1991–1992: Foundation and early releases
Dimension Films was officially founded in 1992 under its parent company Miramax Films by Bob Weinstein as a label to distribute horror films and other films deemed "disreputable" for release under the Miramax Films title.[4] The Weinsteins had released similar titles under a smaller operation called Millimeter Films from 1988 to 1992.
The first release under the Dimension Films label was the sequel film Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, released theatrically in the United States in 1992, followed by Stuart Gordon's sci-fi thriller Fortress, and the sequel Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, both released the same year.
1993–1999: Disney's acquisition of Miramax
On June 30, 1993, The Walt Disney Company purchased Miramax Films, who had been facing financial troubles between 1990 and 1992, prior to their acquisition and release of The Crying Game, which earned the company US$60million. The success of The Crying Game made Miramax Films attractive to Disney, who officially bought the company in 1993, resulting in Dimension Films becoming a Disney subsidiary.
After the box-office failure of Mother's Boys (1994) starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Dimension Films distributed Miramax Films' The Crow (1994), which would garner Dimension Films its first major commercial success. In 1995, Dimension Films acquired the rights to the Halloween film series, releasing the sixth installment Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers in September that year. The release of From Dusk till Dawn (1996) would mark the beginning of a working relationship with director Robert Rodriguez as well as a lucrative franchise, with several sequels to follow.
Dimension Films would gain greater exposure with its distribution of Wes Craven's Scream, released on December 20, 1996, which became a major box office hit, grossing $173million worldwide.[5] The company also produced and distributed its sequel, Scream 2, released the following year, which grossed a comparable $172million.[6]
Dimension Films continued its trend of releasing horror and science fiction films, specifically films aimed at teenagers and young adult audiences, with the releases of Phantoms (1998) and the Halloween sequel Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), the latter of which garnered the company another commercial success. The company released its second film with director Robert Rodriguez, the teen sci-fi film The Faculty, on Christmas Day 1998. In 1999, Dimension Films distributed David Cronenberg's eXistenZ and Scream-writer Kevin Williamson's directorial debut Teaching Mrs. Tingle.
2000–2004: Post-millennium releases
Dimension Films' first post-millennium release was the direct-to-video From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. Next was Scream 3 (2000), which was theatrically released like its predecessors.[7] In July 2000, the company released the slasher parody film Scary Movie, which grossed a record-breaking $278million for the company and marked the beginning of another popular film series. 2001 saw the release of the Robert Rodriguez-directed Spy Kids, which was the company's first major children's film. The film would spawn another popular franchise for the company.
Beginning in 2000, Dimension Films began purchasing North American distribution rights to various international productions. Their 2001 release of The Others, a Spanish-produced supernatural thriller starring Nicole Kidman, was a surprise success for the company. Other international productions purchased by Dimension Films included two additional horror films by Spanish director Jaume Balagueró: The Nameless (1999), and Darkness (2002). Darkness received a North American theatrical release in December 2004 after being shelved for two years, and proved to be a financial success,[8]
2005–2018: Separation from Miramax
In 2005, the Weinstein brothers purchased the rights to Dimension Films from Disney, and Dimension Films officially became a subsidiary of The Weinstein Company (TWC), established the same year.[10]
After its separation from Miramax Films, Dimension Films would co-produce several titles with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), including the horror remakes The Amityville Horror (2005),[11] Black Christmas (2006),[12] and Halloween (2007),[13] as well as the Stephen King-based thrillers 1408 and The Mist (both 2007).[14]
Bankruptcy
In 2018, TWC was purchased in a bankruptcy auction by Lantern Entertainment.
On December 20, 2019, ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Skydance Corporation) announced that they would acquire 49% of Miramax from beIN Media Group for at least $375million, with Paramount Pictures gaining exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the Miramax library, including the pre-2005 Dimension films.[23] ViacomCBS and Miramax will also co-produce new content based on titles from the Miramax library. The deal closed on April 3, 2020.[24]
