[a][1] He reinvested his profits from that initial location, expanding to fifteen similar venues in the city, and purchasing prints from the major studios of the time: Biograph, Essanay, Kalem, Lubin, Pathé, Selig, and Vitagraph.

[2] After experiencing further success presenting live vaudeville routines along with motion pictures, he expanded into larger venues beginning with his purchase of the disused Gaiety theater,[b] and continuing with acquisitions throughout New York City and New Jersey, including the Academy of Music.

Fox refused to sell out to the monopoly, and sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act, eventually receiving a $370,000[c] settlement, and ending restrictions on the length of films and the prices that could be paid for screenplays.

[4] In 1914, reflecting the broader scope of his business, he renamed it the Box Office Attraction Company [5] He entered into a contract with the Balboa Amusement Producing Company film studio, purchasing all of their films for showing in his New York area theaters and renting the prints to other exhibitors nationwide.

[7][8] Later that year, Fox concluded that it was unwise to be so dependent on other companies, so he purchased the Éclair studio facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, along with property in Staten Island,[9][10] and arranged for actors and crew.

[12][13][14] That same year, in 1914, Fox Film began making motion pictures in California, and in 1915 decided to build its own permanent studio.

[15] In 1917, William Fox sent Sol M. Wurtzel to Hollywood to oversee the studio's West Coast production facilities where a more hospitable and cost-effective climate existed for filmmaking.

[17] The popularity of Mix's Western films earned Fox large sums of money, and he eventually was paid $17,000 per week.

The growing company needed space, and in 1926 Fox acquired 300 acres (1.2 km2) in the open country west of Beverly Hills and built "Movietone City", the best-equipped studio of its time.

Using powerful political connections, Mayer called upon the Justice Department's antitrust unit to delay giving final approval to the merger.

Under new president Sidney Kent, the new owners began negotiating with the upstart, but powerful independent Twentieth Century Pictures in the early spring of 1935.

William Fox was unwilling to compromise on production quality in order to make serials profitable, however, and none were produced subsequently.

Many of these, beginning with 1917's Roaring Lions and Wedding Bliss, starring Lloyd Hamilton, were slapstick, intended to compete with Mack Sennett's popular offerings.