New Line Cinema facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
New Line Productions, Inc.

Variant in use since 2024
Trade name	New Line Cinema
Former type	Subsidiary
Industry	Film production Television production
Fate	Absorbed into Warner Bros. Pictures; currently active as a unit of the latter
Successor	Warner Bros. Pictures
Founded	June 18, 1967; 58 years ago (1967-06-18) in New York City, United States (as a separate studio) February 29, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-02-29) (as a unit of Warner Bros. Pictures)
Founder	Robert Shaye
Defunct	February 29, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-02-29) (as a separate studio)
Headquarters	4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, California , United States
Key people	Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy (co-chairpersons and CEOs, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group)
Parent	Turner Entertainment (1994–1996) Time Warner (1996–2008) Warner Bros. (2008–2022) Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group (2022–present)
Divisions	New Line Television (1988–2008) Fine Line Features (1991–2005) New Line Home Entertainment (1990–2010)

Variant in use since 2011

New Line Productions, Inc., also known as New Line Cinema, is an American movie and TV show studio. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Since 2008, it has been a part of Warner Bros. Pictures.

The studio was started in 1967 by Robert Shaye. At first, it was a company that distributed independent films. Later, it became a film studio after Turner Broadcasting System bought it in 1994. Turner then joined with Time Warner in 1996. In 2008, New Line became part of Warner Bros. Pictures. The studio is sometimes called "The House that Freddy Built." This is because of the successful Nightmare on Elm Street movies. However, their biggest success was the movie series based on The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien. These movies made a lot of money and won many Academy Awards.

History of New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema was started in 1967 by Robert Shaye, who was 27 years old. It began as a company that brought foreign and art films to college campuses in the United States. Shaye ran the company from his apartment in New York City. New Line released many classic foreign films, and one of them, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, won an Oscar. The studio also released many films by director John Waters.

In 1976, New Line got money to make its first full-length movie, Stunts (1977). Even though critics didn't love it, the movie did well around the world and on television.

In 1980, Michael Lynne, who was Robert Shaye's friend from law school, started helping the company. He helped New Line manage its money.

In 1983, New Line bought the rights to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. They re-released the movie in theaters, and it became very successful for the studio.

Growing Film Production

In the early 1980s, New Line started making more movies. These included Polyester, directed by John Waters, and Alone in the Dark. Polyester was special because it used something called Odorama. Viewers got "scratch and sniff" cards to smell different scents during the movie. In 1983, Michael Lynne joined New Line's board of directors.

A Nightmare on Elm Street was made and released by New Line in 1984. This movie series became New Line's first big hit. Because of its success, New Line grew its business. They improved how they distributed movies and started selling them to TV channels.

In 1987, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was released. It made $8.9 million on its opening weekend, which was a record for an independent film at the time. It went on to earn almost $45 million in the U.S.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Success

In 1990, Michael Lynne became president of New Line, and Robert Shaye remained chairman. That same year, New Line released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This movie became the highest-grossing independent film ever at that time, earning $135 million in the U.S. and Canada. It was later beaten by The Blair Witch Project in 1999. A sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), also did very well, making $78 million. A third movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, followed in 1993.

New Line's Expansion

In 1991, New Line started Fine Line Features. This new company focused on independent films, like Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table and Gus van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. In 1997, the movie Shine was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Geoffrey Rush won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film.

Also in 1991, New Line bought the rights to many home videos and foreign films from Sultan Entertainment Holdings. In 1992, Michael De Luca became a top executive in the production part of the company.

Becoming Part of Turner and Time Warner

On January 28, 1994, Turner Broadcasting System bought New Line Cinema. Turner later merged with Time Warner in 1996. New Line Cinema remained a separate company, even though other Turner-owned studios became part of Warner Bros..

While it was separate from Warner Bros., New Line Cinema continued to handle its own movie releases, marketing, and home video sales. However, the company faced some challenges in 1996 after movies like The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Long Kiss Goodnight did not do well.

The Amazing Lord of the Rings Films

New Line produced The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. These became the studio's most successful films ever, earning over $2.9 billion worldwide. The movies were nominated for 30 Academy Awards. Each film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture. The final movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), won a record-tying eleven Oscars, including Best Picture. It was also the second highest-grossing film of all time when it was released.

Despite the huge success of The Lord of the Rings films, another movie, Town and Country (2001), lost a lot of money. After this, Michael De Luca left, and Toby Emmerich took over as head of production. In 2001, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne became co-chairmen and co-CEOs.

In 2005, New Line also helped start a new distribution company called Picturehouse. This company focused on independent films.

Joining Warner Bros.

On February 28, 2008, Jeffrey Bewkes, the CEO of Time Warner, announced that New Line Cinema would no longer be a separate studio. Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne stepped down from their roles. However, New Line Cinema would continue to make, market, and distribute its own films, but as a smaller part of Warner Bros. One reason for this decision was that the movie The Golden Compass (2007) did not make enough money. New Line Cinema spent $180 million on it, but it only earned $70 million in the United States. In March, Toby Emmerich became president of New Line, and the founders Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne left the company.

In May 2008, it was announced that Picturehouse would close down. New Line Cinema moved its offices in June 2014 to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. The last movie released by New Line Cinema as a fully independent company was Semi-Pro.

Since 2016, New Line Cinema has also been producing its own television series. Before that, its TV division had joined Warner Bros. Television in 2008.

Alan Horn, who was the Warner Bros. president at the time, said that New Line would make about four to seven movies a year. He also said that New Line would not just make one type of movie.

New Line Cinema Films

Film Series

Highest-Grossing Films

*Includes theatrical reissue(s).

See also

In Spanish: New Line Cinema para niños

• Fine Line Features
• New Line Home Entertainment
• New Line Television
• Picturehouse (with HBO)