Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate. Since the dawn of filmmaking, the U.S. major film studios have dominated both American cinema and the global film industry. U.S. studios have benefited from a strong first-mover advantage in that they were the first to industrialize filmmaking and master the art of mass-producing and distributing high-quality films with broad cross-cultural appeal. Today, the Big Five majors – Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, and Columbia Pictures – routinely distribute hundreds of films every year into all significant international markets (that is, where discretionary income is high enough for consumers to afford to watch films). It is "nearly impossible" for a film to reach a broad international theatrical audience without being first picked up by one of the majors for distribution. Overview The current "Big Five" majors all originate with film studios that were active during Hollywood's "Golden Age". Three of these were among that original era's "Big Eight" major film studios. In the case of two of them – Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. – each of these is not only one of today's "Big Five" but was also part of the original "Big Five" (from among those Big Eight) in that "Golden Age", along with RKO Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and 20th Century Fox. In one case – Universal Pictures – this studio was, during that early era, also considered a major but in the lower tier: one of the members of the "Little Three" (among those original Big Eight). The other two of the Little Three, which had each later grown to major status, were United Artists – a former distribution company for several independent producers, it later began producing its own films and was then acquired by MGM in 1981 – and Columbia Pictures – it produced and distributed films and was eventually merged in 1987 with