Millennium Media

Background

Millennium Media (formerly known as Millennium Films) was founded by producer Avi Lerner in 1996 as a higher-budget division of Nu Image. Originally owned by First Look Studios overall, once that dissolved in 2010, the company began distributing titles under the "Millennium Entertainment" brand (that asset was later spun off from Nu Image and renamed Alchemy in early 2015).

1st Logo (1998-January 28, 2011)

Logo: On a black background, a stylized blue "M" with a white shadow draws itself. Then the word "MILLENNIUM" wipes in from left to right letter by letter below the "M". "FILMS" (with a line above the word) fades in below "MILLENNIUM".

Technique: Simple drawing animation.

Music/Sounds: None or music from any given soundtrack.

Availability: Common. Seen on Belly of the Beast, 88 Minutes, Derailed (2002), Blind Horizon, The Expendables, Mad Money, Rambo (2008), and 16 Blocks, among others. Made its final appearance on The Mechanic (2011).

2nd Logo (February 25, 2011-)

Logo: On a black background, several red Tetris-like shapes fly in away from the screen and come together in the center to form a red cube, which then rotates into place, revealing a white "M". A flash appears behind the cube, and the word "MILLENNIUM" unfolds. The word "FILMS" fades in a few seconds later.

Trivia: In 2011, this logo ran into legal trouble due to an ongoing graphic design infringement suit filed by Bill Dawson over the M-cube design. The parties later settled an agreement, but during the period, some films lacked the M-cube.

Variants:

Drive Angry (the first film to use this logo) used what was most likely a prototype: the M-cube (a 2D version) simply zooms in slowly as the text unfolds. The normal variant debuted on Conan the Barbarian (2011).
During the lawsuit described above, some films like A Little Bit of Heaven featured only the company name unfolding and nothing more.
On Trespass (2011), The Iceman, and Spiders 3-D among others, nothing appears below "MILLENNIUM".
On some films, such as The Expendables 2 and Olympus Has Fallen, the logo is squished.
Beginning in 2013, the text is squished while the M-cube is not.
Beginning with The Hitman's Bodyguard in 2017, "MEDIA" replaces "FILMS".
A still version exists.
On The Expendables 2 video game, the logo is on a white background.

Technique: The pieces flying in, rotation of the cube, and expanding of the word "MILLENNIUM." Nothing special, but looks better than the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Current. Debuted on Drive Angry and has appeared on every film since.

External links

Millennium Media on Wikipedia.