MUMBAI: Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International has been renamed Sony Pictures Releasing International. Keeping in line with this name change Columbia TriStar Films of India Limited will be now renamed as Sony Pictures Releasing of India Limited (SPRIL).

The name change comes amidst Sony Pictures Releasing International's second best year at the box office. The international operation has generated more than $1 billion in box office receipts, pacing second only to the $1.3 billion in ticket sales the company recorded in 2002.

Keeping in tandem with the international performance, the Indian operations too created records of sorts by crossing the Rs 1 billion mark in ticket sales in 2004. This is the second time that the Indian operations have scaled to such heights, in a short span of three years, the first time being 2002.

"The Sony name is one of the most recognised and respected brand names in the world," said Sony Pictures Releasing International vice chairman Jeff Blake. "With this change, we are reinforcing the Sony Pictures Entertainment name around the world and extending the goodwill of a brand that is synonymous with quality and excellence."

"We at Sony Pictures India feel proud to be a part of such a respected brand name as Sony and our efforts will be to live up to the phenomenal goodwill of the brand and stick to our mission of lighting up screens across India," said SPRIL managing director Uday Singh.

Sony Pictures Releasing International will be releasing a highly anticipated slate of films in 2005 and 2006 that includes Hitch, Fun With Dick and Jane, Bewitched, Stealth, Click, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Legend of Zorro, Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo, All The King's Men, The DaVinci Code, Rent, XXX: State of the Union and Are We There Yet.