Jump to content

Warner Bros.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kevin j (talk | contribs) at 17:35, 20 June 2008 (→‎Post–World War II: Changing hands). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary of Time Warner
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedHollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (1918)
FounderJack Warner
Harry Warner
Albert Warner
Sam Warner
Headquarters
Burbank, California and New York City
,
 United States
Key people
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman and CEO
Alan F. Horn, President and COO
Edward A. Romano EVP and CFO
ProductsMotion pictures, television programs
RevenueIncrease$11.7 billion USD (2007)[1]
Increase$845 million USD (2007)
Websitewb.com
File:WarnerBrosStudios-1920.jpg
Warner Bros. - First National Studios, Burbank, circa 1928.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (or Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of film and television entertainment.

It is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York City. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, DC Comics, and New Line Cinema. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.

Founded in 1918 by Polish-Canadian immigrants, Warner Bros. is the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation, after Paramount Pictures, founded in 1912 as Famous Players, and Universal Studios, also founded in 1912.

History

1903–1925: Founding

The corporate name honors the four founding Warner brothers, Harry Warner (1881—1958), Albert Warner (1883—1967), Sam Warner (1887—1927) and Jack L. Warner (1892—1978), Polish Jewish brothers who emigrated from Poland to Ontario, Canada. The three elder brothers began in the exhibition business in 1903, having acquired a projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. They opened their first theatre, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1903. (The original theater is still standing, and is being renovated as the centerpiece of the ongoing downtown revitalization in New Castle, hoping to attract tourists.[1]) In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company (the precursor to Warner Bros. Pictures) to distribute films. Within a few years this led to the distribution of pictures across a four-state area. In 1912 Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, and in 1918 the brothers opened the Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack Warner produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert Warner and their auditor and now controller Paul Ashley Chase handled finance and distribution in New York. On April 4, 1923, with help from a loan given to Harry Warner by his banker Montly Flint,[2] they formally incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc (The company prefers 1923 as the year they officially began).

The first important deal for the company was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwood's 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers from theatrical impresario David Belasco. However, what really put Warner Bros. on the Hollywood map was a dog, Rin Tin Tin,[3] brought from France after World War I by an American soldier.[4] Rin Tin Tin debuted in the short Where the North Begins.[3] The short was so successful that Jack Warner agreed to sign the dog to star in more short films for a $1,000-per-week salary, despite his being a dog.[3] Rin Tin Tin became the top star at the studio,[3] and Jack Warner even nicknamed him "The Mortgage Lifter;"[3] newcomer director Darryl Zanuck's career was also greatly boosted because of his productions of Rin Tin Tin as well.[5] Zanuck would eventually become a top producer for the studio as well[6] More success would also come for the studio after they hired German director Ernst Lubitsch as the head director for the studio as well;[5] Lubitsch's film The Marriage Circle would become's the studio's most successful film of 1924, and was also on the New York Times Best list for the year as well.[5]

Despite the success Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch gave the studio, they still were unable to achieve star power.[7] As a result, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in their upcoming film Beau Brummell.[7] The film was so successful that Harry Warner agreed to sign Barrymore to a generous long-term contract;[8] like The Marriage Circle, Beau Brummell (Bell End) was also able to make it to the New York Times Ten Best list for the year 1924 as well.[8] By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably the most successful independent studio in Hollywood,[8] but it still compete with "The Big Three" Studios (Universal, Paramount, and MGM).[9] As a result, Harry Warner — while speaking at a convention of 1,500 independent exhibitors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — and was able to successfully convince the filmmakers to spend $500,000.00 in newspaper advertising.[10] The action benefitted Warner Bros.,[10] and Harry saw this as an opportunity to finally be able to establish theaters in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.[10]

As the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan. With this new money, the Warners bought the pioneer Vitagraph Company which had a nation-wide distribution system.[10] In 1925, the Warners also plunged into radio, and established a successful radio station, KFWB, in Los Angeles.[11]

1925–1935: Sound, color, style

File:OnWithTheShow3.jpg
Screenshot from the first all-color all-talking film On with the Show, released by Warner Brothers in 1929.

In 1925, at the urging of Sam Warner, the Warners agreed to expand their operations by adding synchronized sound to their productions.[12] The Warners then signed a contract with the sound engineer company Western Electric and established Vitaphone.[13] In 1926, Vitaphone began making films with music and effects tracks, most notably, in the feature Don Juan; the film was silent, but it featured a large number of Vitaphone at the beginning. Don Juan-which featured Vitaphone sound shorts at the beginning of the film- was a success at the box office,[14] but was not able to match the expensive budget the Warners put into it's production as well;[14] in addition to this, Lubsitch-after making four films for the studio- had resigned from the studio and accepted a bigger offer to work for MGM.[7] As a result, the Warners, at the advice of Sam, took the next step and offered to instead release a feature picture with dialogue,[15] and would revolutionize the business: The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. The movie was a sensation, launching the era of "talking pictures" and banishing silent movies. However, the brothers could not make it to the premiere of The Jazz Singer, as Sam had died and the brothers were at his funeral.

Thanks to the success of The Jazz Singer, the studio was suddenly flushed with cash. Al Jolson's next film for the company, The Singing Fool, was also very successful able to rank in more money for the studio as well with the very successful 1928 film The Singing Fool.[16] In 1928, as a result of this success, the Warners were able to successfully acquire the Stanley Corporation, which was a major theater chain at the time.[17] This gave them a share in rival First National Pictures, of which Stanley owned one-third. In a bidding war with William Fox, Warner bought more First National shares on September 13, 1928;[18][18] producer Darryl Zanuck was also appointed as the studio's head of First National Pictures too.[18] In addition to this, Harry Warner was also able to acquire a string of music publishers and form Warner Bros. Music.[18] Despite also failing to purchase Brunswick records, Harry was still able to purchase a string of radio companies, foreign sound patents, and even a lithograph company;[18] Harry was also able to produce a Broadway Cole Porter musical titled Fifty Million Frenchmen.[19]

In the fall of 1929, the Warners gained complete control of First National, when Harry purchased the company's remaining one-third share from Fox[18] The Justice Department agreed to allow the purchase if First National was maintained as a separate company. But when the Great Depression hit, Warner asked for and got permission to merge the two studios; soon afterward Warner Bros. moved to the First National lot in Burbank. Though the companies merged, Justice required Warner to produce and release a few films each year under the First National name until 1938. For thirty years, certain Warner productions would be identified (mainly for tax purposes) as 'A Warner Bros. - First National Picture.'

Gold Diggers of Broadway was a huge hit for Warner Brothers in 1929.

The first year of the Great Depression-1930- did not damage the studio so badly,[20] and Harry was even able to acquire more theaters for the studio in Atlantic City;[21] By 1931, however, the studio would begin to feel the effects of the Depression as the general public became unable to afford the price for movie tickets.[22] In 1931, the studio would reportedly suffer a net loss of $8,000,000.00,[22] and would suffer an additional $14,000,000.00 net loss the following year, 1932, as well.[22]

In 1928, the Warner Brothers released Lights of New York, the first all-talking feature. Due to its success, the movie industry converted entirely to sound almost overnight. By the end of 1929, all the major studios were making sound films exclusively. In 1929, National Pictures released their first film with Warner Brothers as well, Noah's Ark.[23] Despite the film's expensive budget, Noah's Ark was able to be a make a profit for the studio at the box office.[24] In 1929, the Warners successful film On with the Show (1929), the first all-color all-talking feature. This was followed by Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) which proved to be arguably the studio's most popular film of the year. (It continued to be so popular that it played in theatres until 1939). The success of these two color pictures caused a color revolution (just as the first all-talkie had created one for talkies). The Warner Brothers released a large number of color films in 1929-1931. The following were features photographed entirely in Technicolor: The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), Bright Lights (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), Song of the Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), The Life of the Party (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Under A Texas Moon (1930), The Bride of the Regiment (1930), Viennese Nights (1931), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931), Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931), Manhattan Parade (1932). In addition to these, scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences as well as a numerous variety of short subjects. The majority of these color films were musicals.

By 1931 the country had grown so tired of musicals that the studio was forced to cut the numbers of many of the productions and advertise them as straight comedies. The public had begun to associate musicals with color and thus the movie studios began to abandon its use. Warner Brothers had a contract with Technicolor to produce two more pictures in that process. As a result, the first mysteries in color were produced and released by the studio: Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933).

In February of 1933, Warner Bros., however, would produce a very successful musical film[25] that saved the company from bankruptcy, 42nd Street. In the wake of 42nd Street's success, musicals were able to bring the studio profits once again.[26] These new musicals featured Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell as the stars, and were mostly directed by Busby Berkeley.[27] By the end of 1935, however, people would again get tired of Warner Bros. musicals,[26] and the studio-after the 1935 film Captin Blood made huge profits at the box office- instead shifted it's focus on producing Errol Flynn swashbucklers[28]

1931–1935: Pre-code realistic period

The studio as seen in the trailer for the film The Petrified Forest (1936).

With the collapse of the market for musicals, Warner Bros., under production head Darryl F. Zanuck, turned to more realistic and gritty storylines, 'torn from the headlines' pictures that some said glorified gangsters. One of the studio's first gangster films, Little Caesar was a great success at the box office.[29] Following Little Caesar, the studio would also release another successful gangster film, The Public Enemy.[29] The film made James Cagney a top star at the studio[30] and also further convinced the Warners to make more gangster films as well.[30] In addition to Cagney and Robinson, Paul Muni was also given a big push as one the studio's top gangster stars[31] after appearing in the successful film I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang.[30] In 1933, relieve for the studio would come again after Franklin Roosevelt became US President in 1933 and was able to rebound the US Economy with the New Deal;[32] because of this economic rebound, box office profits for Warner Bros. existed once again.[32] In the year 1934, the studio would lose over $2,500,000.00 in profits;[33] $500,000 of this net loss was also a result of physical damage to the Warner Bros. Burbank studio as a result of a massive fire that struck the studio around the end of 1934, destroying twenty years worth of early Vitagraph, Warner Bros., and First National films.[34]

During this time, Warner Bros. President Harry Warner was indicted, along with six other movie studio figures, of conspiracy to violate the Sherman AntiTrust Act,[35] through an attempt to gain a monopoly over theaters in the St Louis area.[36] In 1935, Harry was put on trial for this charge.[35] After a mistrial occurred, Harry sold the company's movie theaters, at least for a short time, and the case was never reopened.[37] The year 1935 also saw the studio rebound with a net profit of $674,158.00.[37]

By 1936, contracts of musical and silent stars were not renewed and new talent, tough-talking, working-class types, were hired that would more suitably fit in with these sort of pictures. Stars such as Dorothy Mackaill, Bebe Daniels, Frank Fay, Winnie Lightner, Bernice Claire, Alexander Gray, Alice White and Jack Mulhall that had characterized the urban, modern and sophisticated attitude of the 1920s gave way to stars such James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Edward G. Robinson, Warren William and Barbara Stanwyck who would be more acceptable to the common man. The studio was one of the most prolific producers of Pre-Code pictures and had a lot of trouble with the censors once they started clamping down on what they considered indecent (around 1934).[38] As a result, the Warner Brothers turned out a number of historical pictures from around 1935 in order to avoid confrontations with the Breen office.

After Zanuck was succeeded by Hal B. Wallis in 1933, and the Hays code began to be enforced in 1935, the studio was forced to abandon this realistic approach in order to produce more moralistic idealized pictures. The studio naturally turned to historical dramas which would not cause any problems with the censors. Other offerings included melodramas (or 'women's pictures'), swashbucklers, and adaptations of best-sellers, with stars like Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Muni and Errol Flynn. This period also saw the disappearance of a large number of actors and actresses that had characterized the realistic Pre-Code era but who were not suited to the new trend into moral and idealized pictures. The Warner Bros. had remained a top studio in Hollywood since the dawn of talkies, but this changed after 1935 as other studios, notably MGM, quickly overshadowed the prestige and glamor that had previously characterized Warner Bros. However, in the late 1930s, Bette Davis would also become a top star at Warner Bros, and was even dubbed as "The Fifth Warner Brother".[39] James Cagney would also leave Warner Bros. after starring in the hit film Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942 as well[40]

1930: Birth of Warner's cartoons

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are some characters that became central to the company's image.

Warner's cartoon unit had its roots in the independent Harman and Ising studio. From 1930 to 1933, Disney alumni Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising produced a series of musical cartoons for Leon Schlesinger, who sold the shorts to Warner. Harman and Ising introduced their character Bosko in the first Looney Tunes cartoon, Sinkin' in the Bathtub, and created a sister series, Merrie Melodies, in 1931.[41]

Harman and Ising broke away from Schlesinger in 1933 due to a contractual dispute, taking Bosko with them. As a result, Schlesinger started his own studio, Leon Schlesinger Productions, which continued with the Merrie Melodies while starting production on Looney Tunes starring Buddy, a Bosko clone. By the end of the decade, a new Schlesinger production team, including directors Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett and Chuck Jones had been formed. Schlesinger's staff developed a fast-paced, irreverent style that made their cartoons immensely popular world-wide.

In 1936, Avery directing a string of cartoons, staring Porky Pig, which established the character as the studio's first bona fide star.[42] In addition to Porky Pig, Warner Bros. cartoon characters Daffy Duck(who debuted in the 1937 short Porky's Duck Hunt) and Bugs Bunny (who debuted in the 1940 short A Wild Hare) would also achieve star power too.[43] By 1942, the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Studios as the most successful producer of animated shorts in the United States.[44]

Warner bought Schlesinger's cartoon unit in 1944, and in subsequent decades characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, and Porky Pig became central to the company's image. Bugs in particular remains a mascot to Warner Bros.' various divisions and Six Flags (which Time Warner previously owned).

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire.

World War II

Prior to the United States entering World War II, Harry Warner had produced the successful anti-German film The Life of Emile Zola[45] Following The Life of Émile Zola, Harry would produce more anti-German films, Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939),[46] The Sea Hawk-which mirrored King Phillip II as an equivalent to Hitler-(1940),[47] Sergeant York (1941),[47] and You're In The Army Now(1941).[48] After the United States officially entered World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Harry Warner decided to focus on producing just war films.[49] After the war broke out, one-fourth of the studio's employees, including Jack Warner's son Jack Jr. were drafted.[49]

Post–World War II: Changing hands

The record attendance figures of the World War II years made the Warner brothers rich. The gritty Warner image of the 1930s gave way to a glossier look, especially in women's pictures starring Davis, de Havilland and Joan Crawford. The 1940s also saw the rise of Humphrey Bogart from supporting player to major star. In the post-war years, the Warners continued to create new stars, like Lauren Bacall and Doris Day. The studio prospered greatly after the war.[50] By the end of 1947, the studio had reached a net profit of $22,000,000.00.[51] Unfortuantely, the company's profits would decrease 50% the following year[51]

On January 5, 1948, Warner offered the first color newsreel, covering the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game.

Warner was a party to the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust case of the 1940s. This action, brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, claimed that the five integrated studio-theater chain combinations restrained competition. The Supreme Court heard the case in 1948, and ruled for the government. As a result Warner and four other major studios were forced to separate production from exhibition. In 1949, the studio's net profit was now only $10,000,000.00.[51]

By 1949, with the success of television threatening the film industry more and more, Harry Warner decided to shift his focus towards television production.[52] However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would not allow Harry to do so.[52] After an unsuccessful attempt to convince other movie studio bosses to which their focus to television, Harry abandoned his television efforts.[52] In the early 1950's, the threat of television had grown greatly, and in 1953, Jack Warner decided to take a new approach to compete with the rising threat television now represented for the studio.[52] In the wake of United Artist's successful 3-D film Bwana Devil, Jack decided to expand into 3-D films with the studio's 1953 film House of Wax.[53] Unfortunately, despite the success House of Wax gave the studio 3-D films soon lost their appeal among moviegoers.[54]

After the downfall of 3-D films, Harry Warner decided to use CinemaScope in future Warner Bros. films.[55] One of the studio's first CinemaScope films, The High and Mighty, was able to give the studio some profit.[56] In 1954, the studio was finally able engage in the new television medium, by providing ABC with a weekly show, Warner Bros. Presents.[57] The studio followed up with a series of Western dramas, such as Maverick, Bronco, and Colt .45.[58] Within a few years, the studio, accustomed to dealing with actors in a high-handed manner, provoked hostility among emerging TV stars like James Garner, who filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over a contract dispute.[59] Jack Warner was angered by the perceived ingratitude of television actors, who evidently showed more independence than film actors, and this deepened his contempt for the new medium.[60]

Early in 1953, the Warner theater holdings were spun off as Stanley Warner Theaters, and were sold to Simon Fabian Enterprises.[61] By 1956, however, the studio was losing money.[62] In February 1956, Warner Brothers sold world negative rights to 784 features and 1,800 shorts filmed before 1948 to be shown on television by Associated Artists Productions.[63] In May 1956, Jack, Harry, and Albert announced they were putting Warner Bros. on the market.[62] Jack, however, secretly organized a syndicate-headed by Boston banker Serge Semenenko-[62] that purchased 90%(800,000 shares) of the company's stock.[62] After the three brothers sold their stock, Jack-through his under-the-table deal with Sememenko- joined Semenenko's syndicate[64] and bought back all his stock, which consisted of 200,000 shares.[64] Shortly afterwards, Jack-now the company's largest stockholder- appointed himself as the new company President.[65]By the time Harry and Albert learned of their brother's dealings, it was too late.[66] Shortly after the deal was closed, Jack Warner announced that the company and its subsidiaries would be "directed more vigorously to the acquisition of the most important story properties, talents, and to the production of the finest motion pictures possible".[67]

New owners

Warner Bros. rebounded in the late 1950s, specializing in adaptations of popular plays like The Bad Seed (1956), No Time for Sergeants (1958), and Gypsy (1962). There was also a successful television unit run by William T. Orr, Jack Warner's son-in-law, offering popular series like Maverick (1957–62) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958–64). Already the owner of extensive music-publishing holdings, in 1958 the studio launched Warner Bros. Records. By the mid-1960s, motion picture production was in decline. There were few studio-produced films and many more co-productions (for which Warner provided facilities, money, and distribution), and pickups of independently made pictures.

In 1967, Jack gave in to advancing age and the changing times, selling control of the studio and its music business for $78 million to Seven Arts Productions, run by the Canadian investors Elliot and Kenneth Hyman, whose Associated Artists Productions had once owned the pre-1948 Warner film library. The company, including the studio, was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

File:Batmanmovie1.jpg
Michael Keaton as Batman in 1992's Batman Returns.

Two years later the Hymans accepted a cash-and-stock offer from an odd conglomerate called Kinney National Company. Kinney started as a parking garage mobster Emmanuel Kimmel won in a poker game before expanding by merging with a chain of funeral parlors, office cleaners, and a Hollywood talent agency, Ashley-Famous.[68] It was Ted Ashley who led Kinney head Steve Ross to the purchase of Warners, and Ashley became the new head of the studio, and the name was changed to Warner Bros., Inc.

Although the moviegoing audience had shrunk, Warner's new management believed in the drawing-power of stars, signing co-production deals with several of the biggest names of the day, among them Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, and Clint Eastwood, carrying the studio successfully through the 1970s and 1980s. Warners also made major profits on films built around the characters of Superman and Batman, owned by Warners subsidiary DC Comics.

Abandoning the mundane parking lots and funeral homes, the re-focused Kinney renamed itself in honor of its best-known holding, Warner Communications. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Warner Communications branched out into other business, such as its acquiring of video game company Atari in 1976, and later the Six Flags theme parks.

From 1971 until the end of 1987, Warner's international distribution operations were a joint venture with Columbia Pictures, and in some countries, this joint venture also distributed films from other companies (like EMI Films and Cannon Films in the UK). Warner ended the venture in 1988 and joined up with Walt Disney Pictures, this joint venture lasted until 1993, when Disney created Buena Vista International.

To the surprise of many, flashy, star-driven Warner Communications merged in 1989 with the white-shoe publishing company Time Inc. Though Time and its magazines claimed a higher tone, it was the Warner Bros. film and music units which provided the profits. However, the Time Warner merger was almost derailed when Paramount Communications (Formerly Gulf+Western, later sold to Viacom), launched a $12.2 billion dollar hostle bid for Time Inc., forcing Time to acquire Warner for $14.9 billion dollar cash/stock offer. Paramount responded with a lawsuit filed in Delaware court to break up the merger. Paramount lost both the case and the appeal and the merger proceeded.

In 1997, Time Warner sold the Six Flags unit. The takeover of Time Warner in 2000 by then-high-flying AOL did not prove a good match, and following the collapse in "dot-com" stocks, the AOL name was banished from the corporate nameplate.

1995–present

A panoramic view over today's studio premises.

In 1995, Warner and station-owner Tribune Company of Chicago launched The WB Network, finding a niche market in teenagers. The WB's early programming included an abundance of teenage fare like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville and Dawson's Creek. Two extremely successful family dramas, 7th Heaven and Charmed also helped bring The WB into the spotlight, with Charmed going for 8 seasons and being the longest running drama with female leads and 7th Heaven going for 11 seasons and being the longest running family drama and longest running show for The WB. In 2006 Warner and CBS Corporation decided to close The WB and CBS's UPN and jointly launch The CW Television Network.

In the late 1990s, Warner obtained rights to the Harry Potter novels, and released feature film adaptations of the first in 2001, the second in 2002, the third in June 2004, the fourth in November 2005, and the fifth on July 11, 2007. The sixth is slated for November 2008. The seventh and final adaptation, to be shown in two parts, has been announced for 2010 and 2011.

Over the years, Warner Brothers has had distribution and/or co-production deals with a number of small companies. These include (but are not limited to) Amblin Entertainment, Morgan Creek Productions (now working with Universal Studios), Regency Enterprises (now working with 20th Century Fox), Village Roadshow Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Silver Pictures (which includes Dark Castle Entertainment), The Ladd Company, and The Geffen Film Company.

On January 4, 2008, Warner Bros. announced that they would drop support of HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.[69] HD DVD's would continue to be released through May 2008 (when their contract with the HD DVD promotion group will expire), but only after Blu-ray and DVD releases. This started a chain of events which resulted in HD DVD development and production being halted by Toshiba on February 16, 2008, ending the format war.

Warner Bros. and National CineMedia have formed a partnership to provide pre-feature entertainment and advertising in movie theaters nationwide.[70]

Warner Bros. turned 90 on June 1, 2008.

Film library

Main article: List of Warner Bros. films

Over the years, a series of mergers and acquisitions have helped Warners (the present-day Time Warner subsidiary) to accumulate a diverse collection of movies, cartoons, and television programs.

In the aftermath of the 1948 anti-trust suit, uncertain times led Warners in 1956 to sell its 650 of its pre-1948 films and cartoons to a holding company which became Associated Artists Productions (AAP). Two years later, AAP sold its holdings to United Artists (UA), which held them until 1981, when MGM bought UA.

Three years later, Turner Broadcasting System, having failed to buy MGM, settled for ownership of the MGM/UA library. This included almost all pre-1986 MGM features (with a few exceptions as noted below), as well as the pre-1948 Warner material. Ownership of the classic Warner films came full-circle when Time Warner bought Turner, although technically they are held by Turner Entertainment while Warner is responsible for sales and distribution.

These acquisitions, among others, mean that Warner owns almost every film they have made since its inception, excepting certain films Warner merely distributed. Much of the United States Pictures catalog (with certain exceptions, like Battle of the Bulge, which WB still owns) is now owned by Republic/Paramount Pictures (Republic/Paramount also now owns Cujo, with video licensee Lions Gate Entertainment handling DVD rights).

Seven years after its 1964 release, rights to My Fair Lady reverted to CBS, which had backed the theatrical production, although ironically Warner now owns the DVD rights under license from CBS (Interestingly, 35 years after that, CBS and Warner Bros. formed The CW Television Network, as mentioned above).

In addition Warner (via Turner) has acquired most of the Hanna-Barbera Productions library (including the 1982 film Heidi's Song), alongside most of the pre-1990 Ruby-Spears Productions library. This does not including shows based on other licensed properties (ex., the animated versions of Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley are owned by CBS Paramount Television).

In 2007, Warner Bros. added the Peanuts/Charlie Brown library to its collection (this includes all the television specials and series outside of the theatrical library, which continues to be owned by CBS and Paramount through United Feature Syndicate, licensor and owner of the Peanuts material).

Material owned by WB

In addition to a majority of its own post-1948 film library, WB owns:

Exceptions

WB

  • Certain of John Wayne's Warner films are owned by Batjac, Wayne's company, as are other Batjac productions not starring Wayne - Paramount owns distribution rights to these films. Warner and Paramount cross-licensed each others' logos for DVD distribution of both these films and the Paramount produced Popeye cartoons Warner controls.
  • One film by Alfred Hitchcock that was originally released by WB, Rope, is now owned by Universal Studios
  • One Warner film from the post-1948 era, the 1956 version of Moby Dick, is now owned by UA.
  • One film that was originally released by Warner in 1957, Sayonara, is now owned by MGM.
  • The ancillary rights to ITC Entertainment films originally distributed by WB (including The Medusa Touch, Movie Movie, and Capricorn One) are now owned by Granada International, while MGM owns theatrical distribution rights.

Turner

The WB Archives

The University of Southern California Warner Bros. Archives is the largest single studio collection in the world. Donated in 1977 to USC's School of Cinema-Television by Warner Communications, the WBA houses departmental records that detail Warner Bros. activities from the studio's first major feature, My Four Years in Germany (1918), to its sale to Seven Arts in 1968.

UA donated pre-1949 Warner Bros. nitrates to the Library of Congress and post-1951 negatives to UCLA's film library. Most of the company's legal files, scripts and production materials were donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Well-Known Film Properties

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Time Warner Inc. Reports Results for 2007 Full Year and Fourth Quarter".
  2. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 77.
  3. ^ a b c d e Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 81.
  4. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 80.
  5. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 82.
  6. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 101.
  7. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 83.
  8. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 84.
  9. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 85.
  10. ^ a b c d Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 86.
  11. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 88.
  12. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 95.
  13. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 96.
  14. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 113.
  15. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 115.
  16. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 141.
  17. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 144.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 147.
  19. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 148.
  20. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 160
  21. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739489,00.html
  22. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 160.
  23. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 151.
  24. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 150.
  25. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 190.
  26. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 194.
  27. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 192.
  28. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 195.
  29. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 184.
  30. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 185.
  31. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 186.
  32. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 161.
  33. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 209
  34. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 209
  35. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 209
  36. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,787960,00.html
  37. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 211
  38. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 188-189.
  39. ^ WatchMojo.com - Daily Video Clips - Bette Davis
  40. ^ Cagney: Hollywood Renegades
  41. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 187.
  42. ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 329-333.
  43. ^ http://www.milechai.com/product2/children_books/porky-pig-and-the-small-dog.html
  44. ^ "Warner Bros. Studio biography". AnimationUSA.com. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  45. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 225
  46. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 233
  47. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 247 Cite error: The named reference "GRTWBiokj1y2rt)" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  48. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 247
  49. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 240
  50. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 258-279
  51. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 279
  52. ^ a b c d Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 286 Cite error: The named reference "268lk" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  53. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 287.
  54. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 191.
  55. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 287-288.
  56. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 288.
  57. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 192.
  58. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 194.
  59. ^ Thomas (1990), pp. 196–198.
  60. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 199.
  61. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808529,00.html
  62. ^ a b c d Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 303.
  63. ^ p.295 Sperling, Cass Warner, Millner, Cork, * Warner Jr, Jack Hollywood Be They Name Prima Publishing (1994)
  64. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 308.
  65. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 306.
  66. ^ Cite error: The named reference thomas226 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  67. ^ The United Press (July 12, 1956). "2 Warners Sell Most of Stock in Film Firm: Harry and Albert Dispose of Shares to Banker; Jack to Be President". The Youngstown Vindicator. p. 22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  68. ^ William Poundstone, Fortune's Formula
  69. ^ Warner Bros Goes Blu Ray Exclusive Console Watcher
  70. ^ Warner Bros. and National CineMedia Form Marketing Partnership, Yahoo!, January 14, 2008

References

  • Mordden, Ethan. The Hollywood Studios. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.
  • Schatz, Robert. The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era. New York: Pantheon, 1988.
  • Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America. New York: Vintage, 1994.
  • Warner, Jack L. My First Hundred Years in Hollywood.
  • Gabler, Neal. An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988.
Wikinews has related news:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warner_Bros.&oldid=220603265"