Paramount Classics was launched on May 15, 1998 and released such
art house fare as
The Virgin Suicides,
You Can Count on Me,
Sunshine,
Mostly Martha,
Winter Solstice, and three
Patrice Leconte films (
Girl on the Bridge,
The Man on the Train,
Intimate Strangers). Although film journalist David Poland felt "Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein have proven to have wonderful taste heading up Paramount Classics", the duo was fired in October 2005. In 2006, the Paramount Vantage brand branched off from Paramount Classics, which was relaunched in 2007 as a distributor of "smaller, review-driven films including foreign-language acquisitions and
documentaries." In 2007, Paramount Vantage partnered with then-
Disney subsidiary
Miramax Films on two of the year's most highly regarded movies,
No Country for Old Men and
There Will Be Blood. Both films garnered eight nominations at the
80th Academy Awards, with
There Will Be Blood winning the awards for
Best Cinematography and
Best Actor for
Daniel Day-Lewis, while
No Country for Old Men won for
Best Adapted Screenplay,
Best Director,
Best Supporting Actor for
Javier Bardem, and
Best Picture. Despite its critical success, Paramount Vantage continually failed to deliver the financial returns Paramount Pictures expected. Only
No Country for Old Men made a profit, while films that many believe should have generated significant returns failed to deliver through either poor or excessive marketing. In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage's marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. Paramount Vantage closed down on November 15, 2014 after the release of
Nebraska in 2013. == Releases ==