STX Entertainment

Did You Know?

• STX bought the international distribution rights to The Irishman for $50 million.
• In July 2022, STX Entertainment's U.K. offices, including the London office housing STXinternational's headquarters, were gradually shutting down.
• The division STX International was launched in April 2016 with a slate of six films including Breathe, Home Again, and Wind River.

History

In 2012, Robert Simonds and Bill McGlashan began developing a media company centered on producing medium-budget star-driven projects, a strategy that had become less common among Hollywood studios. This led to the launch of STX Entertainment in 2014, with the name derived from Simonds, TPG Growth, and "secret project." The company aimed to finance, develop, produce, market, and distribute star-driven content globally. Investors included Hony Capital, Tencent, PCCW, TPG Growth, RTL Group, and Liberty Global, along with individual investors Gigi Pritzker, Beau Wrigley, and Dominic Ng. In September 2017, STX considered an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, potentially valuing the company at $3.5 billion after raising $500 million. The company filed for an IPO in April 2018 but called it off in October 2018, citing the China–U.S. trade war and turbulence in the mainland Chinese equity market. A co-funding agreement with Huayi Brothers Media lapsed at the end of 2018, and co-founder Bill McGlashan was fired in April 2019 after being indicted in the college admissions bribery scandal. In April 2020, STX announced a merger with Indian studio Eros International, which closed on July 30, 2020, forming ErosSTX. The combined company raised $125 million in new equity and received $350 million in credit led by JPMorgan.

STX Films

At launch, STX Films secured direct distribution agreements with North American theater chains including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Goodrich, Marcus Theatres, and Carmike Cinemas. In early 2015, the division signed a multiyear television output agreement with Showtime Networks for premium television windows through 2019. In April 2015, STX entered a multiyear partnership with Universal Studios Home Entertainment for Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD distribution in North America, later transferring distribution to Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture between Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. That same month, STX closed a three-year slate deal with Huayi Brothers to co-produce and co-distribute 12 to 15 films annually. In January 2017, STX signed a marketing and distribution agreement with EuropaCorp Films USA. In February 2018, STX announced it would distribute Martin Scorsese's The Irishman in China with Media Asia Entertainment Group. In May 2018, STX agreed to distribute and oversee production of Tencent Pictures' Zombie Brother adaptation. In July 2018, STX acquired domestic distribution rights to The Best of Enemies. In August 2023, STX formed a domestic distribution partnership with Lionsgate. In January 2026, STX re-emerged with plans for two or three movies in 2026 and six to eight movies in 2027.

STX Television

STX Television's first project was the 2014 drama-thriller State of Affairs, a 13-episode series sold to NBC. In 2015, the division produced the NBC pilot Problem Child, based on the 1990 film. In April 2016, STX TV expanded into unscripted and reality content by hiring veteran TV producer Jason Goldberg. The variety show Number One Surprise, created for Chinese broadcast, premiered in November 2016 on Hunan TV and digital platforms, accumulating nearly 300 million views and becoming the number one show in China with over 1 billion views by January 2017. In May 2017, STX TV acquired the first TV project from Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians, which received a script-to-series order from Amazon Studios in August 2018. In July 2017, E! greenlit the reality series The Platinum Life. In November 2017, STX TV announced Valley of the Boom, a six-part docudrama about the 1990s tech boom, which premiered on NatGeo on January 13, 2019. The division produced season 23 of True Life for MTV in 2017 and the docuseries A Little Too Farr for Verizon's go90. In February 2018, Fox and STX TV began developing an unscripted series based on the film Bad Moms. In April 2018, Mother Media Group signed a first-look deal with STX TV. Netflix ordered a six-episode series of STX TV's hybrid docudrama Rise of Empires: Ottoman, which premiered on January 24, 2020. YouTube Red also produced a TV spinoff based on STX's 2016 film The Edge of Seventeen.

STX Alternative

STX Alternative, the digital division, focuses on digital programming, partnerships, and distribution, including live events and virtual reality. In August 2016, STX acquired the VR creator and distributor Surreal, renaming it STX Surreal. Surreal produced over 70 immersive VR experiences in its first year. In 2017, STX Surreal was nominated for an interactive Daytime Emmy Award for Nickelodeon's Ultimate Halloween Haunted House 360 Challenge and won a Shorty Award for Best Use of 360 Video for its 360° production of the 68th Emmy Awards. In June 2017, STX Surreal partnered with Horizon Media to develop VR content for its UNCVR unit. In 2018, STX Surreal announced original projects including New Tricks directed by Ed Helms, The Kiev Exchange as a spin-off of Mile 22, Jay and Silent Bob VR by Kevin Smith, and untitled projects from Dave Bautista and Derek Kolstad. Robert Rodriguez's VR film The Limit, starring Michelle Rodriguez, was released in November 2018. In December 2017, Dick Clark Productions sold Chinese distribution rights to the Golden Globe Awards and New Year's Rockin' Eve to STX Digital, which partnered with Tencent Video. In December 2018, the renamed STX Alternative signed a first-look deal with Tracey Edmonds; the first project, Games People Play, premiered on BET on April 23, 2019.