Annapurna Pictures is an American independent media company founded by Megan Ellison on April 2, 2011 and based in Los Angeles, California.^[2] It is active in film, television^[3][4] and theatrical production, film distribution, and video game publishing.^[5]

Annapurna Pictures was founded in 2011 by Megan Ellison as a production and finance entity focusing on high-end auteur-driven cinema.^[6]

After attending University of Southern California’s film school for two semesters, Ellison left in 2005 and traveled the world. Among her stops was Nepal, where she trekked on the Himalayan mountain Annapurna, for which her production company is named.^[7]

By 2014 Annapurna had produced and/or financed the films Lawless, The Master, Killing Them Softly, Zero Dark Thirty, Spring Breakers, The Grandmaster, Her, Foxcatcher, and American Hustle, and was starting production on Joy, Sausage Party, Wiener-Dog, 20th Century Women, and Everybody Wants Some!!.

In December 2016, the company announced its new division, Annapurna Interactive, to produce, develop, and distribute video games. Annapurna Interactive has become a major publisher of independently made games.^[8][9]

In January 2017, the company announced they would begin distributing films, with their first being Detroit directed by Kathryn Bigelow, set for release on August 4, 2017.^[10] They later signed a multi-year distribution deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on March 27, in which MGM will distribute all of Annapurna's films in select international territories.^[11][12][13] On April 6, the company also announced an exclusive, multi-year output licensing agreement with Hulu.^[14][15][16]

In May 2017, Plan B Entertainment and Annapurna announced a three-year production deal to partner on at least three films a year, with Annapurna handling distribution and marketing. As part of the deal, Annapurna received the rights to Adam McKay's film Vice starring Christian Bale as Dick Cheney.^[17] It was also announced Annapurna would co-distribute Brad's Status through their MGM joint venture Mirror alongside Amazon Studios.^[18] In July, the company signed a multi-year U.S. home entertainment pact with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to oversee its home releases.^[19]

Since Sony Pictures' contract to co-produce the James Bond series with MGM and Eon Productions expired with the release of Spectre, Annapurna, along with five major studios – Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Sony itself – vied to win the rights to the next film as of April 2017. It was then announced that MGM had secured the domestic, digital and worldwide television rights to the film. Universal was announced as the international distributor of the film and holder of the rights for physical home entertainment distribution.^[20]

In October 2017, Annapurna and MGM announced the formation of a U.S. distribution joint venture in which each studio would release their films individually. This marked a return to domestic theatrical distribution for MGM and an expansion of Annapurna's distribution division, with MGM releasing approximately six to eight films per year on a limited basis and Annapurna releasing four to six films per year, in a combined slate of fourteen films. While the two companies are sharing costs for the joint venture's operations, Annapurna's distribution and marketing teams supported the MGM titles, which were distributed under the MGM banner while Annapurna-produced films continued to be distributed under its own banner. The two studios also launched Mirror, a releasing entity that pursues theatrical opportunities for additional third-party films. However, this partnership is not exclusive to all MGM films, as several of them continued to be released through existing studio partners, such as Warner Bros. and Paramount. The newly relaunched Orion Pictures and future worldwide distributor plans for the James Bond franchise, are also not included, which MGM announced on "a later date", May 24, 2018, to have been won by Universal Pictures.^{[21][22][23][24][25]}

In October 2018, Annapurna signed a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music, which administered the studio's film and TV compositions and scores.^[26]

In February 2019, Annapurna and MGM rebranded and expanded their U.S. distribution joint venture to release both MGM and Annapurna films under United Artists Releasing, with the distribution teams of Annapurna and Orion Pictures (whose films are added as well) joining the venture and former Screen Gems executive Pam Kunath joining as COO in addition to the heads of MGM and Annapurna joining the board of directors. The decision was made to coincide with the United Artists brand's 100th anniversary, and has plans to release 10–14 films a year through the new label, including the domestic release of No Time to Die (which marks a reunion between the UA brand and the James Bond franchise after two decades).^[27][28][29]

In December 2022, Annapurna launched its animation division with former Blue Sky Studios executives Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein leading the new studio. Nimona was its first release.^[30]

On March 4, 2023, it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that Amazon had shut down United Artists Releasing's operations and folded it into MGM.^[31]

Some of the films produced by the company have received widespread critical acclaim. In 2013 alone, Her, American Hustle and The Grandmaster had a combined seventeen Academy Award nominations. Commercially, results have been mixed. Some films like The Master, Foxcatcher, Joy, Detroit and Vice, however, do not return their budget while ones such as Zero Dark Thirty, Sausage Party and American Hustle have grossed more than $100 million, the latter grossing more than $250 million worldwide.^[63][64]

Annapurna Animation is an American animation studio and division of Annapurna Pictures, founded by former Blue Sky Studios executives Robert L. Baird and Andrew Millstein on December 1, 2022 and based in North Stamford, Connecticut. The studio's first film Nimona was released on June 30, 2023 on Netflix.

Annapurna Television is a television production company of Annapurna Pictures, launched on September 27, 2016, and was formerly headed by HBO executive Sue Naegle (with her label, Naegle Ink, now part of the division).^[71] In January 2017, it was reported that Annapurna Television would produce the Coen brothers' first TV project, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.^[72]

Annapurna Interactive published its first video game, What Remains of Edith Finch, on April 25, 2017. What Remains of Edith Finch received "universal acclaim" on PC and "generally positive" reviews on PS4, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.^[75] Since 2017, Annapurna Interactive has also been responsible for publishing games including Twelve Minutes, Donut County, Kentucky Route Zero, Outer Wilds, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Wattam, Telling Lies, Neon White and Stray. The publisher has also provided funding and publication support for The Artful Escape by Beethoven & Dinosaur,^[76] Ashen by A44 and Gorogoa by Jason Roberts.

Annapurna Theatre produces plays and live shows on, and off-Broadway.

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