Criterion Collection

Overview

The Criterion Collection is a New York-based home entertainment company that publishes definitive Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, DVD, and digital editions of classic and contemporary films. Founded in 1984 by Janus Films and the Voyager Company, Criterion has released over 1,300 spine-numbered titles spanning every major tradition of world cinema. The company is owned by Steven Rales, founder of Indian Paintbrush, who acquired both Criterion and its sister company Janus Films in May 2024. Peter Becker remains president of both companies.

A Criterion release means a film has been selected for the collection based on its significance to world cinema. Each release is produced with new transfers (often 4K restorations), scholarly booklets with essays by film critics and historians, filmmaker interviews, supplementary short films, and theatrical trailers. The physical design of Criterion releases, including cover art commissioned from illustrators and designers, consistent spine numbering, and premium packaging, has made the label's releases recognizable and collectible.

Criterion pioneered the director's commentary format on LaserDisc in the 1980s, letterboxing on home video, and the scholarly approach to supplementary materials that has since become industry standard. The company's commitment to supplementary content predates the DVD era by over a decade. Criterion began publishing on LaserDisc in 1984, shifted to DVD in 1998, introduced Blu-ray releases, and launched 4K Ultra HD releases in November 2021 starting with Citizen Kane.

What Criterion Publishes

Criterion publishes films across every major tradition of world cinema, with particular depth in:

• European arthouse cinema, including French, Italian, Swedish, and Eastern European film
• Japanese cinema from the studio era through the Japanese New Wave
• American independent and studio cinema with lasting critical significance
• World cinema from Iran, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, India, and other film traditions
• Documentary features with cinematic and historical significance
• Films from the global avant-garde and experimental tradition
• African diaspora cinema, including recent restorations of films by Med Hondo and Ngozi Onwurah

Each Criterion release typically includes a new digital transfer (frequently a 4K restoration), uncompressed or DTS-HD master audio, and supplementary materials that may include audio commentaries, interviews with directors and cinematographers, behind-the-scenes documentaries, short films by the featured director, archival television appearances, printed essays by film critics and scholars, and theatrical trailers. Eclipse Series sets offer more affordable multi-film collections with fewer supplements, focusing on complete bodies of work or thematic groupings.

2026 Release Slate

Criterion's 2026 release schedule demonstrates the range of its catalog. Recent and upcoming titles include:

• May 2026: Stray Dog (1949, Akira Kurosawa, 4K), Body Heat (1981, Lawrence Kasdan, 4K), The Delta (1996, Ira Sachs), Fresh Kill (1994, Shu Lea Cheang)
• June 2026: Charade (1963, Stanley Donen, 4K), Five Easy Pieces (1970, Bob Rafelson, 4K), High Art (1998, Lisa Cholodenko), West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979, Med Hondo), Hairspray (1988, John Waters, 4K), Desperate Living (1974, John Waters), Magellan (Lav Diaz), Eclipse Series 6: Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy
• September 2026: 12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet, 4K), Shoah (1985, Claude Lanzmann, four-disc special edition with 2K restoration), Days and Nights in the Forest (1970, Satyajit Ray, 4K), Three Films by Leos Carax
• October 2026: The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme, 4K), Christiane F. (1981, Uli Edel, 4K), The Shout (1978, Jerzy Skolimowski), Welcome II the Terrordome (1995, Ngozi Onwurah), Eclipse Series 5: The First Films of Samuel Fuller

Ownership and Corporate Structure

Criterion and Janus Films were acquired by Steven Rales in May 2024. Rales is the founder of Indian Paintbrush, a production and financing company that works closely on all of Wes Anderson's films. Indian Paintbrush also owns Galerie, an online film club and subscription service launched in November 2023.

Prior to the Rales acquisition, Criterion and Janus Films were owned by the Becker and Turell families. William Becker acquired Janus Films with Saul Turell in 1965, expanded its catalog of arthouse and Hollywood classics, and broadened distribution to university audiences and home video. Becker's son, Peter Becker, became president of Criterion, while Jonathan Turell (Saul's son) served as CEO. William Becker died in 2015 at age 88.

Janus Films was originally founded in March 1956 by Bryant Haliday and Cyrus Harvey Jr., two Harvard friends who began programming foreign and arthouse films at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Janus logo, a two-faced Roman coin, symbolizes art and commerce. Haliday and Harvey sold Janus in 1965 following a decline in the American art film market. In 1977, Kino International (now Kino Lorber) acquired rights to the company's film collection, which later returned to Janus under the Becker/Turell ownership.

Criterion Channel

The Criterion Collection operates the Criterion Channel, a subscription streaming service launched in April 2019. The Channel streams over 2,000 films from the Criterion and Janus libraries plus licensed content, available in the United States and Canada for $10.99/month or $99.99/year. The Channel operates on a curatorial programming model with rotating thematic collections rather than an algorithmic recommendation system. For full details, see the Criterion Channel directory entry.

The Janus Contemporaries label, launched in 2023, presents home-video editions of films after their first streaming run on the Criterion Channel. This creates a pipeline for contemporary films to enter the Criterion ecosystem through streaming before receiving physical releases.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Criterion does not accept unsolicited submissions. Selection is handled through the company's curatorial team, which monitors new film releases, festival selections, and the broader critical conversation around world cinema. Films enter consideration through critical recognition, sustained reputation, or the attention of the company's curatorial staff.

For contemporary filmmakers, a Criterion release for their work typically follows years of critical recognition and sustained engagement with the film by critics and cinephiles. Early-career directors are rarely Criterion candidates unless their debut is immediately recognized as a landmark work. The 2026 slate shows the company acquiring contemporary titles (It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi, Magellan by Lav Diaz) alongside restorations of older works.

The practical impact of Criterion selection for a filmmaker includes: ongoing revenue from home video sales and Criterion Channel streaming, extended audience reach through the label's subscriber base, and canonical status signaled to programmers, academics, and subsequent generations of filmmakers. For rights holders of films already in the Criterion catalog, the company manages ongoing home video sales, Criterion Channel streaming, and theatrical re-release through Janus Films.

Historical Significance

Criterion began as a LaserDisc label in 1984, founded by Janus Films and the Voyager Company. The company's first release was Grand Illusion (1937, Jean Renoir), assigned spine number 1. Criterion pioneered letterboxing on home video to preserve original aspect ratios, audio commentary tracks (the first was for King Kong in 1984), and the scholarly approach to supplementary materials. These innovations established the expectation that definitive home video editions should offer more than the film alone.

The company's commitment to restoration and transfer quality has influenced how the home video market approaches film preservation. Criterion frequently collaborates with the Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, L'Immagine Ritrovata, and the Film Heritage Foundation for restoration work. The 2026 release of Satyajit Ray's Days and Nights in the Forest, for example, was restored through a collaboration between the Film Foundation, L'Immagine Ritrovata, the Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and the Criterion Collection.

All of Criterion's LaserDisc releases have gone out of print. The company has issued over 1,000 DVD and Blu-ray releases, with 4K Ultra HD releases beginning in November 2021. The shared spine number system applies across DVD, Blu-ray, Essential Art House, and online releases.

Example Titles They've Released

Criterion's catalog of over 1,300 spine-numbered titles spans every major film tradition. Recent and notable releases include Citizen Kane (1941, first 4K UHD release in 2021), 12 Angry Men (1957, 4K UHD September 2026), Shoah (1985, four-disc special edition September 2026), The Silence of the Lambs (1991, 4K UHD October 2026), Stray Dog (1949, Akira Kurosawa, 4K May 2026), Charade (1963, 4K June 2026), Hairspray (1988, John Waters, 4K June 2026), Body Heat (1981, 4K May 2026), and House (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi). Contemporary acquisitions include It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi) and Magellan (Lav Diaz). The catalog includes works by Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Satyajit Ray, Wong Kar-wai, and Wes Anderson.

Deal Structure Reputation

Criterion does not operate on a traditional MG-heavy acquisition model. The company licenses home video and streaming rights for specific territories and terms, typically investing in new transfers and restorations rather than paying large upfront advances. For contemporary films, Criterion's selection is curatorial rather than market-driven; the company chooses films based on their significance to world cinema, not their commercial potential. Revenue flows to rights holders through ongoing royalties from physical sales and Criterion Channel streaming. The Janus Contemporaries label, launched in 2023, creates a pipeline for contemporary films to enter the Criterion ecosystem through streaming before receiving physical releases. Steven Rales's acquisition of Criterion and Janus Films in May 2024 brought the company under the same ownership as Indian Paintbrush (Wes Anderson's production company), potentially expanding access to contemporary prestige titles.

Typical Acquisition Profile

Criterion does not accept unsolicited submissions. Selection is handled through the company's curatorial team, which monitors new film releases, festival selections, and the broader critical conversation around world cinema. Films enter consideration through critical recognition, sustained reputation, or the attention of the company's curatorial staff. For contemporary filmmakers, a Criterion release typically follows years of critical recognition and sustained engagement with the film by critics and cinephiles. Early-career directors are rarely Criterion candidates unless their debut is immediately recognized as a landmark work. The practical impact of Criterion selection includes ongoing revenue from home video sales and Criterion Channel streaming, extended audience reach through the label's subscriber base, and canonical status signaled to programmers, academics, and subsequent generations of filmmakers.

Watch: Trailers and Interviews

See Also

For how the Criterion Channel operates as a streaming platform for world cinema, see the Criterion Channel directory entry. For the theatrical distribution arm of the Criterion ecosystem, see the Janus Films directory entry. For how theatrical, home video, and streaming rights can be structured as separate deals, see Distribution Deals Explained.