Finnkino Oy is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 film distributor

Film distributor

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...

 and the biggest movie theatre chain in Finland. It was established in 1986 as a union of 34 companies working in the film industry. In 1994 Finnkino was acquired by the Rautakirja

Rautakirja

Rautakirja Oyj is a Finnish company operating subsidiary businesses such as R-Kioski, Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, and Finnkino.On the 25 August 2011 it was announced that Rautakirja will sell the Suomalainen Kirjakauppa segment of it's business to Otava for in excess of 27 million euro....

 Group, which became a division of the Sanoma Group in 1999. Finnkino operates a total of 18 movie theaters in ten cities. It also has subsidiaries in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

.

Finnkino's biggest movie theatre multiplex is Tennispalatsi

Tennispalatsi

Tennispalatsi , is a cultural and recreational center in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland. It houses a Finnkino movie theatre, the Art Museum Tennis Palace, the Museum of Cultures, and small shops....

 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 and its headquarters are located in Vantaa

Vantaa

Vantaa is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.Vantaa, with its population of , is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there...

.

In 2006, Finnkino took over Finnish theatrical distribution for films by United International Pictures

United International Pictures

United International Pictures is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios , to distribute some of the two studios' films theatrically outside the United States , Canada, and the Anglophone...

' partner studios, Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 (including films by DreamWorks

DreamWorks

DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...

) and Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

, after UIP decided to move its Finnish distribution base from Buena Vista International

Buena Vista Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...

, which started distributing UIP's films in Finland in 2002 after UIP shut down its Finnish distribution offices. Finnkino had already distributed these studios' films on video for several years. Finnkino distributed Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

when the movie's special edition was released in theaters.