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End of the Line for New Line?
It looks like the end of an era for New Line Cinema, once the little independent studio that could. As reported today by the Los Angeles Times, the 41-year-old, New York-based movie-industry upstart will be downsized and absorbed into parent company Time Warner's other major media outlet, Warner Bros.
Founded in 1967 by Bob Shaye and his lawyer Michael Lynne — New Line's current co-chairmen and co-CEOs — the company was bought by the Turner Broadcasting System in 1994, which merged with Time Warner two years later. The consolidation of New Line into Warner Bros. is widely seen as a cost-cutting move aimed at boosting Time Warner's lagging stock price.
From a little acorn, a mighty oak did grow. New Line began as an independent distributor, unleashing John Waters' notorious Pink Flamingos on an unsuspecting public while bringing the 1936 anti-drug cult classic Reefer Madness to a whole new audience: stoned college kids and habitués of the midnight theater circuit. Under Shaye and Lynn's stewardship, the studio would go on to produce and distribute such phenomenally successful franchises as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Austin Powers, Rush Hour and the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. The studio's latest release, the Will Ferrell basketball spoof Semi-Pro, opens tomorrow.
According to the Times, Shaye and Lynne will be leaving the company despite their reported attempts to remain onboard, but the company may not disappear completely. In a statement released today, Time Warner's recently appointed chief executive Jeff Bewkes hinted that New Line may continue on as a separate unit within Warner Bros., focusing on the kind of genre fare that made the company its fortune in the first place.
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Feb 28, 2008 7:38 PM
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