Spyglass Media Group

Background
Spyglass Entertainment was a production company founded by Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber in 1998 after the former left Caravan Pictures. In 2010, Barber and Birnbaum became co-Chairs and co-CEOs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, just as the company was recovering from bankruptcy, and due to that Spyglass's releases became heavily scaled back before bowing out entirely in early 2012. On March 13, 2019, Barber and Lantern Entertainment relaunched the company as Spyglass Media Group, a successor to The Weinstein Company with Cineworld, Eagle Pictures USA, and later Warner Bros. coming in as minority investors.

(June 4, 1999-February 10, 2012)
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Nickname: "The Spyglass"

Logo: We see an ocean environment with mountains in the background on a portable telescope. The ocean then disappears, revealing that a man is looking through the telescope to the right on the ocean background. "SPYGLASS", in Roman-esque lettering and transparent 3D glass texture, appears from behind the mountains and moves above the man. Then a box zooms out surrounding the man on a black screen, with "ENTERTAINMENT" wiped in at the bottom of the screen.

Variants:
 * On Instinct (the first movie to use this logo), "SPYGLASS" appears in plain 2D (sans glass texture) from behind the mountains.
 * On 4:3 full-screen prints of films from 2002 until February 10, 2012, starting with Reign of Fire, the logo zooms out to a much farther distance than usual. This is because the latters are shot in 2.39:1 scope.
 * Starting in 2010, coinciding with a music change (see Music/Sounds), the glass texture on the "SPYGLASS" text is replaced with a shiny blue/white 3D lettering with golden outline, and the water ripples on the ocean are more realistic.

FX/SFX: Nice combo of live-action and CGI animation! This was done by Picture Mill.

Music/Sounds: Either a wonderful dramatic piano/string tune (composed by Randy Edelman, who also composed the fanfare for Spyglass's predecessor, Caravan Pictures) or the intro of a movie. Sometimes, it's silent. On The Sixth Sense, the sounds of the water waving and water splashes are heard. In 2010, starting with the movie Leap Year, the theme is re-orchestrated and sounds more powerful. It is also in a different key.

Music/Sounds Variant: On AMC's print of Shanghai Noon, the logo is low pitched.

Availability: Very common. It's seen on Spyglass movies from 1999 to 2012. It also appears on the company's website.

Editor's Note: A wonderful successor to the Caravan Pictures logo that lasted 13 years.

(July 26, 2019- )
Nickname: "The Spyglass II"

Logo: It's basically an enhanced and more realistic version of the previous logo. Like the previous logo, the ocean is reflected in the telescope lens, with the mountains being further back this time around. "SPYGLASS" is glassier/silvery and appears behind the man's telescope as opposed to the background, the ocean background is more realistic, the background becomes blue-toned as soon as the box starts zooming out. Finally, the words "MEDIA GROUP" fade in with a wiping effect, in silvery 3D, replacing "ENTERTAINMENT" from the previous logo.

FX/SFX: Stunning CGI animation. It's a fantastic update to the 1999 logo.

Music/Sounds: So far, the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: It was first seen on international prints of The Current War, and was also seen on the film's US re-release as well as future films produced by the company.

Editor's Note: This logo is a great way to bring the previous logo into the 21st century.