVING". mcall.com. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
11. "Amblin, Turner Reach Deal for TV Movies". Los Angeles Times. 1989-12-14. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
12. "Muse VFX - About Us". www.musevfx.com. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
13. O'Steen, Kathleen; Brodie, John (10 November 1993). "Aerial duo to Amblin". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
14. "DreamWorks Heads Are Full Of Plans". Variety. 1995-01-30. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
15. Gerard, Jeremy (1995-06-12). "Amblin bows play grants". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
16. "Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Relaunches as Amblin Partners". The Wall Street Journal. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
17. Cieply, Michael (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Studios in Deal to Form New Company". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
18. Lang, Brent (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Bring Amblin Partners to Universal". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
19. Busch, Anita (December 16, 2015). "It's Official: Spielberg, DreamWorks, Participant, eOne, Others Pact For Amblin Partners". Deadline.com. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
20. Pamela McClintock; Gregg Kilday (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Team to Form Amblin Partners, Strike Distribution Deal With Universal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
21. Perry, Spencer (February 15, 2017). "Universal Studios Buys a Minority Stake in Amblin Partners". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
22. McNary, Dave (22 August 2016). "Comcast Completes $3.8 Billion Purchase of DreamWorks Animation".
23. Copyright Application for In Dreams (January 27, 1999). United States Copyright Office. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
24. Anita Busch. "Steven Spielberg To Direct 'Ready Player One'; Book Is Sci-Fi Cult Favorite - Deadline". Deadline.
25. "West Side Story: Everything We Know About Steven Spielberg's Remake". PEOPLE.com.
26. Adalessandro, Anthony (May 7, 2019). "Disney-Fox Updates Release Schedule: Sets Three Untitled 'Star Wars' Movies, 'Avatar' Franchise To Kick Off In 2021 & More". Deadline. Retrieved May 7, 2019.

External links

• Amblin Entertainment on IMDb