Mars Films

Mars Films, also known as Mars Distribution, is a French motion picture company. It was established as an independent company by Stéphane Célérier and Valérie Garcia in 2007. It was acquired in 2021 by Vivendi, whose Canal+ subsidiary StudioCanal now operates its extensive library.

A former distribution subsidiary of BAC Films, Mars Films was acquired at 80 percent by StudioCanal in 2000 and served as the French distribution outfit for films financed and produced by StudioCanal. In 2002, StudioCanal bought it out entirely, retaining Stéphane Célérier as head. Célérier was ousted in November 2006 and replaced by Philippe Désandré, with Mars Films renamed to StudioCanal Distribution. At the time, it was classed as the fifth most popular distributor in 2006 with a 9.7% market share (or 15.3m admissions for 28 titles released). Célérier went on to reclaim the name and set up, in 2007, an independent company with Valérie Garcia.

In September 2015, Vivendi, the parent company of Groupe Canal+ (which operates StudioCanal), announced it had acquired a 30 percent stake in Mars Films. Stéphane Célérier was appointed vice-chairman of StudioCanal as part of the deal. At the time, Mars Films was again ranked as the fifth largest distributor in France.

Mars Films' catalogue includes the comedy-drama La Famille Bélier, which became a hit in France and was remade into the Academy Award-winning CODA; Two Is a Family with Omar Sy; Fred Cavayé's Nothing to Hide, François Ozon's In the House, Régis Roinsard's Populaire, Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties, Costa-Gavras' Capital. It also picked up the French distribution for several successful indie titles from the U.S. such Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, Craig Gillespie's I, Tonya (2017), Matt Ross' Captain Fantastic (2016), Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Jeff Nichols' Loving, and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love, Magic in the Moonlight and Blue Jasmine.

On 1 August 2019, the company went into receivership after it stopped paying creditors. It was ordered by the Tribunal de commerce de Paris to restructure. On 11 August 2021, minority shareholder Vivendi acquired the remaining 70% share of Mars Films from May Holding. It also acquired its library of more than 200 titles for all rights in France, which is now fully operated by StudioCanal. Vivendi's paid a total of €17.3 million in its acquisition of Mars Films and laid off its 11 employees. The court ruling stated that the company "will now be focused on the distribution of its library titles and will limit the number of new films released". Upon its restructuring, Variety wrote, "So far, no other French company has managed to fill the gap left by Mars Films as a key purveyor of U.S. independent films." In 2022, Célérier went on to launch a new production company named Gemma Pictures with PGS Entertainment. That same year, Garcia launched her own company Gabman.