United International Pictures

This article is about the international film distributor. For the earlier grindhouse film distributor of the same name, see United International Pictures Inc.

Credits

Descriptions by
Supermarty-o and TheLogoFan2004

Captures by
Logoboy95, Eric S., Sagan Blob, and EnormousRat

Video captures courtesy of
Eric S., DJ_Arkangel, EnormousRat, Logo Archive and LogicSmash

Background

United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that was founded to distribute some of the two studio's films theatrically outside the United States (including territories), Canada and the Caribbean Basin. It also had rights to distribute films from DreamWorks Pictures (which had international releases handled by UIP through Universal from 1997-2005 and later would be owned by Viacom from 2005-08) and independent filmmakers. The company was formed in 1981 after MGM purchased UA and merged its international distribution and sales arm with what was then called "Cinema International Corporation", who once had a video division, CIC Video; with releases after November 1 that year falling under the UIP banner. However, UIP did not begin using a logo until the year after it was formed in 1982. Walt Disney/Buena Vista International continued their distribution deals with UIP (Paramount) in Italy until 1991 (when it began using Columbia Tri-Star as an Italian outlet for its titles), and in such nations as Turkey and Brazil. BVI also distributed UIP releases in Finland until 2006 when Finnkino took over distribution from BVI in that region. UIP also co-financed and distributed Denzel Washington's 1989 film, For Queen and Country, with Rank, and in the late 80s, UIP also formed the organization which would later become UCI Cinemas together with United Artists Theaters and AMC Theatres. When DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1994 that studio was added to UIP's release slate, due to its distribution arrangement with Universal, and when Orion Pictures was purchased by MGM in 1997, it was also added to UIP's distribution slate (most Orion titles were distributed by other companies such as Rank and Svensk Filmindustri at that time; because of this the only title UIP released from Orion was Storefront Hitchcock, released in 1998).

In November 2000, MGM, one of the original founders, left UIP, and its international theatrical distribution rights were assumed by 20th Century Fox, with MGM's final release under the UIP banner being Return to Me a few months prior in June 2000. At the start of 2007, the company was split up between Paramount and Universal in certain territories. In France, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK, United International Pictures was renamed to "Paramount Pictures". In Germany, Italy, and other countries, United International Pictures was renamed to "Universal Pictures". Currently, the company continues to operate in smaller countries such as Argentina, Denmark, Turkey, South Africa, Hungary, and Malaysia (thanks to a 2010 reorganization). UIP has also distributed a number of local productions in several countries.

1st Logo (1982-1997)

Logo: On a black/blue gradient background, a small white light appears in the center, stretching into 8 points as it starts glow brighter. When it dies down, it reveals a golden monolith, which resembles the letters "UiP" conjoined into one condensed symbol, zooming in while facing the left. As it slows to a crawl, it turns its position to face the screen and "UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES" fades in below in a ITC Garamond font. A small glare appears on the "P" part of the logo.

Technique: Model work and chroma-keying.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Possibly common outside of the US.

• It was seen on theatrical releases of Paramount/Universal/MGM/UA films outside of North America. However, most home video prints of their films released in Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Oceania by CIC Video, Warner Home Video, and MGM/UA Home Video do not keep this logo, as they likely use US prints converted into PAL format for countries that use PAL.
• Some films, however, would use a print that had mandatory content edits by the countries' rating council for distribution, and some VHS/DVD/TV releases would use these prints meaning this logo may be intact.
• The easiest place to find this is on international trailers for these films on some VHS tapes, such as Carry On Columbus and Bébé's Kids.
• This can be currently seen on the Blu-ray releases of Thesis, Vacas, the German trailers for Dragonheart, Havana, the UK trailer for The Living Daylights (which can be found on the UK VHS of Baby Boom along with the SE and UE DVDs of the former), most home video releases of Biggles: Adventures in Time (including the U.S. DVD from Image Entertainment), and the Australian TV airing of Crocodile Dundee II (though the Australian DVD release doesn't have it).
• This is also seen on the Celebrity/Just for Kids video release of Stowaways on the Ark, as well as the original 1989 UK VHS of License To Kill, and the Canadian Malofilm VHS and U.S. Platinum Disc Corporation DVD of Money.
• On international prints of Universal titles with DTS sound (back when the 1st DTS trailer was built into the first reel of Universal's movies, even non-DTS prints before it was decided to make it a separate trailer), such as Jurassic Park, this preceded the DTS logo.
• In the UK and Ireland, if you go to see a 35mm screening of a Paramount/Universal/MGM/UA film from c.1985-1997, this logo will show up before it - it was seen before 35mm showings of Darkman and True Lies.

2nd Logo (1997-2001)

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Logo: On a black background, a translucent version of the UiP logo zooms out and rotates to face the screen, featuring gold borders as a blue spotlight appears in the middle of the screen. The spotlight brightens as the shining on the model gets brighter as well, before turning into a solid gold. "UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES" appears below in the same font as before as the logo shimmers.

Variants:

• There is a variant in which the URL "www.uip.com" fades in below the logo.
• A trailer variant exists where the UIP logo flips up. There is no text below the logo.
• An Italian intermission variant exists, where the word "INTERVALLO" can be seen under the UIP logo. This can be seen on longer films that UIP distributed in Italy, a country that has never stopped doing intermissions during movies.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Uncommon outside of the US.

• This appeared on UIP-distributed films outside of the US like The Rugrats Movie, Antz, and The Green Mile, among others before either the Paramount, Universal, or DreamWorks logos appeared.
• It was also seen on international releases of MGM, United Artists, and Orion Pictures films until 2001 when 20th Century Fox took over distribution in those territories.
• The easiest place to find this is on international trailers for these films. Most international home video and TV prints of these do not have this logo, as they likely use US prints converted into PAL format.
• This has also been spotted on trailers for Selkie and Siam Sunset as well as European trailers of films released by Paramount, DreamWorks, Universal, MGM/UA, and Orion.
• This has most recently turned up on the Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray of Cut, the UK trailer for Pitch Black on the Arrow Films Blu-ray, and 4K UHD releases of the latter.
• In the UK and Ireland, if you go to see a 35mm screening of a Universal/Paramount/MGM/UA/Orion/DreamWorks movie from between 1997-2001, this logo will be shown before it - it was seen before a 35mm showing of The Apostle.

3rd Logo (2001-2003)

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Logo: On a black/blue gradient background, white pieces of the UiP logo zoom out and tilt into position, with the rectangular "dot" of the "i" coming in last, as a teal square with 3 rounded corners appears behind it, with the logo positioned in the upper left corner. It zooms out to the left with the edges of it shining and tilts a bit to face the screen straight-on, along with the square darkening quite a bit as well. The text "united international pictures" appears on the right, in a white Praxis Light font in all lowercase letters, along with a URL below it all. The background then fades to black as the logo becomes a flat 2D image.

Variants:

• A trailer variant has the logo begin with the last few seconds.
• Like with the previous logo, there exists an Italian intermission variant, where the word "intervallo" can be seen next to the UIP logo. Again, this can be seen on longer films that UIP distributed in Italy.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare.

• Appeared on several UIP distributed films before either the Paramount, Universal or DreamWorks logos on films released.
• Most international home video and TV prints of these do not have this logo, as they likely use US prints converted into PAL format.
• This logo is extremely rare on U.S. releases, but the long version has been spotted on the First Look Home Entertainment DVD of Elling, and an iTunes Spain print of La Flaqueza del Bolchevique (2003).
• Again, the easiest place to find this is on international trailers for these films.
• In the UK and Ireland, if you go to see a 35mm screening of a Universal/Paramount/DreamWorks movie from between 2001-2003, this logo will show up before it (Shrek being one such release).
• It also precedes the first DreamWorks Animation logo on British theatrical prints of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
• Also appeared on a Toggle.sg print of the Singaporean movie One Leg Kicking (which has since been removed).

4th Logo (November 27, 2003-2007, 2010-2018)

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Logo: On a white background, different rounded blocks zoom in from white mist, first sparsely before rapidly picking up the pace. As the camera pans around, these blocks are shown forming up the UIP logo from before, but the entire logo is in blue and the URL is in Helvetica, as well as under the logo. As the camera finishes turning around, the last few blocks come in to fill up the logo, leaving an end result that has several small cuts in it.

Variant:

• There is a short version of this logo.
• On some trailers, the print logo is seen on a blue background.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A three-note synth drone that is held throughout the logo, accompanied by "whoosh" noises as the blocks fly past. Usually, however, it's silent.

Availability: See 3rd logo.

• Was spotted on a bootleg DVD of Shark Tale and an Australian cable broadcast of The Truman Show.
• In the UK and Ireland, if you go to see a 35mm screening of a Universal/Paramount/DreamWorks movie from 2003-2007, this logo will appear before it - it was seen before 35mm showings of Serenity and Team America: World Police, and was also seen on a 35mm print of Shrek 2.
• The long version can be seen on US iTunes and Amazon Prime print of the 2014 Argentinian movie Delirium.
• Starting in 2010, the shortened version of this logo can be found on trailers of movies uploaded by the official UIP YouTube account in certain regions; though this may not be the case for post-2018 releases.
• It makes an unexpected appearance at the start of a recent CBS Europa (Poland) airing of the 2005 TV movie 14 Hours.
• It possibly also appears on Japanese theatrical prints of The Great Wall (2016), and on Turkish theatrical prints of Bad Cat.
• It also appears on South African prints of Dredd (2012), replacing the Entertainment Film Distributors logo seen on British prints.

Final Note: In mid-2007, the UIP branding was retired in most countries and films go through Paramount Pictures International or Universal Pictures International Entertainment. However, the company was reorganized in 2010 and currently distributes films in some smaller nations outside of the US, such as Turkish prints of BVI releases, whom UIP has a deal with in the said country, and theatrical prints of Sony Pictures films in Argentina and Poland.

◄ Cinema International Corporation

United International Pictures