It’s been rumored for a while now that New Line Cinema would be folded into Warner Brothers. Well, it looks like that day has finally come.
Below is the email that was circulated to all New Line employees.
To: New Line Colleagues
From: Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne
Subject: Our CompanyThis afternoon, Time Warner is announcing that New Line will become a unit of Warner Bros. This is, of course, a very difficult and emotional time for all of us who have worked at New Line. While there is not much we can say that can lessen the impact of this announcement, we did want you to know about the decision before you read about it in the press.
New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, market, and distribute movies. But New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.’ distribution systems. The company will be holding group meeting with New Line employees tomorrow in Los Angeles and New York to discuss this announcement, and is committed to letting employees know as soon as possible about how this change affects them individually.
For our part, we will be stepping down as Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOS of New Line. This was a painful decision, because we love New Line and the people who work here have been like our second families. But we will be leaving the company with enormous pride in what all of us at New Line have accomplished together. From its humble beginnings 40 years ago, our studio has created some of the most popular and successful movies of all time. Those movies are a tribute to the amazing creative energy and entrepreneurial abilities of the talented people at New Line. They are a legacy that will endure forever.
Although we are stepping out of New Line, we intend to remain actively involved in the industry in an entrepreneurial capacity, and will keep you advised of developments.
We thank all of you who have worked so hard to make New Line such a success. We are very proud of every one of you.
Bob & Michael
What do you think this means for the movie world? Anything? Should we even care?
I think considering how much they’ve screwed up things with the Lord of the Rings franchise by not paying out what they should, being sued, etc., this is probably a good idea.
I agree with Mike on that. Also, I hope this means that with WB Muscle behind it, LOTR will be released on Blu sooner rather than later.
However, I do hope this does not jeopardize anything in regards to The Hobbit and Peter Jackson’s involvement. Does this spell another set back in trying to get that off the ground? I hope not.
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I think with Warner Brothers behind it we’re likely to see all the lawsuits and everything settled more quickly than we would have. I’d expect them to take care of old business quickly and get things moving on the new stuff as soon as possible…if they have any sense.
I’m all for LotR getting on Blu-Ray quickly, it will give me that much needed excuse for going to get one
YES!!! The power of Blu
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who Is Jesus? – Part 5
The writing was on the wall here–New Line was pretty much a subsidiary of Warner Bros. all along anyway, it just makes sense for a studio that is hurting to be absorbed by the studio that isn’t hurting all that much. Plus, you have the added bonus of Warner Bros. marketing and home entertainment at your disposal. Good move for the studio.