Focus Features is Universal's "indie film" arm, similar to Disney's Searchlight Pictures and Sony's Sony Pictures Classics, in that it tends to release lower-profile or lower-budget movies that Universal normally wouldn't release.
Its origins go back to 1992, when Universal started FF's direct ancestor, Gramercy Pictures, as a joint venture with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, who eventually bought Universal's half in 1996. When Seagram's bought PolyGram and merged it with Universal, it spunoff Gramercy and October Films (an independent firm founded in 1991 that Universal had bought a controlling stake in in 1997) to Barry Diller, who had recently bought USA Network from them- they were merged together with PolyGram's former video arm as USA Films. It had a few releases in this period including Wet Hot American Summer. Meanwhile, to fill the void, Universal founded Universal Focus and bought out another indie distributor, Good Machine.note When Diller sold Studios USA (including USA, Syfy, the then-former Universal Television, and USA Films) back to Uni, they merged USA Films, Universal Focus and Good Machine together, forming Focus Features.
They've been chugging away since then, responsible for acclaimed films such as Being John Malkovich, Brokeback Mountain, Atonement, and Milk, occasionally coming out with a movie like Coraline. They hold responsibility for their predecessors' library and from 2004 to 2008 oversaw Rogue Pictures until it was sold to Relativity Media (though Rogue's library during that period stayed with Focus); they have also recently revived Gramercy Pictures as well to fill Rogue's old role. They also handle distribution of the Savoy Pictures library, which they acquired in 2006 (HBO was the original distributor of Savoy material).
Fun fact: They also distributed The Return of the Pink Panther on DVD because the film was co-produced by ITC and Universal currently holds the rights to said film.
List of films distributed by Focus Features:
- Seven Days In Entebbe (2018)
- 8 Women (2002)
- 9 (2009)
- Admission (2013)
- Agora (2009)
- The American (2010)
- The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
- Anemone (2025)
- Anora (2024; only outside the U.S. and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, France and Israel)
- Asteroid City (2023)
- Atomic Blonde (2017)
- Atonement (2007)
- Away We Go (2009)
- Bad Words (2013)
- The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)
- The Beguiled (2017)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Belfast (2021)
- The Big Lebowski (1998; in later home video releases)
- The Bikeriders (2024; acquired distribution rights from 20th Century Studios)
- Black Bag (2025)
- BlacKkKlansman (2018; with Legendary Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, and Beijing Perfect World Pictures)
- Black Sea (2014)
- The Boat That Rocked (2009; distributed in the U.S. as Pirate Radio)
- The Book of Henry (2017)
- Boy Erased (2018)
- Brick (2005)
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Broken Flowers (2005)
- The Brutalist (2024; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Bugonia (2025)
- Burn After Reading (2008)
- Captive State (2019)
- The Card Counter (2021)
- Champions (2023)
- Come Play (2020)
- Conclave (2024)
- The Constant Gardener (2005)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000; with Sony Pictures Classics through Good Machine International)
- Cuckoo (2024; in some countries)
- Curse of the Golden Flower (2006; European and Australian distribution only)
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
- Dan in Real Life (2007; with Touchstone Pictures)
- The Danish Girl (2015)
- Darkest Hour (2017)
- Dark Waters (2019)
- Dazed and Confused (1993; in later home video releases)
- The Dead Don't Die (2019)
- The Debt (2010)
- Dìdi (2024)
- A Different Man (2024; in some countries)
- Downton Abbey (2019)
- Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)
- Drive-Away Dolls (2024)
- The Eagle (2011)
- Eastern Promises (2007)
- Eddington (2025; in some countries)
- Emma. (2020)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Far from Heaven (2002)
- Fearless (2006; with Rogue Pictures, American and European distribution only)
- Fifty Shades of Grey (2015; original movie only)
- For a Good Time, Call... (2012)
- A Ghost Story (2017; in some countries)
- Greta (2018)
- Hamlet 2 (2008)
- Hamnet (2025)
- Hanna (2011)
- Harriet (2019)
- The Holdovers (2023; with Miramax Films)
- Hollywoodland (2006; with Miramax Films)
- Honey Don't! (2025)
- House of Flying Daggers (2004; European and Australian distribution only)
- Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
- The Ice Harvest (2005)
- I Love Boosters (2026; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- In Bruges (2008)
- In the Mood for Love (2000; North American distribution only, since expired)
- Infinity Pool (2023; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Inside (2023; US and Canada distribution)
- Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
- Irresistible (2020)
- It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
- Jane Eyre (2011)
- Kajillionaire (2020)
- The Kids Are All Right (2010)
- Lady Bird (2017; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The first four films of Laika (distribution rights only, since expired)
- Coraline (2009)
- ParaNorman (2012)
- The Boxtrolls (2014)
- Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
- Last Breath (2025)
- Last Night in Soho (2021)
- The Lesson (2023)
- Let Him Go (2020)
- Licorice Pizza (2021; with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- The Lighthouse (2019; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The Limits of Control (2009)
- Lisa Frankenstein (2023)
- The Little Stranger (2018)
- London Has Fallen (2016)
- Lost in Translation (2003)
- Loving (2016)
- Lust, Caution (2007)
- Manchester by the Sea (2016; in some countries)
- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021; UK distribution)
- Mary Magdalene (2018)
- Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)
- MaXXXine (2024; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Milk (2008)
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
- Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
- The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
- A Monster Calls (2016)
- Mr. Turner (2014)
- The Mustang (2019)
- My Little Eye (2002)
- My Summer of Love (2004)
- Ned Kelly (2003)
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
- Nocturnal Animals (2016)
- The Northman (2022)
- Nosferatu (2024)
- Obsession (2026)
- One Day (2011)
- On the Basis of Sex (2018)
- Orgazmo (1997; home video)
- The Other Boleyn Girl (2008; with Columbia Pictures)
- Pariah (2011)
- Phantom Thread (2017)
- The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
- The Pianist (2002)
- Piece by Piece (2024)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
- Polite Society (2023)
- Pride & Prejudice (2005)
- Prime (2005)
- Profile (2018)
- Promising Young Woman (2020)
- Race (2016)
- Red Rocket (2021; only outside the U.S. and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, France and Israel)
- The Red Turtle (2016; Asian distribution only)
- The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
- Rory O'Shea Was Here (2004)
- Scoop (2006)
- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
- Self/Less (2015)
- A Serious Man (2009)
- The Shape of Things (2003)
- Sinister 2 (2015)
- Sin Nombre (2009)
- The Sisters Brothers (2018; in some countries)
- Something New (2006)
- Somewhere (2010)
- Song Sung Blue (2025)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- Suffragette (2015)
- Swimming Pool (2003)
- Taking Woodstock (2009)
- Tár (2022)
- That Awkward Moment (2014)
- The Theory of Everything (2014)
- Thirst (2009)
- Thoroughbreds (2017)
- A Thousand And One (2023)
- The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy films:
- Shaun of the Dead (2004; home video, 20th anniversary release)
- Hot Fuzz (2007; home video)
- The World's End (2013)
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
- Tully (2018)
- 21 Grams (2003)
- Vanity Fair (2004)
- Vengeance (2022)
- Victoria & Abdul (2017)
- Waves (2019; only outside the U.S. and Canada)
- The Way I See It (2020)
- Werwulf (2026)
- Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
- The Young Messiah (2016)
- The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
List of films distributed by Focus World:
- Cop Car (2015)
- In a Valley of Violence (2016)
- A Little Chaos (2014)
- Maps to the Stars (2014)
- Mr. Right (2015)
- Raw (2016)