Destination Films

Background: Destination Films is Sony Pictures' "niche" film arm that was originally founded as an independent film company by Brent Baum and Steve Stabler in 1998. Prior to 2002, their films were released on VHS & DVD by Sony before the company shut down in 2001 due to a string of box office flops before being revived in 2002 as a label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Destination sometimes co-releases films with Sony Pictures Classics, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Triumph Films. Destination's film library includes independent films, art-house films, and a few anime series such as Tekkonkinkreet, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and Metropolis. Currently, it is a label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions since 2007.

(October 22, 1999- )
Nicknames: "Destination Space", "The Revolution", "Abstract Ring", "The Eclipse"

Logo: On a black background with gold haze, we see a planet (presumably the Earth) orbiting around the sun. When the earth comes close to the sun, shadows of the letters "I", "T", "N", "I", "T", and "N" fade in and crowd around the sun and planet. The planet moves into the sun, and the letters, which are now "DESTINATION" in Trajan Pro font, move in. A bright flash occurs, and on a black background, we see the Destination logo, which is two halves of a circle split up by a line. The line has a crescent on one side and a sun on the other. We see the text arranged like this:

DESTINATION F   I    L    M    S

The logo then shines.

FX/SFX: Everything in CGI, which is not bad for 1999.

Music/Sounds: An extended whoosh accompanied by a synth choir. Sometimes it is silent, like on Full Contact. On a print of Streamboy, it had the Screen Gems Pictures music, possibly due to an editing error or cheap plastering. It was most likely when Sony brought the non Japanese rights to the movie, they split the rights between Triumph (USA) and Screen Gems (International) which explains the mess up, but it actually fits the logo.

Availability: Very common. It appears on several films Destination released, such as Bats, Drowning Mona, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Metropolis, Buying the Cow, Steamboy, Eye of the Beholder, Tokyo Godfathers, MirrorMask, and most recently, Accident Man (2018 film). It is unknown if Destination Films had a new logo in 2020.

Editor's Note: None.