I went to see “Master and Commander” a few evenings ago (magnificent film — don’t miss it) and was intrigued by the fact that it is being distributed jointly by 20th Century-Fox, Miramax and Universal. Not knowing the ins and outs of the industry, my question is simple: why would a movie need more than one, to say nothing of three, distributors? It’s by no means the first time: I recall “Popeye” having been distributed by both Paramount and Disney.
What you see in the credits are production houses, not studios. To defray costs on a big movie, the 3 studios front up with varying amounts of cash and take back proportionate amounts of the profits.
Also, different studios use different distributors e.g. Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks use UIP while Disney (and Touchstone) uses their subsidiary Buena Vista. It’s a complicated world.
Different distributers may handle different regions or markets (or countries). Company X may pick up the rights to distribute a movie in the US but not have the resourses or ability to market it in Europe. So in comes Company Y to handle the Eoropean market, and maybe Company Z to handle Australia or wherever.