New Line Cinema

New Line Productions, Inc.,<ref name="Legal">Template:Cite web</ref> doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film and television production company. In 2008, it became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the "Big Five" film studio Warner Bros., which, in turn, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

The studio was founded on June 18, 1967, by Robert Shaye in New York City, and has been operating as a unit of Warner Bros. Pictures since 2008. After becoming a film studio after being acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in 1994, Turner later merged with Time Warner Entertainment (later known as WarnerMedia from 2018 to 2022, and Warner Bros. Discovery since 2022) in 1996, and New Line was merged with Warner Bros. Pictures in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to the integration into Warner Bros. Pictures, the headquarters were located in Los Angeles, California at 116 N Robertson Blvd. Since then, New Line Cinema operates out of offices at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.

New Line Cinema is currently one of the four live-action film studios within the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, the others being Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, and a minority stake in Spyglass Media Group. The studio has been nicknamed "The House that Freddy Built" due to the success of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> However, its most successful property was a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien with considerable commercial success and numerous Academy Awards.

History

From founding to 1984

Logo used from 1967 to 1987

New Line Cinema was established in 1967 by the then 27-year-old Robert Shaye as a film distribution company, supplying foreign and art films for college campuses in the United States. Shaye operated New Line Cinema's offices out of his apartment at 14th Street and Second Avenue in New York City. One of the company's early successes was its distribution of the 1936 anti-cannabis propaganda film Reefer Madness, which became a cult hit on American college campuses in the early 1970s. New Line also released many classic foreign-language films, like Stay As You Are, Immoral Tales and Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (which became the first New Line film to win an Oscar).<ref name=history>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The studio has also released many of the films of John Waters.

In 1976, New Line Cinema secured funding to produce its first full-length feature, Stunts (1977), directed by Mark L. Lester. Although not considered a critical success, the film performed well commercially on the international market and on television.<ref name="newline1">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1980, Shaye's law school classmate Michael Lynne became outside counsel and adviser to the company and renegotiated its debt.<ref name=history/><ref name=towers>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1983, Bryanston Distributing Company, the company that first distributed the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, lost the rights to that film, and the rights reverted to the original owners. New Line Cinema bought the rights and re-released the film to theatres that same year. It became very successful for the studio.<ref name="BozInterview">Template:Cite video</ref>

New Line Cinema expanded its film production in the early 1980s, producing or co-producing films including Polyester, directed by John Waters, and Alone in the Dark. Polyester was one of the first films to introduce a novelty cinema experience named Odorama, where members of the audience were provided with a set of "scratch and sniff" cards to be scratched and sniffed at specific times during the film, which provided an additional sensory connection to the viewed image.<ref name="newline1" /> In 1983, Lynne joined the board.<ref name=history/> In 1984, Dawn Altyn and Jeff Youngs joined New Line Cinema, respectively as sales manager, eastern and southern divisions of New Line Distribution, and national print controller of the studio, to distribute new projects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1980s: Beginning success with A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street was produced and released by New Line Cinema in 1984. The resulting franchise was New Line Cinema's first commercially successful series, leading the company to be nicknamed "The House that Freddy Built".<ref name=":0" /> The film was made on a budget of $1.8 million and grossed over $57 million.<ref name=ww>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A year later, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge was released, and grossed $3.3 million in its first three days of release and over $30 million at the US box office. In 1986, the company went public, and held 1,613,000 shares of common stock.<ref name=history/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

With the success of the Elm Street franchise, New Line Cinema made moves to expand their business. This included a revamping of their distribution network,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the sale of their films into broadcast syndication and pay-television (via Embassy Communications and Universal Pay Television, respectively),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the creation of an international distribution arm.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Logo used from 1987 to 2001; all subsequent logos have been variants derived from this logo

The third film in the series, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, was released in 1987, the studio's first national release,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and opened at number one, grossing $8.9 million for the weekend, a record for an independent film at the time,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and went on to gross almost $45 million at the US box office. A further six films have been made. The first six grossed $500 million worldwide<ref name=ww/> and the next three $250 million, for a total of $750 million.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and expansion (1990–1994)

In 1990, Lynne became president and chief operating officer, with Shaye as chairman and chief executive officer.<ref name=history/> The same year, New Line Cinema released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which became the highest-grossing independent film of all-time with a gross of $135 million in the United States and Canada, until it was surpassed by The Blair Witch Project (1999).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was followed by a sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) which was the second highest-grossing<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> with a gross of $78 million in the United States and Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A third, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III followed in 1993.

In July 1990, Carolco Pictures entered into a joint venture with New Line Cinema to start Seven Arts, a distribution company which primarily released much of Carolco's low-budget output as opposed to their high-budget films which were released by TriStar Pictures.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November, New Line Cinema purchased a 52% stake in the television production company RHI Entertainment (now Halcyon Studios), which would later be sold to Hallmark Cards in 1994.

In early 1991, Fine Line Features was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary headed by Ira Deutchman and released films including Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table and Gus van Sant's My Own Private Idaho.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That May, New Line Cinema purchased the home video and foreign rights to 600 films held by Sultan Entertainment Holdings (a.k.a. Nelson Entertainment). The deal also included an 11-film distribution deal with Castle Rock Entertainment. On November 27, New Line Cinema purchased Sultan outright.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1992, Michael De Luca became executive vice-president and chief executive officer of the production unit.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Turner purchase and Time Warner era (1994–2008)

On January 28, 1994, New Line Cinema was acquired by the Turner Broadcasting System for $500 million,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> which later merged with Time Warner Entertainment in 1996. New Line Cinema was kept as its own separate entity, while fellow Turner-owned studios Hanna-Barbera Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment eventually became units of Warner Bros.

During its time as an entity separate from Warner Bros., New Line Cinema continued to operate several divisions, including theatrical distribution, marketing and home video.

The company's fortunes took a downturn in 1996 after losses on The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Long Kiss Goodnight.<ref name=towers/> Although, in 1997, Shine received the studio's first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture<ref name=history/> and their second film to win an Academy Award with Geoffrey Rush's win for Academy Award for Best Actor.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Logo used since 2001, a slight modification of the 1987 logo. While used onscreen only once since 2010, this logo frequently appears on promotional material; the current variant used since 2024 has a similar onscreen ident, albeit with minor variations including the font

2000s: The Lord of the Rings era

New Line Cinema produced The Lord of the Rings film trilogy which became their most successful films to date, grossing over $2.9 billion worldwide.<ref name=history/> The films were nominated for 30 Academy Awards, including nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture for each film, and won 17, with the final picture, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) winning a (joint) record eleven, including Best Picture,<ref name=history/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as being the second highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Despite the success of The Lord of the Rings films, Town and Country (2001) generated a loss of $100 million and De Luca left as production head to be replaced by Toby Emmerich.<ref name=towers/> In 2001, Shaye and Lynne became co-chairmen and co-CEO.<ref name=history/>

The studio was also a partner in founding a new distribution company named Picturehouse in 2005. Specializing in independent film, Picturehouse was formed by Bob Berney, who left distributor Newmarket Films, New Line Cinema, who folded their Fine Line division into Picturehouse, and HBO Films, a division of HBO and a subsidiary of Time Warner, who was interested in getting into the theatrical film business.

Warner Bros. era (2008–present)

Logo used from 2011 to 2024; the logotype has been used since 2011

On February 28, 2008, Time Warner's CEO at the time, Jeffrey Bewkes, announced that New Line Cinema would be shut down as a separately operated studio. Shaye and Lynne said that they would step down with a letter to their employees. They promised, however, along with Time Warner and Jeffery Bewkes, that the company would continue to operate its financing, producing, marketing and distributing operations of its own films, but would do so as a part of Warner Bros. and be a smaller studio, releasing a smaller number of films than in past years.<ref name="FirstShowing.net"/> The box office disappointment of The Golden Compass (2007) was largely blamed for the decision, in which New Line Cinema spent $180 million on its development, yet it only grossed $70 million in the United States market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March, Emmerich became president and chief operating officer, whilst both founders Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne had left the company.

On May 8, 2008, it was announced that Picturehouse would shut down in the fall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Berney later bought the Picturehouse trademarks from Warner Bros. and relaunched the company in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

New Line Cinema moved from its long-time headquarters on Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles in June 2014 to Warner Bros.' lot Building 76, formerly used by Legendary Entertainment, a former Warner Bros. film co-financier.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The last film released by New Line Cinema as a free-standing company was the Will Ferrell film Semi-Pro.

Since 2016, New Line Cinema had been producing its own television series (New Line Television had been folded into Warner Bros. Television in 2008).

As for the company's future, Alan Horn, the Warner Bros. president at the time of the consolidation, stated, "There's no budget number required. They'll be doing about six per year, though the number may go from four to seven; it's not going to be 10." As to content, "New Line will not just be doing genre [...] There's no mandate to make a particular kind of movie."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Film library

Film series

Title	Release date	No. Films	Notes
Evil Dead	1981–present	2	Co-production with Warner Bros.
A Nightmare on Elm Street	1984–2010	9
Critters	1986–2019	5
House Party	1990–present	6
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	1990–93	3	Co-production with Golden Harvest and 20th Century Fox (1991–93)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre	1990–2006		Co-production with Platinum Dunes and Focus Features (2003 and 2006)
Friday the 13th	1993–2009	4
Dumb and Dumber	1994–2014	3	Co-production with Universal Pictures (2014)
The Mask	1994–2005	2	Co-production with Dark Horse Entertainment
Friday	1995–2002	3
Mortal Kombat	1995–present
Austin Powers	1997–2002
Blade	1998–2004		Co-production with Marvel Entertainment
Rush Hour	1998–2007
Final Destination	2000–present	6
The Cell	2000–09	2
The Lord of the Rings	2001–present	4
Harold & Kumar	2004–11
Sex and the City	2008–10	2	co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Films
Horrible Bosses	2011–14		co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures
The Hobbit	2012–14	3	co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Conjuring Universe	2013–present	9	co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures
Rocky	2015–18	2	co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
It	2017–19
Shazam!	2019–23	3	Co-production with DC Studios Part of the DC Extended Universe

Highest-grossing films

Rank	Title	Year	Worldwide gross	Notes
1	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Template:Double dagger	2003	$1,138,267,561
2	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	2012	$1,017,003,568	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
3	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	2013	$958,366,855
4	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	2014	$956,019,788
5	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Template:Double dagger	2002	$943,396,133
6	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Template:Double dagger	2001	$888,159,092
7	It	2017	$701,796,444	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Pictures and KatzSmith Productions
8	The Conjuring: Last Rites	2025	$482,039,735
9	San Andreas	2015	$473,990,832	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures
10	It Chapter Two	2019	$473,093,228	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with Double Dream, Vertigo Entertainment, and Rideback
11	Rampage	2018	$428,128,399
12	Sex and the City	2008	$418,765,321	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with HBO Films
13	Black Adam	2023	$393,452,111
14	The Golden Compass	2007	$372,234,864
15	Shazam!	2019	$367,799,011	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with DC Films
16	The Nun	2018	$366,050,119	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; co-production with Atomic Monster and The Safran Company
17	Journey 2: The Mysterious Island	2011	$335,288,576
18	The Mask	1994	$351,583,407
19	Rush Hour 2	2001	$347,325,802
20	Se7en	1995	$328,846,069
21	The Conjuring 2	2016	$321,788,219
22	The Conjuring	2013	$319,494,638	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
23	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	1999	$313,701,294
24	Annabelle: Creation	2017	$306,515,884	Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
25	Austin Powers in Goldmember	2002	$296,939,148

Template:Double dagger Includes theatrical reissue(s)

See also

• Fine Line Features
• New Line Home Entertainment
• New Line Television
• Picturehouse (with HBO)

External links

• Template:Twitter