Its origins go back to 1992, when Universal started FF's direct ancestor, Gramercy Pictures, as a joint venture with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, who eventually bought Universal's half in 1996. When Seagram's bought PolyGram and merged it with Universal, it spunoff Gramercy and October Films (an independent firm founded in 1991 that Universal had bought a controlling stake in in 1997) to Barry Diller, who had recently bought USA Network from them- they were merged together with PolyGram's former video arm as USA Films. It had a few releases in this period including Wet Hot American Summer. Meanwhile, to fill the void, Universal founded Universal Focus and bought out another indie distributor, Good Machine. When Diller sold Studios USA (including USA, Syfy, the then-former Universal Television, and USA Films) back to Uni, they merged USA Films, Universal Focus and Good Machine together, forming Focus Features.
They've been chugging away since then, responsible for acclaimed films such as Being John Malkovich, Brokeback Mountain, Atonement, and Milk, occasionally coming out with a movie like Coraline. They hold responsibility for their predecessors' library and from 2004 to 2008 oversaw Rogue Pictures until it was sold to Relativity Media (though Rogue's library during that period stayed with Focus); they have also recently revived Gramercy Pictures as well to fill Rogue's old role. They also handle distribution of the Savoy Pictures library, which they acquired in 2006 (HBO was the original distributor of Savoy material).
Fun fact: They also distributed The Return of the Pink Panther on DVD because the film was co-produced by ITC and Universal currently holds the rights to said film.
List of films distributed by Focus Features:
- 8 Women (2002)
- 9 (2009)
- Admission (2013)
- Agora (2009)
- The American (2010)
- Asteroid City (2023)
- Atomic Blonde (2017)
- Atonement (2007)
- Away We Go (2009)
- Bad Words (2013)
- The Beguiled (2017)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Belfast (2021)
- The Big Lebowski (1998; in some home video releases)
- BlacKkKlansman (2018; with Legendary Pictures and Blumhouse Productions)
- Black Sea (2014)
- The Boat That Rocked (2009; distributed in the U.S. as Pirate Radio)
- The Book of Henry (2017)
- Boy Erased (2018)
- Brick (2005)
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Broken Flowers (2005)
- Burn After Reading (2008)
- Captive State (2019)
- Champions (2023)
- Come Play (2020)
- The Constant Gardener (2005)
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
- Dan in Real Life (2007; with Touchstone Pictures)
- The Danish Girl (2015)
- Darkest Hour (2017)
- Dark Waters (2019)
- The Dead Don't Die (2019)
- The Debt (2010)
- Downton Abbey (2019)
- Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
- The Eagle (2011)
- Eastern Promises (2007)
- Emma. (2020)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Far from Heaven (2002)
- Fifty Shades of Grey (2015; original movie only)
- For a Good Time, Call... (2012)
- A Ghost Story (2017; in some countries)
- Greta (2018)
- Hamlet 2 (2008)
- Hanna (2011)
- Harriet (2019)
- Hollywoodland (2006; with Miramax Films)
- Hot Fuzz (2007; home video)
- Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
- The Ice Harvest (2005)
- In Bruges (2008)
- Infinity Pool (2023; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Inside (2023; US and Canada distribution)
- Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
- Irresistible (2020)
- It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
- Jane Eyre (2011)
- Kajillionaire (2020)
- The Kids Are All Right (2010)
- Lady Bird (2017; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The first four films of Laika (distribution rights only, since expired)
- Coraline (2009)
- ParaNorman (2004)
- The Boxtrolls (2014)
- Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
- Last Night in Soho (2021)
- Let Him Go (2020)
- The Lighthouse (2019; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The Limits of Control (2009)
- The Little Stranger (2018)
- London Has Fallen (2016)
- Lost in Translation (2003)
- Loving (2016)
- Lust, Caution (2007)
- Manchester by the Sea (2016; in some countries)
- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021; UK distribution)
- Mary Magdalene (2018)
- Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)
- Milk (2008)
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
- Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
- The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
- A Monster Calls (2016)
- Mr. Turner (2014)
- The Mustang (2019)
- My Little Eye (2002)
- My Summerof Love (2004)
- Ned Kelly (2003)
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
- Nocturnal Animals (2016)
- The Northman (2022)
- One Day (2011)
- On the Basis of Sex (2018)
- The Other Boleyn Girl (2008; with Columbia Pictures)
- Pariah (2011)
- Phantom Thread (2017)
- The Pianist (2002)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
- Polite Society (2023)
- Pride & Prejudice (2005)
- Prime (2005)
- Profile (2018)
- Promising Young Woman (2020)
- Race (2016)
- Red Rocket (2021; only outside the U.S. and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, France and Israel)
- The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
- Rory O'Shea Was Here (2004)
- Scoop (2006)
- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
- Self/Less (2015)
- A Serious Man (2009)
- The Shape of Things (2003)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004; home video)
- Sinister 2 (2015)
- Sin Nombre (2009)
- The Sisters Brothers (2018; in some countries)
- Something New (2006)
- Somewhere (2010)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Suffragette (2015)
- Swimming Pool (2003)
- Taking Woodstock (2009)
- Tár (2022)
- That Awkward Moment (2014)
- The Theory of Everything (2014)
- Thirst (2009)
- Thoroughbreds (2017)
- A Thousand And One (2023)
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
- Tully (2018)
- 21 Grams (2003)
- Vanity Fair (2004)
- Vengeance (2022)
- Victoria & Abdul (2017)
- Waves (2019; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The Way I See It (2020)
- Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
- The World's End (2013)
- The Young Messiah (2016)
- The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
List of films distributed by Focus World:
- Cop Car (2015)
- In a Valley of Violence (2016)
- A Little Chaos (2014)
- Maps to the Stars (2014)
- Mr. Right (2015)
- Raw (2016)
