Warner Bros. Pictures
![]() Logo used since 2019 | |
Formerly | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. (1923–1967) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. (1967–1970) Warner Bros. Inc. (1970–1992) |
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Type | Division |
Industry | Film |
Predecessor | Warner Features Company |
Founded | April 4, 1923 |
Founders | |
Headquarters | 4000 Warner Boulevard, , U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Products | Motion pictures |
Services | |
Parent | Warner Bros. Pictures Group (Warner Bros. Entertainment) |
Divisions | |
Subsidiaries | |
Website | warnerbros.com |
Footnotes / references [1] |
Warner Bros. Pictures[2] is an American film production and distribution brand of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Warner Bros. Pictures Group unit, and is based at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California. Animated films produced the Warner Animation Group are also released under the studio banner.
Warner Bros. Pictures is currently one of five live-action film studios within the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, the others being New Line Cinema, DC Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, and the Spyglass Media Group. The final installment of the Harry Potter film series is the studio's highest-grossing film worldwide with $1.3 billion.[3]
Founded in 1923 by brothers Harry Warner, Albert Warner, Sam Warner, and Jack L. Warner, in addition to producing its own films, it handles filmmaking operations, theatrical distribution, marketing and promotion for films produced and released by other Warner Bros. labels, including Warner Animation Group, New Line Cinema, DC Films, and Castle Rock Entertainment, as well as various third-party producers.
History[edit]
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The studio's predecessor (and the modern-day Warner Bros Entertainment as a whole) was founded as the Warner Features Company in New Castle, Pennsylvania, by filmmaker Sam Warner and his business partners and brothers, Harry, Albert, and Jack, in 1911.[4] They produced their first film, the Peril of the Plains[5] in 1912, which Sam directed for the St. Louis Motion Picture Company. In 1915, Sam and Jack moved to California to establish their production studio,[6] while Albert and Harry on July 8, 1915, set up the New York-based Warner Brothers Distributing Corporation to release the films.[7][8][9] In 1918, the four Warner Brothers produced their first full-scale picture: My Four Years in Germany. The war film was a box office hit and helped the brothers establish themselves as a prestige studio.[10]
On April 4, 1923, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. was officially established as their main focus was entirely on the motion picture industry.[11] In 1927, Warner Bros. Pictures revolutionized the film industry when the American-Jewish Warner brothers released their first pictures "talkie" The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. However, founding member Sam Warner died prior to the premiere of the film.[12] When the company diversified over the years, it was eventually rebranded to its current umbrella name, but Warner Bros. Pictures continued to be used as the name of the film production arm of the company.
In November 1966, Jack gave in to advancing age and changing times, selling control of the studio and music business to Seven Arts Productions, run by Canadian investors Elliot and Kenneth Hyman, for $32 million.[13] Eventually, the company, including the studio, was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts on July 14, 1967.[14]
Warner Bros. Pictures[edit]
The division was incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures on March 3, 2003, to diversify film subjects and expand audiences for their film releases.[2] The company became part of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which was established in 2008, and Jeff Robinov was appointed the first president of the company.[15] In 2017, longtime New Line executive Toby Emmerich joined as president. In January 2018, he was elevated to chairman.[16][17] On October 23, 2018, it was announced Lynne Frank, President of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, would be leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.[18] In June 2019, Warner Bros. Pictures signed an agreement with SF Studios to have their films distributed in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.[19]
As with most other film distributors, Warner Bros. Pictures struggled with releasing films during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on theater openings. After pushing several films planned for 2020 into 2021, WB announced in December 2020 that they would take the unusual approach of having their entire slate of 2021 films planned for both theatrical release as well as having a simultaneous one-month period of availability on the HBO Max streaming service, in a similar manner for how they were releasing Wonder Woman 1984 that month. After one month, such films would still be available in theaters and would then later be available via home media under typical release schedules.[20] The move to include streaming, dubbed "Project Popcorn", was criticized by production companies, directors, and actors as Warner Bros. Pictures had not informed anyone about the plan ahead of the announcement, as well of concerns of lower payouts due to the streaming options,[21] leading Warner Bros. Pictures to alter its compensation rates for the affected films by January 2021 to provide larger payouts to casts and crews of these films.[22]
In March 2021 Warner Bros. announced that for 2022 they will discontinue their same-day HBO Max and theatrical release model in favor of a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window.[23] This is part of an agreement the studio reached with Cineworld (who operates Regal Cinemas).[24]
Film library[edit]
Acquired libraries[edit]
![]() | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(October 2017) |
Mergers and acquisitions have helped Warner Bros. accumulate a diverse collection of films, cartoons and television programs. As of 2019, Warner Bros. owned more than 100,000 hours of programming, including 8,600 feature films and 5,000 television programs comprising tens of thousands of individual episodes.[25]
In the aftermath of the 1948 antitrust suit, uncertain times led Warner Bros. in 1956 to sell most of its pre-1950[26][27][28] films and cartoons to Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.). In addition, a.a.p. also obtained the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios Popeye cartoons, originally from Paramount Pictures. Two years later, a.a.p. was sold to United Artists, which owned the company until 1981, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired United Artists.[29][30]
In 1982, during their independent years, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Brut Productions, the film production arm of France-based then-struggling personal-care company Faberge Inc.[31]
In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Finding itself in debt, Turner kept the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television libraries and a small portion of the United Artists library (including the a.a.p. library and North American rights to the RKO Radio Pictures library) while spinning off the rest of MGM.[32]
In 1989, Warner Communications acquired Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation.[33][34] Lorimar's catalogue included the post-1974 library of Rankin/Bass Productions, and the post-1947 library of Monogram Pictures/Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
In 1991, Turner Broadcasting System acquired animation studio Hanna-Barbera and the Ruby-Spears library from Great American Broadcasting, and years later, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Castle Rock Entertainment on December 22, 1993[35][36] and New Line Cinema on January 28, 1994.[37][38] On October 10, 1996, Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting System, thus bringing Warner Bros.' pre-1950 library back home. In addition, Warner Bros. only owns Castle Rock Entertainment's post-1994 library.
In 2008, Time Warner integrated New Line to Warner Bros.
In June 2016, it created the Harry Potter Global Franchise Development Team to oversee its ownership of the Harry Potter franchise worldwide (including the Wizarding World trademark).[39]
The studio's first live-action film was My Four Years in Germany (1918), their first animated film was Gay Purr-ee (1962). Animated films produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and the Warner Animation Group are also released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The studio has released twenty-five films that have received an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination: Disraeli (1929), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), 42nd Street (1933), Here Comes the Navy (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Four Daughters (1938), Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), to name a few.
Film series[edit]
Title | Release date | No. Films | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Gold Diggers | 1929–38 | 5 | |
Looney Tunes | 1930–present | 3 | |
Penrod and Sam | 1931–38 | 2 | |
Philo Vance | 1934–40 | 5 | |
Perry Mason | 1934–1937 | 6 | |
Torchy Blane | 1937–39 | 9 | |
Four Daughters | 1938–41 | 4 | |
Nancy Drew | 1938–2019 | 6 | |
Secret Service | 1939–1940 | 4 | |
Hanna-Barbera | 1964–present | 12 | Owned by WB since 1996 |
Dirty Harry | 1971–88 | 5 | |
Oh, God! | 1977–84 | 3 | |
Superman | 1978–2006 | 10 | |
Mad Max | 1979-present | 4 | |
Blade Runner | 1982–2017 | 2 | |
National Lampoon's Vacation | 1983–2015 | 5 | |
Police Academy | 1984–94 | 7 | |
Lethal Weapon | 1987–1998 | 4 | |
The Lost Boys | 1987–2010 | 3 | |
Batman | 1989–present | 10 | |
The Fugitive | 1993–98 | 2 | |
Free Willy | 1993–2010 | 4 | |
Friday | 1995-present | 3 | |
Eraser | 1996–2022 | 2 | |
The Matrix | 1999–present | 4 | |
Rush Hour | 1998-2007 | 3 | |
Deep Blue Sea | 1999–2020 | 3 | |
Final Destination | 2000-present | 5 | |
Cats & Dogs | 2001–2020 | 3 | |
Wizarding World | 2001–present | 10 | |
Ocean's | 2001–2018 | 4 | |
Scooby-Doo | 2002–present | 6 | |
Terminator | 2003–09 | 2 | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
A Cinderella Story | 2004–present | 6 | |
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | 2005–present | 2 | |
The Dark Knight trilogy | 2005–12 | 3 | |
Happy Feet | 2006–11 | 2 | |
The Hangover | 2009–13 | 3 | |
Sherlock Holmes | 2009–present | 2 | |
Dolphin Tale | 2011–14 | ||
Magic Mike | 2012–present | 2 | |
The Conjuring Universe | 2013–present | 7 | |
DC Extended Universe | 11 | ||
The Lego Movie | 2014–19 | 4 | co-production with Warner Animation Group and The Lego Group |
MonsterVerse | 2014–present | co-production with Legendary Pictures | |
Suicide Squad | 2016–present | 3 | |
It | 2017–19 | 2 | |
Wonder Woman | 2017–present | ||
Aquaman | 2018–present | 1 | |
Shazam | 2019–present | ||
Dune | 2021–present | co-production with Legendary Pictures | |
The Batman | 2022–present |
Highest-grossing films[edit]
![film currently playing](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511233749im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Dagger-14-plain.png)
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Notes[edit]
- ^ co-owned by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (the film's producers)
References[edit]
- ^ "Company history". Warnerbros.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ a b "Business Entity Detail: Warner Bros. Pictures (search on Entity Number: C2502930)". California Business Search. California Secretary of State. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Mendelson, Scott (August 13, 2020). "Every 'Harry Potter' Movie Ranked By Worldwide Box Office". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner: the most famous Hollywood family, creators the Warner Bros". Russian-American Heritage Museum. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "IMDb - Peril of the Plains (1912)". IMDb. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ Pawlak, Debra Ann (12 January 2012). Bringing Up Oscar. ISBN 9781605982168. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "Business Entity Detail: Warner Bros. Distributing Corporation (search on Entity Number: C0080357)". California Business Search. California Secretary of State. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "Warner Brothers Get Mutt And Jeff". Moving Picture World. September 1, 1917. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ "Warners Have New Policy". The New York Clipper. May 1, 1917. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ "Warner's First Feature Film Turns 100". WarnerBros.com. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (23 March 2022). "Warner Bros. Reveals 100th Anniversary Logo, Teases Rollout of Commemorative Content, Products and Events". Variety.com. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Warner, Movie Magnate, Dies: Sam Warner, Former Youngstown Man, Rose from Obscurity to Leader in Field". The Youngstown Daily Vindicator. October 5, 1927.
- ^ Sloane, Leonard (November 15, 1966). "Jack L. Warner, President, Agrees to Sell His Interest In a $32-Million Deal; 7 ARTS IS BUYING 33% OF WARNER". Archived from the original on March 11, 2018.
- ^ "Warner Meeting Scheduled". June 18, 1967.
- ^ Halbfinger, David (November 27, 2007). "Warner's Production Chief to Also Oversee Distribution". Archived from the original on December 19, 2019.
- ^ Lang, Brent (2018-01-09). "Warner Bros. Shake-Up: Toby Emmerich Named Film Chairman, Sue Kroll Out". Variety. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Shake-Up: Toby Emmerich Named Film Chairman, Sue Kroll Out". Variety. January 9, 2018.
- ^ "Warner Bros International Marketing President Lynne Frank To Exit". Deadline. October 23, 2018.
- ^ "Warner Bros, SF Studios Expand Distribution Deal Across Scandinavia". Variety. June 25, 2019.
- ^ Rubin, Rebecca; Donnelly, Matt (December 3, 2020). "Warner Bros. to Debut Entire 2021 Film Slate, Including 'Dune' and 'Matrix 4,' Both on HBO Max and In Theaters". Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Brooks; Sperling, Nicole (December 7, 2020). "Trading Box Office for Streaming, but Stars Still Want Their Money". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ Shaw, Lucas; Gilbolm, Kelly (January 9, 2021). "Warner Bros. Guarantees Filmmakers a Payday for HBO Max Movies". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (2021-10-27). ""Project Popcorn": WarnerMedia's Box Office-HBO Max Experiment Gets Mixed Results". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Tartaglione, Nancy (March 23, 2021). "Regal Cinemas To Reopen In April; Parent Cineworld & Warner Bros Reach Multi-Year Deal To Show WB Films In U.S. & UK". Deadline. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
Cineworld and Warner Bros have also hatched a multi-year agreement that will see the No. 2 global exhibitor show the studio’s 2021 theatrical and HBO Max day-and-date titles in the U.S. as of their theatrical release. Then, beginning in 2022, Warner Bros theatrical films will have a 45-day window of theatrical exclusivity at Cineworld’s Regal chain.
- ^ "WarnerBros.com – Company Overview". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- ^ Schickel, Richard (2008). You must remember this : the Warner Bros. story. George Perry. Philadelphia, Pa.: Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-3418-3. OCLC 191926490.
- ^ WB retained a pair of features from 1949 that they merely distributed, and all short subjects released on or after September 1, 1948; in addition to all cartoons released in August 1948
- ^ "Media History Digital Library". archive.org. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ^ Hoyt, Eric (2014-07-03). Hollywood Vault: Film Libraries Before Home Video. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95857-9.
- ^ Cole, Robert J. (May 16, 1981). "M-G-M Is Reported Purchasing United Artists for $350 million". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
- ^ "Faberge Sells Brut's Assets". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ "Turner Sells Fabled MGM but Keeps a Lion's Share". Los Angeles Times. 1985-12-20. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
- ^ "Crash Landing Merv Adelson—TV mogul, multimillionaire, and friend of the famous—lived a show-business fantasy. His bankruptcy has shocked Hollywood. – November 10, 2003". cnn.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ^ "Warner Completes Merger With Lorimar Telepictures". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ^ "Turner Broadcasting Company Report". sec.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
- ^ "Done deal: Turner Broadcasting System Inc. said it closed..." Chicage Tribune. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ^ "New Line to Join Ted Turner Empire Today : Film: With more money, the company is likely to add a few big movies to its annual production schedule". Los Angeles Times. 1994-01-28. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
- ^ "New Line Cinema". ethicalbusinessbureau.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
- ^ Barraclough, Leo (June 8, 2016). "Warner Bros. Completes Harry Potter Franchise Team With Polly Cochrane Promotion". Variety. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ^ "About". Warner Bros. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ Masters, Kim (June 21, 2017). "Warner Bros. Eyes Slimmed-Down Movie Budgets Under Toby Emmerich". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ "Box Office by Studio – Warner Bros. All Time". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
External links[edit]
- American brands
- American companies established in 1923
- Film production companies of the United States
- Entertainment companies based in California
- Companies based in Burbank, California
- Mass media companies established in 1923
- 1923 establishments in California
- Warner Bros. divisions
- Film distributors of the United States
- Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners