[2] At the time of its establishment in the United States, the Cineplex Odeon theatre chain and the tie-in studio were owned by the MCA entertainment group, also the then-owners of Universal Pictures.

[3] On August 27, 1986, Pan-Canadian renamed itself as Cineplex Odeon Films,[4] and began operations at Los Angeles, California in November 1986;[5] Garth Drabinsky became its chief officer.

[7] The distribution branch then underwent a restructuring shortly afterwards, in order to turn the company into a U.S.-based subsidiary of the firm, with headquarters in Century City, with regional offices in New York City, Chicago and other markets, and the new Canadian division of the studio would start operating out of the new Cineplex Odeon corporate headquarters in Canada, and the turf included licensing of films on home video, pay TV and theatrical distribution.

[citation needed] The Cineplex Odeon Films library is currently copyrighted to Lionsgate Studios Corp (through Entertainment One) and AMC Theatres, with SP Media Group owning distribution rights outside Canada.

[14] Notable films from Cineplex Odeon's early days include The Glass Menagerie, The Last Temptation of Christ, Prancer, The Grifters, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Madame Sousatzka, Jacknife, the Prince concert film Sign o' the Times, The Decline of the American Empire, Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland.

[15] Cineplex Odeon worked with Universal for distributing and co-producing some of their notable productions in the US, such as The Glass Menagerie, The Last Temptation of Christ, Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, and Madame Sousatzka.