New Line Cinema has gone the way of Orion Pictures and United Artists before it - it’s dead, officially.. After over four decades as an independently run movie studio, New Line Cinema has been folded into Time Warner and will now operate as a business unit of Warner Bros., likely focusing on smaller films as opposed to epics like the studio’s hugely successful Lord of the Rings franchise..
This e - mail was sent earlier today to all of New Line Cinema.. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes later officially announced the merger..

February 28, 2008

To: New Line Colleagues

From: Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne

Subject: Our Company

This 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

In making the announcement, Time Warner’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said..

” We are moving quickly to improve our business performance and financial returns.. New Line has built a strong franchise of cutting - edge entertainment.. We can enhance its value by combining it with Warner Bros.. Given the trend toward fewer movie releases, New Line and Warner Bros. will now have more complementary release slates, with New Line focusing on genres that have been its strength.. With the growing importance of international revenues, it makes sense for New Line to retain its international film rights and to exploit them through Warner Bros.’ global distribution infrastructure.. We can also take better advantage of digital distribution platforms by combining our studios.. These changes will enhance our revenue opportunities and drive dramatic cost efficiencies and higher margins at New Line..”

New Line’s Co - Chairmen and Co - CEOs Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne have elected to leave the studio, but are in discussions about possible future business relationships with the company..

Mr Bewkes said..

“Bob and Michael have a unique partnership that is noteworthy not only for its stability and longevity, but for its record of innovation and success.. They have guided New Line’s growth from a privately held art film distributor to the world’s leading independent film studio that is home to some of the most popular films in entertainment history, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Mask, Austin Powers, Blade, Rush Hour, Elf, Wedding Crashers and Hairspray.. We thank Bob and Michael for their enduring contributions to Time Warner and look forward to a continuing working relationship with them..”

Mr Shaye and Mr Lynne said..

” New Line has been our respective life’s work as well as our second family.. While we’re sad to be leaving, we’re enormously proud to have overseen its extraordinary growth and worked with so many dedicated and talented colleagues.. New Line represents innovation, creativity, and independent success.. We hope that the company can continue to be a leader in creating entertainment that resonates around the world.. We will now focus our efforts on exploring new entrepreneurial opportunities..”

New Line Cinema will now be operated by Warner Brothers, but will maintain separate development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs operations.. It will closely integrate and coordinate all of those functions with Warner Brothers in order to maximize the performance of their films and operating efficiencies.. New Line Cinema was founded 41 years ago by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne as an independent studio under Time Warner.. Orion Pictures lasted 19 years before it kicked the bucket and United Artists lasted 86 years..

This is actually probably a great day for Warner Brothers, because they’ll be picking up a number of New Line’s 2008 movies that were already on their way to hitting big - specifically Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and Sex and the City: The Movie at least.. New Line’s other 2008 movies include the upcoming Semi - Pro, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Four Christmases..

Here comes the technical bit.. The reasons behind the move appear to be part of a plan to cut costs at Warners and increase the stock price, and one measure specifically mentioned is that New Line films will no longer be distributed by other companies overseas ( A strategy that cost the studio on The Golden Compass, which did badly in the US but rather better elsewhere around the world ).. This could mean some slight changes here in the UK, but probably means, in practical terms, that at most we see a different logo before the start of the film..

For those of you who are worried, The Hobbit is said to be unaffected by the move.. There’s still no script and no director, although Guillermo Del Toro is in talks, and a release date in 2010, for the first film, and 2011, for the second, is still the aim..

While it’s a shame to see the studio that brought us A Nightmare On Elm Street, Austin Powers and The Lord of the Rings go, it shouldn’t actually make much difference to the films that we see - although it might change who distributes them to us.. And given the problems that New Line has run into with The Hobbit, this could even speed up the process of bringing that to the screen.. Maybe..

As a production company that we know and ( Sometimes ) love, New Line was probably born in 1982, with the production and release of Jack Sholder’s Alone in the Dark, a strangely amusing horror flick starring Jack Palance, Martin Landau and Donald Pleasance.. From that small success, the die was cast; 1984 saw the arrival of A Nightmare on Elm Street and 1985 saw A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.. This would prove to be New Line’s m.o. for many years to come: One novel idea followed by several uninspired sequels..

In 1986 they gave us Critters.. In ‘87 it was A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, the surprisingly good The Hidden, and the seriously terrible My Demon Lover.. The 1988 menu offered Critters 2: The Main Course, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Anthony Perkins’ Lucky Stiff, Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy, and John Waters’ ( Original ) Hairspray.. The studio closed the 80’s in rather unimpressive fashion: Their 1989 releases were A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and Hulk Hogan’s No Holds Barred..

1990 - An Angel at My Table, Book of Love, Heart Condition, House Party, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, Pump Up the Volume, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Trust

1991 - Critters 3, Critters 4, Drop Dead Fred, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Hangin’ with the Homeboys, House Party 2, Late for Dinner, My Own Private Idaho, Proof, The Rapture, Suburban Commando, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze

1992 - Big Girls Don’t Cry… They Get Even, Deep Cover, Glengarry Glen Ross, Honeymoon in Vegas, Live Wire, Mr. Saturday Night, The Player, Poison Ivy, Roadside Prophets, Simple Men, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Year of the Comet

1993 - Amos & Andrew, Bodies, Rest & Motion, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Excessive Force, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Josh and S.A.M., Loaded Weapon 1, Malice, Man’s Best Friend, Menace II Society, Mr. Nanny, Naked, Needful Things, Short Cuts, Skeeter, Sunset Grill, Surf Ninjas, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, Three of Hearts, Who’s the Man?

1994 - 8 Seconds, Above the Rim, Barcelona, Blink, Corrina, Corrina, Death and the Maiden, Double Happiness, Dumb & Dumber, The Hidden 2, Hoop Dreams, House Party 3, Little Odessa, The Mask, Monkey Trouble, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, New Nightmare, North, Once Were Warriors, Safe Passage, Spanking the Monkey, Surviving the Game, Tollbooth

1995 - Angus, The Basketball Diaries, Delta of Venus, Don Juan DeMarco, Embrace of the Vampire, Frankie Starlight, Friday, The Grass Harp, In the Mouth of Madness, The Incredibly True Story of Two Girls in Love, The Mangler, Mortal Kombat, The Nature of the Beast, Now and Then, Senior Trip, Seven, Silent Hunter, Theodore Rex, The Viking Sagas

1996 - The Adventures of Pinocchio, Bed of Roses, Carried Away, Faithful, Feeling Minnesota, Felony, Heaven’s Prisoners, In Love and War, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Last Man Standing, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Michael, Mother Night, Normal Life, Pie in the Sky, Poison Ivy 2, Set It Off, The Stupids, Twelfth Night

1997 - Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, B*A*P*S, Boogie Nights, Dangerous Ground, For Roseanna, Gummo, Money Talks, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Most Wanted, One Night Stand, Poison Ivy 3: The New Seduction, Spawn, The Sweet Hereafter, Trial and Error, Wag the Dog, The Winter Guest

1998 - American History X, Blade, Dark City, Dog Park, Living Out Loud, Lost in Space, The Players Club, Pleasantville, Rush Hour, The Wedding Singer

1999 - The Astronaut’s Wife, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Bachelor, Blast from the Past, Body Shots, The Corruptor, Detroit Rock City, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Magnolia

2000 - Bamboozled, Before Night Falls, Boiler Room, The Cell, Dancer in the Dark, Dungeons & Dragons, Final Destination, Frequency, Little Nicky, Next Friday, Price of Glory, The Prime Gig, State and Main, Thirteen Days, Turn It Up

2001 - 15 Minutes, The Anniversary Party, Blow, Bones, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Human Nature, I Am Sam, Invincible, The Invisible Circus, Jason X, Knockaround Guys, Life as a House, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Prison Song, Rush Hour 2, Storytelling, Sugar & Spice, Town & Country

2002 - About Schmidt, All About the Benjamins, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Blade 2, Cherish, The Emperor’s Club, Friday After Next, John Q, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Mr. Deeds, Punch-Drunk Love, Ripley’s Game, S1m0ne, Wish You Were Dead

2003 - American Splendor, Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, Elephant, Elf, Final Destination 2, Freddy vs. Jason, Highwaymen, How to Deal, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, A Man Apart, The Real Cancun, Secondhand Lions, The Sleeping Dictionary, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Willard

2004 - After the Sunset, Birth, Blade: Trinity, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Butterfly Effect, Cellular, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Holy Girl, Laws of Attraction, Maria Full of Grace, The Notebook, Raise Your Voice, The Sea Inside, The Year of the Yao

2005 - Domino, Factotum, A History of Violence, Just Friends, King’s Ransom, Last Days, The Man, Monster-in-Law, The New World, The Notorious Bettie Page, Son of the Mask, The Thing About My Folks, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, The Upside of Anger, Wedding Crashers

2006 - The Butterfly Effect 2, Final Destination 3, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, Hoot, How to Eat Fried Worms, Little Children, The Nativity Story, Pan’s Labyrinth, A Prairie Home Companion, Running Scared, Snakes on a Plane, Take the Lead, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Who the $%# is Jackson Pollock?

2007 - Code Name: The Cleaner, Fracture, Full of It, The Golden Compass, Gracie, Hairspray, Havoc 2: Normal Adolescent Behavior, The King of Kong, The Last Mimzy, Love in the Time of Cholera, Martian Child, Mr. Woodcock, Mongol, The Number 23, The Orphanage, Rendition, Rocket Science, Rush Hour 3, Shoot ‘Em Up, Silk, La Vie en Rose

2008 - Amusement, Appaloosa, Be Kind Rewind, The Cell 2, Four Christmases, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, He’s Just Not That Into You, Inkheart, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Over Her Dead Body, Pride and Glory, Run Fatboy Run, Semi-Pro, Seventeen Again, Sex and the City: The Movie, The Sick House, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Beyond ( ? ) - Final Destination 4, Friday the 13th, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Hobbit, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Shazam!

So what is happening to New Line staff? Well nearly 75% of New Line Cinema’s employees may be axed, leaving some uncertainty for the Company’s slate of upcoming films, including Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo on the 28th April, Sex and the City: The Movie on the 30th May, the 1st August launch of He’s Just Not That Into You, and the 8th August opening of Journey 3D..

Parent Time Warner hasn’t disclosed details of job cuts since last Thursday’s announcement that New Line would be folded into Warner Bros. and that co - toppers Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne would depart.. But the emerging consensus is that at least 75% of the slots will be axed in the coming months while a skeletal staff stays on - a plan reminiscent of what happened to Disney’s Miramax arm after the Weinstein brothers departed in 2005..

Time Warner, which has been under pressure to cut costs and hike its stagnant stock price, will name a ” transition team ” shortly to handle the specifics of folding New Line into Warner Bros..

Though he’s remaining on the job for the time being, New Line production president Toby Emmerich is widely expected to ankle.. It’s also anticipated that New Line will vacate its New York office and its West Hollywood HQ and move operations onto the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank..