Gaumont Columbia TriStar Films

Background

Gaumont Columbia Tristar Films was a joint venture between Gaumont and Columbia Tristar Film Distributors which was formed in 2004 and distributed titles from both parties in France. This venture ended in 2007.

(2004-2007)

Nicknames: "The Flower Torch Lady", "The Daisy Torch Lady"

Logo: On a black background with a big bright light reflected onto it, we see the famous Columbia Torch Lady in front of the Gaumont daisy symbol which spins in a clockwise direction, all on the left of the screen. As the torch's light rays shine in all directions, the two symbols, which were silhouettes at the start, start to reveal their "true colors". The daisy then stops spinning as the background gets filled with time-lapsed clouds. Then, the text "Gaumont Columbia TriStar Films", stacked on top of each other, fade in and emit a shine that goes from left to right. The shine disappears as the text shines and the logo fades out. We then see a copyright notice before it fades out as well.

Technique: The torch shining, the logo revealing itself, the text appearing and shining.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy synth theme that sort of sounds like the 2nd Technicolor logo. Silence for the short version.

Availability: Was seen on French theatrical prints of export films released by Columbia-TriStar/Sony Pictures, as well as titles from Gaumont. The long version was spotted on a French bootleg theater recording of Spider-Man 3, and was seen in HQ on a trailer for L’Empire Des Loups. This was removed from most French home video/TV prints of these films, but can be seen on French trailers on R2 DVDs or on European trailer websites.

Legacy: This was actually a really good attempt at fusing the two companies. Too bad it didn't last long, though.