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Wikipedia

Warner Bros.

January 13, 2023

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros.[a] or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games, and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Logo used since 2019
Warner Bros.' studio offices in Burbank, California
Formerly
  • Warner Brothers Classics of the Screen (1923–1925)
  • Warner Brothers Productions (1925–1929)
  • Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. (1929–1967)
  • Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1970)
  • Warner Bros. Inc. (1970–1993)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
PredecessorWarner Features Company
FoundedApril 4, 1923; 99 years ago (1923-04-04)
Founders
Headquarters4000 Warner Blvd.,
Burbank, California
,
US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
Brands
Revenue US$12.15 billion (2020)
US$2.07 billion (2020)
Number of employees
est. 8,000 (2014)
ParentWarner Bros. Discovery
Divisions
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.warnerbros.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4]

The company is known for its film studio division, the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and Robert McKimson as part of the Looney Tunes series, is the company's official mascot.

History

Founding

The company's name originated from the founding Warner brothers (born Wonsal, Woron and Wonskolaser[6][7][8] before Anglicization):[9][10] Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. Harry, Albert and Sam emigrated as young children with their Polish-Jewish[11][12][13][14] mother to the United States from Krasnosielc, Poland (then part of Congress Poland within the Russian Empire), in October 1889, a year after their father emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. As in many other immigrant families, the elder Wonsal children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish-sounding names: Szmuel Wonsal became Samuel Warner (nicknamed "Sam"), Hirsz Wonsal became Harry Warner, and Aaron Wonsal (although born with a given name common in the Americas) became Albert Warner.[15] Jack, the youngest brother, was born in London, Ontario, during the family's two-year residency in Canada.

 
The Warner brothers: Albert, Jack, Harry and Sam

The three elder brothers began in the movie theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. In the beginning,[16] Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery. They opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners and arranged to save it. The owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance.[17]

In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company,[18][19] to distribute films. In 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films. In 1918 they opened the first Warner Brothers Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, based on a popular book by former ambassador James W. Gerard, was released. On April 4, 1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint,[20] they formally incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures, Incorporated. (As late as the 1960s, Warner Bros. claimed 1905 as its founding date.)[21]

 
Lobby card from Open Your Eyes (1919)
 
Lobby card from The Beautiful and Damned (1922)

The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwood's 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, from theatrical impresario David Belasco. However, Rin Tin Tin,[22] a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation.[23] Rin Tin Tin's third film was the feature Where the North Begins, which was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week.[22] Rin Tin Tin became the studio's top star.[22] Jack nicknamed him "The Mortgage Lifter"[22] and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanuck's career.[24] Zanuck eventually became a top producer[25] and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jack's right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production.[26] More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director;[24] Harry Rapf left the studio to join Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[27] Lubitsch's film The Marriage Circle was the studio's most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year.[24]

Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warner's remained a lesser studio.[28] Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel.[28] The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a long-term contract;[29] like The Marriage Circle, Beau Brummel was named one of the ten best films of the year by the Times.[29] By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywood's most successful independent studio,[29] where it competed with "The Big Three" Studios (First National, Paramount Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).[30] As a result, Harry Warner—while speaking at a convention of 1,500 independent exhibitors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—was able to convince the filmmakers to spend $500,000 in newspaper advertising,[31] and Harry saw this as an opportunity to establish theaters in places such as New York City and Los Angeles.[31]

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 nationwide distribution system.[31] In 1925, Warners' also experimented in radio, establishing a successful radio station, KFWB, in Los Angeles.[32]

1925–1935: Sound, color, style

Warner Bros. was a pioneer of films with synchronized sound (then known as "talking pictures" or "talkies"). In 1925, at Sam's urging, Warner's agreed to add this feature to their productions.[33] By February 1926, the studio reported a net loss of $333,413.[34]

 
Movie-goers awaiting Don Juan opening at Warners' Theatre

After a long period denying Sam's request for sound, Harry agreed to change, as long as the studio's use of synchronized sound was for background music purposes only.[33] The Warners signed a contract with the sound engineer company Western Electric and established Vitaphone.[35] In 1926, Vitaphone began making films with music and effects tracks, most notably, in the feature Don Juan starring John Barrymore. The film was silent, but it featured a large number of Vitaphone shorts at the beginning. To hype Don Juan's release, Harry acquired the large Piccadilly Theater in Manhattan, New York City, and renamed it Warners' Theatre.[36]

Don Juan premiered at the Warners' Theatre in New York on August 6, 1926.[36] Throughout the early history of film distribution, theater owners hired orchestras to attend film showings, where they provided soundtracks. Through Vitaphone, Warner Bros. produced eight shorts (which were played at the beginning of every showing of Don Juan across the country) in 1926. Many film production companies questioned the necessity.[37] Don Juan did not recoup its production cost[38] and Lubitsch left for MGM.[28] By April 1927, the Big Five studios (First National, Paramount, MGM, Universal, and Producers Distributing) had ruined Warner's,[39] and Western Electric renewed Warner's Vitaphone contract with terms that allowed other film companies to test sound.[39]

As a result of their financial problems, Warner Bros. took the next step and released The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. This movie, which includes little sound dialogue, but did feature sound segments of Jolson singing, was a sensation. It signaled the beginning of the era of "talking pictures" and the twilight of the silent era. However, Sam died the night before the opening, preventing the brothers from attending the premiere. Jack became sole head of production.[40] Sam's death also had a great effect on Jack's emotional state,[41] as Sam was arguably Jack's inspiration and favorite brother.[42] In the years to come, Jack kept the studio under tight control.[41] Firing employees was common.[43] Among those whom Jack fired were Rin Tin Tin (in 1929) and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (in 1933), the latter having served as First National's top star since the brothers acquired the studio in 1928.[43]

Thanks to the success of The Jazz Singer, the studio was cash-rich. Jolson's next film for the company, The Singing Fool was also a success.[44] With the success of these first talkies (The Jazz Singer, Lights of New York, The Singing Fool and The Terror), Warner Bros. became a top studio and the brothers were now able to move out from the Poverty Row section of Hollywood, and acquire a much larger studio lot in Burbank.[45] They expanded by acquiring the Stanley Corporation, a major theater chain.[46] This gave them a share in rival First National Pictures, of which Stanley owned one-third.[47] In a bidding war with William Fox, Warner Bros. bought more First National shares on September 13, 1928;[48] Jack also appointed Zanuck as the manager of First National Pictures.[48]

 
Warner Bros.–First National Studios, Burbank, c. 1928

In 1928, Warner Bros. 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 exclusively making sound films. In 1929, First National Pictures released their first film with Warner Bros., Noah's Ark.[49] Despite its expensive budget, Noah's Ark was profitable.[50] In 1929, Warner Bros. released On with the Show!, the first all-color all-talking feature. This was followed by Gold Diggers of Broadway which would play in theaters until 1939. The success of these pictures caused a color revolution. Warner Bros. color films from 1929 to 1931 included 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), Bride of the Regiment (1930), Viennese Nights (1931), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931), 50 Million Frenchmen (1931) and Manhattan Parade (1932). In addition to these, scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences, as well as numerous Technicolor Specials short subjects. The majority of these color films were musicals.

In 1929, Warner Bros. bought the St. Louis-based theater chain Skouras Brothers Enterprises. Following this takeover, Spyros Skouras, the driving force of the chain, became general manager of the Warner Brothers Theater Circuit in America. He worked successfully in that post for two years and turned its losses into profits. Harry produced an adaptation of a Cole Porter musical titled Fifty Million Frenchmen.[51] Through First National, the studio's profit increased substantially.[52] After the success of the studio's 1929 First National film Noah's Ark, Harry agreed to make Michael Curtiz a major director at the Burbank studio.[53] Mort Blumenstock, a First National screenwriter, became a top writer at the brothers' New York headquarters.[54] In the third quarter, Warner Bros. gained complete control of First National, when Harry purchased the company's remaining one-third share from Fox.[48] The Justice Department agreed to allow the purchase if First National was maintained as a separate company.[55] 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, the Justice Department required Warner to release a few films each year under the First National name until 1938. For thirty years, certain Warner productions were identified (mainly for tax purposes) as 'A Warner Bros.–First National Picture.'

In the latter part of 1929, Jack Warner hired George Arliss to star in Disraeli,[56] which was a success.[56] Arliss won an Academy Award for Best Actor and went on to star in nine more movies for the studio.[56] In 1930, Harry acquired more theaters in Atlantic City, despite the beginning of the Great Depression.[57] In July 1930, the studio's banker, Motley Flint, was murdered by a disgruntled investor in another company.[58]

Harry acquired a string of music publishers (including M. Witmark & Sons, Remick Music Corp., and T.B. Harms, Inc.) to form Warner Bros. Music. In April 1930, Warner Bros. acquired Brunswick Records. Harry obtained radio companies, foreign sound patents and a lithograph company.[48] After establishing Warner Bros. Music, Harry appointed his son, Lewis, to manage the company.[59]

By 1931, the studio began to feel the effects of the Great Depression, reportedly losing $8 million, and an additional $14 million the following year.[60] In 1931, Warner Bros. Music head Lewis Warner died from an infected wisdom tooth.[58] Around that time, Zanuck hired screenwriter Wilson Mizner,[61] who had little respect for authority and found it difficult to work with Jack,[61] but became an asset.[61] As time passed, Warner became more tolerant of Mizner and helped invest in Mizner's Brown Derby restaurant.[61] Mizner died of a heart attack on April 3, 1933.[62]

By 1932, musicals were declining in popularity, and the studio was forced to cut musical numbers from many productions and advertise them as straight comedies. The public had begun to associate musicals with color, and thus studios began to abandon its use.[citation needed] Warner Bros. had a contract with Technicolor to produce two more pictures in that process. As a result, the first horror films in color were produced and released by the studio: Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). In the latter part of 1931, Harry Warner rented the Teddington Studios in London, England.[63] The studio focused on making "quota quickies" for the domestic British market[64] and Irving Asher was appointed as the studio's head producer.[64] In 1934, Harry officially purchased the Teddington Studios.[63]

In February 1933, Warner Bros. produced 42nd Street, a very successful musical under the direction of Lloyd Bacon. Warner assigned Bacon to "more expensive productions including Footlight Parade, Wonder Bar, Broadway Gondolier" (which he also starred in), and Gold Diggers[65][66] that saved the company from bankruptcy.[67] In the wake of 42nd Street's success, the studio produced profitable musicals.[68] These starred Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and were mostly directed by Busby Berkeley.[69] In 1935, the revival was affected by Berkeley's arrest for killing three people while driving drunk.[70] By the end of the year, people again tired of Warner Bros. musicals,[68] and the studio — after the huge profits made by 1935 film Captain Blood — shifted its focus to Errol Flynn swashbucklers.[71]

1930–1935: Pre-code realistic period

With the collapse of the market for musicals, Warner Bros., under Zanuck, turned to more socially realistic storylines. Because of its many films about gangsters,[72] Warner Bros. soon became known as a "gangster studio".[73] The studio's first gangster film, Little Caesar, was a great box office success[74] and Edward G. Robinson starred in many of the subsequent Warner gangster films.[75] The studio's next effort, The Public Enemy,[76] made James Cagney arguably the studio's new top star,[77] and Warner Bros. made more gangster films.[76]

“Movie for movie, Warners was the most reliable source of entertainment through the thirties and forties, even though it was clearly the most budget-conscious of them all.”

— Film historian Andrew Sarris in “You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet.”: The American Talking Film History & Memory, 1927–1949.[78]

Another gangster film the studio produced was the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, based on a true story and starring Paul Muni,[79] joining Cagney and Robinson as one of the studio's top gangster stars[80] after appearing in the successful film,[76] which convinced audiences to question the American legal system.[81] By January 1933, the film's protagonist Robert Elliot Burns—still imprisoned in New Jersey—and other chain gang prisoners nationwide appealed and were released.[82] In January 1933, Georgia chain gang warden J. Harold Hardy—who was also made into a character in the film—sued the studio for displaying "vicious, untrue and false attacks" against him in the film.[83] After appearing in the Warner's film The Man Who Played God, Bette Davis became a top star.[84]

In 1933, relief for the studio came after Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and began the New Deal.[85] This economic rebound allowed Warner Bros. to again become profitable.[85] The same year, Zanuck quit. Harry Warner's relationship with Zanuck had become strained after Harry strongly opposed allowing Zanuck's film Baby Face to step outside Hays Code boundaries.[86] The studio reduced his salary as a result of losses from the Great Depression,[87] and Harry refused to restore it as the company recovered.[88] Zanuck[89] established his own company. Harry thereafter raised salaries for studio employees.[88]

In 1933, Warner was able to link up with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Films.[90] Hearst had previously worked with MGM,[91] but ended the association after a dispute with head producer Irving Thalberg over the treatment of Hearst's longstanding mistress, actress Marion Davies, who was struggling for box office success.[92] Through his partnership with Hearst, Warner signed Davies to a studio contract.[90] Hearst's company and Davies' films, however, did not increase the studio's profits.[91]

In 1934, the studio lost over $2.5 million,[93] of which $500,000 was the result of a 1934 fire at the Burbank studio, destroying 20 years' worth of early Vitagraph, Warner Bros. and First National films.[93] The following year, Hearst's film adaption of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) failed at the box office and the studio's net loss increased.[94] During this time, Harry and six other movie studio figures were indicted for conspiracy to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act,[93] through an attempt to gain a monopoly over St Louis movie theaters.[95] In 1935, Harry was put on trial;[93] after a mistrial, Harry sold the company's movie theaters and the case was never reopened.[93] 1935 also saw the studio make a net profit of $674,158.00.[93]

 
The studio as depicted in the trailer for The Petrified Forest (1936)

By 1936, contracts of musical and silent stars were not renewed, instead being replaced by tough-talking, working-class types who better fit these pictures. As a result, Dorothy Mackaill, Dolores del Río, 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 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 indecency (around 1934).[96] As a result, Warner Bros. turned to historical pictures from around 1935 to avoid confrontations with the Breen office. In 1936, following the success of The Petrified Forest, Jack signed Humphrey Bogart to a studio contract.[97] Warner, however, did not think Bogart was star material,[98] and cast Bogart in infrequent roles as a villain opposite either James Cagney or Edward Robinson over the next five years.[97]

After Hal B. Wallis succeeded Zanuck in 1933,[99] 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's historical dramas, melodramas (or "women's pictures"), swashbucklers, and adaptations of best-sellers, with stars like Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Muni, and Errol Flynn, avoided the censors. In 1936, Bette Davis, by now arguably the studio's top star,[100] was unhappy with her roles. She traveled to England and tried to break her contract.[100] Davis lost the lawsuit and returned to America.[101] Although many of the studio's employees had problems with Jack Warner, they considered Albert and Harry fair.[102]

Code era

In the 1930s many actors and actresses who had characterized the realistic pre-Code era, but who were not suited to the new trend into moral and idealized pictures, disappeared. Warner Bros. remained a top studio in Hollywood, but this changed after 1935 as other studios, notably MGM, quickly overshadowed the prestige and glamor that previously characterized Warner Bros. However, in the late 1930s, Bette Davis became the studio's top draw and was even dubbed as "The Fifth Warner Brother."[citation needed]

In 1935, Cagney sued Jack Warner for breach of contract.[103] Cagney claimed Warner had forced him to star in more films than his contract required.[103] Cagney eventually dropped his lawsuit after a cash settlement.[104] Nevertheless, Cagney left the studio to establish an independent film company with his brother Bill.[105] The Cagneys released their films though Grand National Films, however they were not able to get good financing[105] and ran out of money after their third film.[105] Cagney then agreed to return to Warner Bros., after Jack agreed to a contract guaranteeing Cagney would be treated to his own terms.[105] After the success of Yankee Doodle Dandy at the box office, Cagney again questioned if the studio would meet his salary demand[106] and again quit to form his own film production and distribution company with Bill.[106]

Another employee with whom Warner had troubles was studio producer Bryan Foy.[107] In 1936, Wallis hired Foy as a producer for the studio's low budget B movies leading to his nickname "the keeper of the B's".[102] Foy was able to garnish arguably more profits than any other B-film producer at the time.[102] During Foy's time at the studio, however, Warner fired him seven different times.[107]

During 1936, The Story of Louis Pasteur proved a box office success[108] and star Paul Muni won the Oscar for Best Actor in March 1937.[108] The studio's 1937 film The Life of Emile Zola gave the studio the first of its seven Best Picture Oscars.[108]

In 1937, the studio hired Midwestern radio announcer Ronald Reagan, who would eventually become the President of the United States. Although Reagan was initially a B-film actor, Warner Bros. was impressed by his performance in the final scene of Knute Rockne, All American, and agreed to pair him with Flynn in Santa Fe Trail (1940). Reagan then returned to B-films.[109] After his performance in the studio's 1942 Kings Row, Warner decided to make Reagan a top star and signed him to a new contract, tripling his salary.[110]

In 1936, Harry's daughter Doris read a copy of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind and was interested in making a film adaptation.[111] Doris offered Mitchell $50,000 for screen rights. Jack vetoed the deal, realizing it would be an expensive production.[111]

Major Paramount star George Raft also eventually proved to be a problem for Jack.[112] Warner had signed him in 1939, finally bringing the third top 1930s gangster actor into the Warners fold, knowing that he could carry any gangster picture when either Robinson or Cagney were on suspension.[112] Raft had difficulty working with Bogart and refused to co-star with him.[113] Eventually, Warner agreed to release Raft from his contract in 1943.[114] After Raft had turned the role down, the studio gave Bogart the role of "Mad Dog" Roy Earle in the 1941 film High Sierra,[114] which helped establish him as a top star.[115] Following High Sierra and after Raft had once again turned the part down, Bogart was given the leading role in John Huston's successful 1941 remake of the studio's 1931 pre-Code film, The Maltese Falcon,[116] based upon the Dashiell Hammett novel.

Warner's cartoons

Main articles: Warner Bros. Cartoons and Warner Bros. Animation
 
The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series' flagship character, Bugs Bunny, is the official mascot of Warner Bros.
 
The main characters of Animaniacs (logo pictured), Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, are surnamed Warner, after the company.

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 musical cartoons for Leon Schlesinger, who sold them 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.[117]

Harman and Ising broke away from Schlesinger in 1933 due to a contractual dispute, taking Bosko with them to MGM. As a result, Schlesinger started his own studio, Leon Schlesinger Productions, which continued with Merrie Melodies while starting production on Looney Tunes starring Buddy, a Bosko clone. By the end of World War II, a new Schlesinger production team, including directors Friz Freleng (started in 1934), Tex Avery (started in 1935), Frank Tashlin (started in 1936), Bob Clampett (started in 1937), Chuck Jones (started in 1938), and Robert McKimson (started in 1946), was formed. Schlesinger's staff developed a fast-paced, irreverent style that made their cartoons globally popular.

In 1935, Avery directed Porky Pig cartoons that established the character as the studio's first animated star.[118] In addition to Porky, Daffy Duck (who debuted in 1937's Porky's Duck Hunt), Elmer Fudd (Elmer's Candid Camera, 1940), Bugs Bunny (A Wild Hare, 1940), and Tweety (A Tale of Two Kitties, 1942) would achieve star power.[119] By 1942, the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Studios as the most successful producer of animated shorts.[120]

Warner Bros. bought Schlesinger's cartoon unit in 1944 and renamed it Warner Bros. Cartoons. However, senior management treated the unit with indifference, beginning with the installation as senior producer of Edward Selzer, whom the creative staff considered an interfering incompetent. Jack Warner had little regard for the company's short film product and reputedly was so ignorant about the studio's animation division that he was mistakenly convinced that the unit produced cartoons of Mickey Mouse, the flagship character of Walt Disney Productions.[121] He sold off the unit's pre-August 1948 library for $3,000 each, which proved a shortsighted transaction in light of its eventual value.[121]

Warner Bros. Cartoons continued, with intermittent interruptions, until 1969 when it was dissolved as the parent company ceased film shorts entirely. Characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, and Porky Pig became central to the company's image in subsequent decades. Bugs in particular remains a mascot to Warner Bros., its various divisions, and Six Flags (which Time Warner once owned). The success of the compilation film The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie in 1979, featuring the archived film of these characters, prompted Warner Bros. to organize Warner Bros. Animation as a new production division to restart production of original material.

World War II

According to Warner's autobiography, prior to US entry in World War II, Philip Kauffman, Warner Bros. German sales head, was murdered by the Nazis in Berlin in 1936.[122][123][124] Harry produced the successful anti-German film The Life of Emile Zola (1937).[125] After that, Harry supervised the production of more anti-German films, including Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939),[126] The Sea Hawk (1940), which made King Philip II an equivalent of Hitler,[127] Sergeant York,[128] and You're In The Army Now (1941).[128] Harry then decided to focus on producing war films.[129] Warners' cut its film production in half during the war, eliminating its B Pictures unit in 1941. Bryan Foy joined Twentieth Century Fox.[130]

 
Bette Davis in Now, Voyager (1942)

During the war era, the studio made Casablanca, Now, Voyager, Yankee Doodle Dandy (all 1942), This Is the Army, and Mission to Moscow (both 1943);[131] the last of these films became controversial a few years afterwards. At the premieres of Yankee Doodle Dandy (in Los Angeles, New York, and London), audiences purchased $15.6 million in war bonds for the governments of England and the United States. By the middle of 1943, however, audiences had tired of war films, but Warner continued to produce them, losing money. In honor of the studio's contributions to the cause, the Navy named a Liberty ship after the brothers' father, Benjamin Warner. Harry christened the ship. By the time the war ended, $20 million in war bonds were purchased through the studio, the Red Cross collected 5,200 pints of blood plasma from studio employees[131] and 763 of the studio's employees served in the armed forces, including Harry Warner's son-in-law Milton Sperling and Jack's son Jack Warner Jr.[129] Following a dispute over ownership of Casablanca's Oscar for Best Picture, Wallis resigned. After Casablanca made Bogart a top star, Bogart's relationship with Jack deteriorated.[106]

In 1943, Olivia de Havilland (whom Warner frequently loaned to other studios) sued Warner for breach of contract.[132] De Havilland had refused to portray famed abolitionist Elizabeth Blackwell in an upcoming film for Columbia Pictures.[132] Warner responded by sending 150 telegrams to different film production companies, warning them not to hire her for any role.[132] Afterwards, de Havilland discovered employment contracts in California could only last seven years; de Havilland had been under contract with the studio since 1935.[133] The court ruled in de Havilland's favor and she left the studio in favor of RKO Radio Pictures, and, eventually, Paramount.[132] Through de Havilland's victory, many of the studio's longtime actors were now freed from their contracts, and Harry decided to terminate the studio's suspension policy.[132][134]

The same year, Jack signed newly released MGM actress Joan Crawford, a former top star who found her career fading.[135] Crawford's first role with the studio was 1944's Hollywood Canteen.[136] Her first starring role at the studio, in the title role as Mildred Pierce (1945), revived her career[136] and earned her an Oscar for Best Actress.[137]

After World War II: changing hands

In the post-war years, Warner Bros. prospered greatly and continued to create new stars, including Lauren Bacall and Doris Day.[138] By 1946, company payroll reached $600,000 a week[138] and net profit topped $19.4 million. Jack Warner continued to refuse to meet Screen Actors Guild salary demands.[139] In September 1946, employees engaged in a month-long strike.[139] In retaliation, Warner—during his 1947 testimony before Congress about Mission to Moscow—accused multiple employees of ties to Communists.[140] By the end of 1947, the studio reached a record net profit of $22 million.[141]

Warner acquired Pathé News from RKO in 1947. On January 5, 1948, Warner offered the first color newsreel, covering the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game. In 1948, Bette Davis, still their top actress and now hostile to Jack, was a big problem for Harry after she and others left the studio after completing the film Beyond the Forest.[142]

Warner was a party to the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. antitrust case of the 1940s. This action, brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, claimed 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 the exhibition. In 1949, the studio's net profit was only $10 million.[141]

Warner Bros. had two semi-independent production companies that released films through the studio.[citation needed] One of these was Sperling's United States Pictures.[143]

In the early 1950s, the threat of television emerged. In 1953, Jack decided to copy[144] United Artists successful 3D film Bwana Devil, releasing his own 3D films beginning with House of Wax.[145] However, 3D films soon lost their appeal among moviegoers.[146]

3D almost caused the demise of the Warner Bros. cartoon studio. Having completed a 3D Bugs Bunny cartoon, Lumber Jack-Rabbit, Jack Warner ordered the animation unit to be closed, erroneously believing that all cartoons hence would be produced in the 3D process. Several months later, Warner relented and reopened the cartoon studio. Warner Bros. had enough of a backlog of cartoons and a healthy reissue program so that there was no noticeable interruption in the release schedule.

In 1952, Warner Bros. made their first film (Carson City) in "Warnercolor", the studio's name for Eastmancolor.

After the downfall of 3D films, Harry Warner decided to use CinemaScope in future Warner Bros. films.[147] One of the studio's first CinemaScope films, The High and the Mighty (owned by John Wayne's company, Batjac Productions), enabled the studio to show a profit.[148]

Early in 1953, Warner's theater holdings were spun off as Stanley Warner Theaters; Stanley Warner's non-theater holdings were sold to Simon Fabian Enterprises,[149] and its theaters merged with RKO Theatres to become RKO-Stanley Warner Theatres.[150]

By 1956, the studio was losing money,[151] declining from 1953's net profit of $2.9 million[152] and the next two years of between $2 and $4 million.[153] On February 13, 1956, Jack Warner sold the rights to all of the studio's pre-1950 films to Associated Artists Productions (which merged with United Artists Television in 1958, and was subsequently acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in early 1986 as part of a failed takeover of MGM/UA by Ted Turner).[154][155][156]

In May 1956, the brothers announced they were putting Warner Bros. on the market.[157] Jack secretly organized a syndicate—headed by Boston banker Serge Semenenko[151]– to purchase 90% of the stock.[151] After the three brothers sold, Jack—through his under-the-table deal—joined Semenenko's syndicate[158] and bought back all his stock.[158] Shortly after the deal was completed in July,[159] Jack—now the company's largest stockholder—appointed himself its new president.[160][159] Shortly after the deal closed, Jack announced 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."[161]

Warner Bros. Television and Warner Bros. Records

By 1949, with the success of television threatening the film industry more and more, Harry Warner decided to emphasize television production.[144] However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would not permit it.[144] After an unsuccessful attempt to convince other movie studio bosses to switch, Harry abandoned his television efforts.[145]

Jack had problems with Milton Berle's unsuccessful film Always Leave Them Laughing during the peak of Berle's television popularity. Warner felt that Berle was not strong enough to carry a film and that people would not pay to see the man they could see on television for free. However, Jack was pressured into using Berle, who replaced Danny Kaye.[162] Berle's outrageous behavior on the set and the film's massive failure led to Jack banning television sets from film sets.[163]

On March 21, 1955, the studio was finally able to engage in television through the successful Warner Bros. Television unit run by William T. Orr, Jack Warner's son-in-law. Warner Bros. Television provided ABC with a weekly show, Warner Bros. Presents. The show featured rotating shows based on three film successes, Kings Row, Casablanca and Cheyenne, followed by a promotion for a new film.[164][165] It was not a success.[166] The studio's next effort was to make a weekly series out of Cheyenne.[167] Cheyenne was television's first hour-long Western. Two episodes were placed together for feature film release outside the United States. In the tradition of its B movies, the studio followed up with a series of rapidly produced popular Westerns, such as writer/producer Roy Huggins' critically lauded Maverick as well as Sugarfoot, Bronco, Lawman, The Alaskans and Colt .45.[167] The success of these series helped to make up for losses in the film business.[167] As a result, Jack Warner decided to emphasize television production.[168] Warners produced a series of popular private detective shows beginning with 77 Sunset Strip (1958–1964) followed by Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963), Bourbon Street Beat (1960) and Surfside 6 (1960–1962).

Within a few years, the studio provoked hostility among its TV stars such as Clint Walker and James Garner, who sued over a contract dispute and won.[169] Edd Byrnes was not so lucky and bought himself out of his contract. Jack was angered by their perceived ingratitude. Television actors evidently showed more independence than film actors, deepening his contempt for the new medium.[170] Many of Warner's television stars appeared in the casts of Warner's cinema releases. In 1963, a court decision forced Warner Bros. to end contracts with their television stars and to cease engaging them for specific series or film roles. That year, Jack Webb, best known for originating the role of Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise, became the head of the studio's TV division.[171]

 
Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra appear in a number of Warner Bros. films produced in the early 1960s. Both singers also recorded for Reprise Records, which the studio purchased in 1963.

In 1958, the studio launched Warner Bros. Records. Initially, the label released recordings made by their television stars—whether they could sing or not—and records based on television soundtracks. Warner Bros. was already the owner of extensive music-publishing holdings, whose tunes had appeared in countless cartoons (arranged by Carl Stalling) and television shows (arranged by Max Steiner).[172] In 2004, Time Warner sold the Warner Music Group, along with Warner Bros. Records, to a private equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr.[173] In 2019, the since-separated Warner Bros. record division was rechristened Warner Records, as WMG held a short-term license to use the Warner Bros. name and trademarks; as such, the label currently reissues the pre-2019 Warner Bros. back catalog.

In 1963, Warner agreed to a "rescue takeover" of Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records.[174] The deal gave Sinatra US$1.5 million and part ownership of Warner Bros. Records, making Reprise a sub-label.[174] Most significantly the deal brought Reprise manager Morris "Mo" Ostin into the company. In 1964, upon seeing the profits record companies made from Warner film music, Warner decided to claim ownership of the studio's film soundtracks.[175] In its first eighteen months, Warner Bros. Records lost around $2 million.[176]

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).

While he slowly recovered from a car crash that occurred while vacationing in France in 1958, Jack returned to the studio and made sure his name was featured in studio press releases. From 1961 to 1963, the studio's annual net profit was a little over $7 million.[177] Warner paid an unprecedented $5.5 million for the film rights to the Broadway musical My Fair Lady in February 1962. The previous owner, CBS director William S. Paley, set terms including half the distributor's gross profits "plus ownership of the negative at the end of the contract."[178] In 1963, the studio's net profit dropped to $3.7 million.[177] By the mid-1960s, motion picture production was in decline, as the industry was in the midst of a painful transition from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the era now known as New Hollywood. Few studio films were made in favor of co-productions (for which Warner provided facilities, money and distribution), and pickups of independent pictures.

With the success of the studio's 1964 film of Broadway play My Fair Lady,[176] as well as its soundtrack,[176] Warner Bros. Records became a profitable subsidiary. The 1966 film Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? was a huge success.[179]

 
Following Jack Warner's 1966 year end sale to Seven Arts Productions, the company was known as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts through to 1972

In November 1966, Jack gave in to advancing age and changing times,[180] selling control of the studio and music business to Seven Arts Productions, run by Canadian investors Eliot and Kenneth Hyman, for $32 million.[181] The company, including the studio, was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. Warner remained president until the summer of 1967, when Camelot failed at the box office and Warner gave up his position to his longtime publicity director, Ben Kalmenson;[182] Warner remained on board as an independent producer and vice-president.[181] With the 1967 success of Bonnie and Clyde, Warner Bros. was again profitable.[183]

Two years later the Hymans were tired and fed-up with Jack Warner and his actions.[183] They accepted a cash-and-stock offer from Kinney National Company for more than $64 million.[183] In 1967, Kinney had previously acquired DC Comics (then officially known as National Periodical Publications), as well as a Hollywood talent agency, Ashley-Famous,[184] whose founder Ted Ashley led Kinney head Steve Ross to purchase Warner Bros. Ashley-Famous was soon spun off due to antitrust laws prohibiting the simultaneous ownership of a film studio and a talent agency. Ashley became the studio head and changed the name to Warner Bros. Inc. once again.[185] Jack Warner was outraged by the Hymans' sale, and decided to move into independent production (most successfully with 1776 at Columbia). He retired in 1973 and died from serious health complications of heart inflammation in September 1978.

 
The logo, designed by Saul Bass, used from 1972 to 1984, the logo currently used by Warner Music Group

Although movie audiences 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, including Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, and Clint Eastwood, carrying the studio successfully through the 1970s and 1980s. Its hits in the early 1970s included those starring the aforementioned actors, along with comedian Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, John Boorman's Deliverance, and the Martin Scorsese productions Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Warner Bros. also made major profits on films and television shows built around the characters of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman owned by Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Comics. The 1970s also saw Warner Bros. Records become one of the major record labels worldwide, and that company gained sister labels in Elektra Records and Atlantic Records. In 1971, Filmation and Warner Bros. entered into an agreement to produce and distribute cartoons for film and television, with its television subsidiary handling worldwide television rights.[186]

In late 1973, Warner Bros. announced that it had partnered with 20th Century Fox to co-produce a single film: producer Irwin Allen's The Towering Inferno.[187] Both studios found themselves owning the rights to books about burning skyscrapers: Warner was attempting to adapt Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson's The Glass Inferno and Fox was preparing an adaptation of Richard Martin Stern's The Tower. Allen insisted on a meeting with the heads of both studios and announced that as Fox was already in the lead with their property it would be preferable to lump the two together as a single film, with Fox owning domestic rights and Warner Bros. handling the film's foreign distribution. The resulting partnership resulted in the second-highest-grossing film of 1974, turning profits for both studios, and influencing future co-productions between major studios. Although Allen would make further films for Warner Bros., he would not repeat the success he had with The Towering Inferno.

Abandoning parking lots and funeral homes, the refocused 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 video game company Atari, Inc. in 1976, and later the Six Flags theme parks.

In 1972, in a cost-cutting move, Warner and Columbia formed a third company called The Burbank Studios (TBS).[188] They would share the Warner lot in Burbank.[188] Both studios technically became production entities, giving TBS day-to-day responsibility for studio grounds and upkeep.[188] The Columbia Ranch (about a mile north of Warner's lot) was part of the deal.[188] The Warner–Columbia relationship was acrimonious, but the reluctance of both studios to approve or spend money on capital upgrades that might only help the other did have the unintended consequence of preserving the Warner lot's primary function as a filmmaking facility while it produced relatively little during the 1970s and 1980s.[188] (Most films produced after 1968 were filmed on location after the failure of Camelot was partially attributed to the fact it was set in England but obviously filmed in Burbank.)[188] With control over its own lot tied up in TBS, Warner ultimately retained a significant portion of its backlot,[188] while Fox sold its backlot to create Century City, Universal turned part of its backlot into a theme park and shopping center, and Disney replaced its backlot with office buildings and exiled its animation department to an industrial park in Glendale.

In 1989, a solution to the situation became evident when Warner Bros. acquired Lorimar-Telepictures and gained control of the former MGM studio lot in Culver City, and that same year, Sony bought Columbia Pictures.[188] Sony was flush with cash and Warner Bros. now had two studio lots.[188] In 1990, TBS ended when Sony bought the MGM lot from Warner and moved Columbia to Culver City.[188] However, Warner kept the Columbia Ranch, now known as the Warner Bros. Ranch.[188]

Robert A. Daly joined Warner Bros. on December 1, 1980, taking over from Ted Ashley. His titles were chairman of the board and Co-Chief Executive Officer. One year later, he was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer and appointed Terry Semel President and Chief Operating Officer.

Time Warner subsidiary

 
A panoramic view over today's studio premises

Warner Communications merged in 1989 with white-shoe publishing company Time Inc. Time claimed a higher level of prestige, while Warner Bros. provided the profits. The Time Warner merger was almost derailed when Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western, later sold to the first incarnation of Viacom), launched a $12.2 billion hostile takeover bid for Time Inc., forcing Time to acquire Warner with a $14.9 billion cash/stock offer. Paramount responded with a lawsuit filed in Delaware court to break up the merger. Paramount lost and the merger proceeded.

In 1992, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment was established to produce various family-oriented films, plus animated films. The Family Entertainment label was dormant in 2009. In 1994, Jon Peters, whose Peters Entertainment company had a non-exclusive deal at Sony Pictures, received another non-exclusive, financing deal at the studio, citing that then president Terry Samel and producer Jon Peters were friends.[189]

 
The former Warner Bros. shield logo, which was used from 1993 to 2019, extensively used in films until 2020., and on its TV shows until 2021. Currently used for the on-screen logo for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

In 1995, Warner and television station owner Tribune Company of Chicago launched The WB Television Network, seeking a large share of the niche market of teenage viewers. The WB's early programming included an abundance of teenage fare, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill. Two dramas produced by Spelling Television, 7th Heaven and Charmed, helped bring The WB into the spotlight. Charmed lasted eight seasons, becoming the longest-running drama with female leads. 7th Heaven ran for eleven seasons and was the longest-running family drama and longest-running show for the network. In 2006, Warner and CBS Corporation decided to close The WB and CBS's UPN and jointly launch The CW Television Network.

In 1996, Turner Pictures was folded into Warner Bros. via the Turner-Time Warner merger and brought Turner projects into development like City of Angels and You've Got Mail into the studio.[190] Later that year, Warner Bros. partnered with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment to distribute various movies produced by Time Warner subsidiary Castle Rock Entertainment.[191] Also that same year, Bruce Berman left Warner Bros. to begin Plan B Entertainment, then he subsequently headed Village Roadshow Pictures with a deal at the studio.[192]

In 1998, Time Warner sold Six Flags to Premier Parks.[193] 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 element was banished from the corporate name.

In 1998, Warner Bros. celebrated its 75th anniversary. In 1999, Terry Semel and Robert Daly resigned as studio heads after a career with 13 Oscar-nominated films. Daly and Semel were said to have popularized the modern model of partner financing and profit sharing for film production. In mid-1999, Alan F. Horn and Barry Meyer replaced Daly and Semel as new studio heads, in which the studio had continued success in movies, television shows, cartoons, that the previous studio heads had for the studio. In late 2003, Time Warner reorganized Warner Bros.' assets under Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., in an effort to distinguish the film studio from its then-sister record label (which since became Warner Records in May 2019) and Warner Music Group.

In the late 1990s, Warner obtained rights to the Harry Potter novels and released feature film adaptations of the first in 2001. Subsequently, they released the second film in 2002, the third in June 2004, the fourth in November 2005, the fifth in July 2007, and the sixth in July 2009.[194] The seventh (and at that time, final) book was released as two movies; Deathly Hallows — Part 1 in November 2010 and Deathly Hallows — Part 2 in July 2011.

From 2006, Warner Bros. operated a joint venture with China Film Group Corporation and HG to form Warner China Film HG to produce films in Hong Kong and China, including Connected, a remake of the 2004 thriller film Cellular.

Warner Bros. played a large part in the discontinuation of the HD DVD format. On January 4, 2008, Warner Bros. announced that they would drop support of HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.[195] HD DVDs continued to be released through May 2008, but only following Blu-ray and DVD releases.

Warner Bros.' Harry Potter film series was the worldwide highest-grossing film series of all time without adjusting for inflation. Its Batman film series was one of only two series to have two entries earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was Warner Bros.' highest-grossing movie ever (surpassing The Dark Knight).[196] However, the Harry Potter movies have produced a net loss due to Hollywood accounting.[197] IMAX Corp. signed with Warner Bros. Pictures in April 2010 to release as many as 20 giant-format films through 2013.[198]

On October 21, 2014, Warner Bros. created a short form digital unit, Blue Ribbon Content, under Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series president Sam Register.[199] Warner Bros. Digital Networks announced its acquisition of online video company Machinima, Inc. on November 17, 2016.[200]

As of 2015, Warner Bros. is one of only three studios to have released a pair of billion-dollar films in the same year (along with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Universal Studios); the distinction was achieved in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.[201][202][203] As of 2016, it is the only studio to cross $1 billion at the domestic box office every year since 2000.[204]

AT&T subsidiary

In June 2018, Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner was acquired by U.S. telecom company AT&T, and renamed WarnerMedia, the former Time Inc. properties having been sold off to new owners.[205] On October 16, 2018, WarnerMedia shut down DramaFever, affecting 20 percent of Warner Bros.' digital networks staff.[206]

On March 4, 2019, WarnerMedia announced a planned reorganization that would dissolve Turner Broadcasting System by moving Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, their respective production studios (Cartoon Network Studios and Williams Street), as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media, directly under Warner Bros. (Turner's remaining television services would be divided into WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports respectively). Aside from Otter Media, these assets operate under a newly formed Global Kids & Young Adults division,[207] renamed on April 7, 2020, to Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics.[208] On May 31, 2019, Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros. to WarnerMedia Entertainment to oversee the development of HBO Max, a new streaming service that would feature content from HBO and WarnerMedia brands.[209] Tom Ascheim resigned as president of cable network Freeform to become the president of the Global Kids, Young Adults, and Classics division on July 1, 2020.[210]

On November 13, 2019, Warner Bros. unveiled an updated iteration of its shield logo by Pentagram in anticipation of the company's upcoming centennial, which features a streamlined appearance designed to make it better-suited for multi-platform usage and iterations. The company also commissioned a new corporate typeface that is modeled upon the "WB" lettering.[211][212]

Warner Bros. and HBO Max announced the Warner Max film label on February 5, 2020, which was to produce eight-to-ten mid-budget movies per year for the streaming service starting in 2020.[213] However, the label was ultimately discontinued in October 2020 as part of a consolidation of the Warner Bros. Pictures group.[214][215][216]

In February 2022, Village Roadshow, a co-financier of The Matrix Resurrections, began a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over the hybrid release of the sci-fi sequel. Like all of Warner's 2021 films, the fourth Matrix film was given a simultaneous release on both HBO Max and in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a complaint filed by Village Roadshow, the decision ruined any December box office hopes.[217] In May of that same year, Village Roadshow agreed to arbitration with Warner Bros. over the release of Resurrections.[218]

Warner Bros. Discovery

On March 23, 2022, Warner Bros. unveiled a logo and campaign for its upcoming centennial in 2023, "100 Years of Storytelling". It will begin in late 2022 and last throughout 2023, and include commemorative initiatives across all Warner Bros. divisions and properties.[219]

On April 8, 2022, AT&T divested WarnerMedia to its shareholders, and in turn merged with Discovery Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery. The new company is led by Discovery's CEO David Zaslav.[220][221][222][223]

In November 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran became the co-chairpersons and CEOs of DC Films, which was renamed to "DC Studios". The studio also become an independent division of Warner Bros.[224][225]

Company units

Warner Bros. Entertainment operates three primary business segments they call "divisions": Motion Pictures, Television, and other entertainment assets (which includes Digital Networks, Technology, Live Theatre, and Studio Facilities).

Motion Pictures includes the company's primary business units, such as Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC Studios and Castle Rock Entertainment.

Executive management

Chairman of the board
Vice chairman
Presidents
Chief executive officers
Chief operating officers

International distribution arrangements

From 1971 until the end of 1987, Warner's international distribution operations were a joint venture with Columbia Pictures. In some countries, this joint venture distributed films from other companies (such as EMI Films and Cannon Films in the UK). Warner ended the venture in 1988.

On May 4, 1987, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution signed a theatrical distribution agreement with Warner Bros. International for the release of Disney and Touchstone films in overseas markets, with Disney retaining full control of all distribution and marketing decisions on their product.[226] In 1992, Disney opted to end their joint venture with Warner Bros. to start autonomously distributing their films in the aforementioned markets.

On February 6, 2014, Columbia TriStar Warner Filmes de Portugal Ltda., a joint venture with Sony Pictures which distributed both companies' films in Portugal, announced that it would close its doors on March 31, 2014.[227] NOS Audiovisuais handles distribution of Warner Bros. films in Portugal since then, while the distribution duties for Sony Pictures films in the country were taken over by Big Picture Films.

Warner Bros. still handles the distribution of Sony Pictures films in Italy.

Since January 1, 2021, Warner Bros. films are distributed through Universal Pictures in Hong Kong citing WarnerMedia's closure of its Hong Kong theatrical office.[228] On January 12, 2021, Warner Bros. handles the theatrical distribution of Universal Pictures films in Brazil.[229]

In August 2022, Warner Bros. Pictures entered into a multi-year deal for distributing MGM films outside the United States, including on home entertainment. The contract included joint participation of both companies for marketing, advertising, publicity, film distribution, and relationship with exhibitors for future MGM titles.[230]

Film library

 
Gate 4, Warner Bros. Studios, looking south towards the water tower
For a more comprehensive list, see Lists of Warner Bros. films.

Acquired libraries

Mergers and acquisitions have helped Warner Bros. accumulate a diverse collection of films, cartoons and television programs. As of 2022, Warner Bros. owned more than 145,000 hours of programming, including 12,500 feature films and 2,400 television programs comprising more than tens of thousands of individual episodes.[231]

In the aftermath of the 1948 antitrust suit, uncertain times led Warner Bros. in 1956 to sell most of its pre-1950[232][154][155][156] 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.[233][234]

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.[235]

In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Finding itself in debt, Turner Entertainment 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.[236]

In 1989, Warner Communications acquired Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation.[237][238] 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,[239][240] and New Line Cinema on January 28, 1994.[241][242] On October 10, 1996, Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting System, thus bringing Warner Bros.' pre-1950 library back home. However, Warner Bros. only owns Castle Rock Entertainment's post-1994 library. In 2008, Time Warner integrated New Line into Warner Bros.

The Warner Bros. 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. It presents a complete view of the production process during the Golden Age of Hollywood. UA donated pre-1950 Warner Bros. nitrate negatives to the Library of Congress and post-1951 negatives to the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Most of the company's legal files, scripts, and production materials were donated to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pronounced Warner Brothers; the abbreviated form is always used in writing, except when referring to the four Warner brothers themselves.[5]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ "2020 Financial and Operational Trends" (PDF). AT&T. January 27, 2021. (PDF) from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  2. ^ . Warner Bros. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  3. ^ Patten, Dominic; Yamato, Jen. "Warner Bros Layoffs Long Planned But "Accelerated" By Failed Fox Bid". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  4. ^ . Warnerbros.com. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  5. ^ Gomery, Douglas; Pafort-Overduin, Clara (2011). Movie History: A Survey (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 9781136835254.
  6. ^ "CCNY Film Professor Pens Two Books While on Sabbatical". July 14, 2015.
  7. ^ "Pollywood (2020)". IMDb.
  8. ^ . YouTube. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021.
  9. ^ Warner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). . Warner Sisters, Inc. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
  10. ^ McMorris, Bill (January 29, 2009). "Journey of discovery: Warner documentary the result of a twenty-year effort". Santa Barbara News-Press. Retrieved May 27, 2008.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Jacobson, Lara (June 28, 2018). . Voces Novae. 10 (1). Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  12. ^ Hixson, Walter L. (2003). The American Experience in World War II: The United States and the road to war in Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-415-94029-0.
  13. ^ Cocks, Geoffrey (2004). The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, & the Holocaust. Peter Lang. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8204-7115-0.
  14. ^ Meyer, Carla (March 17, 2013). "California Hall of Fame to induct the four Warner brothers". California Museum. from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  15. ^ . April 22, 2016. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  16. ^ Green, Fitzhugh (1929). The Film Finds Its Tongue. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 41.
  17. ^ WQED educational film "Things that are still here", PBS WQED, Pittsburgh, PA
  18. ^ . Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. January 31, 2006. Archived from the original on August 17, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  19. ^ "Progressive Silent Film List". SilentEra.com. from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  20. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 77
  21. ^ "Is Fox really 75 this year? Somewhere, the fantastic Mr. (William) Fox begs to differ". New York Post. February 10, 2010. from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  22. ^ a b c d Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 81
  23. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 80
  24. ^ a b c Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 82
  25. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 101
  26. ^ Behlmer (1985), p. xii
  27. ^ Thomas46, 47
  28. ^ a b c Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 83
  29. ^ a b c Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 84
  30. ^ "Theatre Owners Open War on Hays". The New York Times. May 12, 1925. p. 14.
  31. ^ a b c Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 86
  32. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 88
  33. ^ a b Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 95
  34. ^ Freedland, Michael (December 1983). The Warner Brothers. St. Martin's Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-312-85620-5.
  35. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 96
  36. ^ a b Thomas 1990, p. 56
  37. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 57
  38. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 103
  39. ^ a b Thomas 1990, p. 59
  40. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), pp.180–181
  41. ^ a b . Jewishmag.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  42. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 62
  43. ^ a b Thomas 1990, pp. 100–101
  44. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 141
  45. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, pp. 142–145
  46. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 144
  47. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 65
  48. ^ a b c d Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 147
  49. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 151
  50. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 150
  51. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 148
  52. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 4
  53. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 127
  54. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 208
  55. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 67
  56. ^ a b c Thomas 1990, p. 77
  57. ^ . Time. June 9, 1930. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
  58. ^ a b Thomas 1990, p. 72
  59. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 66
  60. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 160
  61. ^ a b c d Thomas 1990, pp. 89–92
  62. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 93
  63. ^ a b Thomas 1990, p. 110
  64. ^ a b Warren, Patricia (1995). British Film Studios: An Illustrated History. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-7134-7559-3.
  65. ^ Meyer, William R. (1978). Warner Brothers Directors: The Hard-Boiled, the Comic, and the Weepers. New York: Arlington House. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-0-87000-397-4.
  66. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 190
  67. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 85
  68. ^ a b Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 194
  69. ^ Warner, Sperling & Millner 1998, p. 192
  70. ^ Thomas 1990, p. 86
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Works cited

Further reading

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warner Bros. Entertainment.
  • Official website
  • Finding aid author: James V. D'Arc (2013). "Warner Bros. collection". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, Utah.

January 13, 2023
warner, bros, entertainment, commonly, known, abbreviated, american, film, entertainment, studio, headquartered, studios, complex, burbank, california, subsidiary, discovery, founded, 1923, four, brothers, harry, albert, jack, warner, company, established, its. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc commonly known as Warner Bros a or abbreviated as WB is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros Studios complex in Burbank California and a subsidiary of Warner Bros Discovery Founded in 1923 by four brothers Harry Albert Sam and Jack Warner the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation television and video games and is one of the Big Five major American film studios as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association MPA Warner Bros Entertainment Inc Logo used since 2019Warner Bros studio offices in Burbank CaliforniaFormerlyWarner Brothers Classics of the Screen 1923 1925 Warner Brothers Productions 1925 1929 Warner Bros Pictures Inc 1929 1967 Warner Bros Seven Arts 1967 1970 Warner Bros Inc 1970 1993 TypeSubsidiaryIndustryEntertainmentPredecessorWarner Features CompanyFoundedApril 4 1923 99 years ago 1923 04 04 FoundersHarry WarnerAlbert WarnerSam WarnerJack L WarnerHeadquarters4000 Warner Blvd Burbank California USArea servedWorldwideKey peopleMichael De Luca and Pamela Abdy co chairpersons and CEOs Warner Bros Pictures Group Channing Dungey Chairwoman Warner Bros Television Group James Gunn and Peter Safran co chairpersons and CEOs DC Studios ProductsMotion picturesPublishingMusic recordingsTelevisionVideo gamesBrandsDCGame of ThronesHanna BarberaLooney TunesMiddle EarthThe FlintstonesScooby DooTom and JerryWizarding WorldRevenueUS 12 15 billion 2020 Operating incomeUS 2 07 billion 2020 Number of employeesest 8 000 2014 ParentWarner Bros DiscoveryDivisionsWarner Bros Pictures GroupWarner Bros Television StudiosDC StudiosWarner Animation GroupWarner Bros Theatre VenturesWarner Bros Digital NetworksWarner Bros Studio FacilitiesSubsidiariesCastle Rock EntertainmentNew Line CinemaWaterTower MusicWebsitewww wbr warnerbros wbr comFootnotes references 1 2 3 4 The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros Pictures Group which includes Warner Bros Pictures New Line Cinema the Warner Animation Group Castle Rock Entertainment and DC Studios Among its other assets stands the television production company Warner Bros Television Studios Bugs Bunny a cartoon character created by Tex Avery Ben Hardaway Chuck Jones Bob Givens and Robert McKimson as part of the Looney Tunes series is the company s official mascot Contents 1 History 1 1 Founding 1 2 1925 1935 Sound color style 1 3 1930 1935 Pre code realistic period 1 4 Code era 1 5 Warner s cartoons 1 6 World War II 1 7 After World War II changing hands 1 8 Warner Bros Television and Warner Bros Records 1 9 New owners 1 10 Time Warner subsidiary 1 10 1 AT amp T subsidiary 1 11 Warner Bros Discovery 2 Company units 3 Executive management 4 International distribution arrangements 5 Film library 5 1 Acquired libraries 6 The Warner Bros Archives 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 9 1 Footnotes 9 2 Works cited 10 Further reading 11 External linksHistoryFounding The company s name originated from the founding Warner brothers born Wonsal Woron and Wonskolaser 6 7 8 before Anglicization 9 10 Harry Albert Sam and Jack Warner Harry Albert and Sam emigrated as young children with their Polish Jewish 11 12 13 14 mother to the United States from Krasnosielc Poland then part of Congress Poland within the Russian Empire in October 1889 a year after their father emigrated to the U S and settled in Baltimore Maryland As in many other immigrant families the elder Wonsal children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish sounding names Szmuel Wonsal became Samuel Warner nicknamed Sam Hirsz Wonsal became Harry Warner and Aaron Wonsal although born with a given name common in the Americas became Albert Warner 15 Jack the youngest brother was born in London Ontario during the family s two year residency in Canada The Warner brothers Albert Jack Harry and Sam The three elder brothers began in the movie theater business having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio In the beginning 16 Sam and Albert Warner invested 150 to present Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery They opened their first theater the Cascade in New Castle Pennsylvania in 1903 When the original building was in danger of being demolished the modern Warner Bros called the current building owners and arranged to save it The owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance 17 In 1904 the Warners founded the Pittsburgh based Duquesne Amusement amp Supply Company 18 19 to distribute films In 1912 Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase By the time of World War I they had begun producing films In 1918 they opened the first Warner Brothers Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Sam and Jack produced the pictures while Harry and Albert along with their auditor and now controller Chase handled finance and distribution in New York City During World War I their first nationally syndicated film My Four Years in Germany based on a popular book by former ambassador James W Gerard was released On April 4 1923 with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint 20 they formally incorporated as Warner Bros Pictures Incorporated As late as the 1960s Warner Bros claimed 1905 as its founding date 21 Lobby card from Open Your Eyes 1919 Lobby card from The Beautiful and Damned 1922 The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwood s 1919 Broadway play The Gold Diggers from theatrical impresario David Belasco However Rin Tin Tin 22 a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier established their reputation 23 Rin Tin Tin s third film was the feature Where the North Begins which was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for 1 000 per week 22 Rin Tin Tin became the studio s top star 22 Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter 22 and the success boosted Darryl F Zanuck s career 24 Zanuck eventually became a top producer 25 and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jack s right hand man and executive producer with responsibilities including day to day film production 26 More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director 24 Harry Rapf left the studio to join Metro Goldwyn Mayer 27 Lubitsch s film The Marriage Circle was the studio s most successful film of 1924 and was on The New York Times best list for that year 24 Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch Warner s remained a lesser studio 28 Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel 28 The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a long term contract 29 like The Marriage Circle Beau Brummel was named one of the ten best films of the year by the Times 29 By the end of 1924 Warner Bros was arguably Hollywood s most successful independent studio 29 where it competed with The Big Three Studios First National Paramount Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer 30 As a result Harry Warner while speaking at a convention of 1 500 independent exhibitors in Milwaukee Wisconsin was able to convince the filmmakers to spend 500 000 in newspaper advertising 31 and Harry saw this as an opportunity to establish theaters in places such as New York City and Los Angeles 31 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 nationwide distribution system 31 In 1925 Warners also experimented in radio establishing a successful radio station KFWB in Los Angeles 32 1925 1935 Sound color style Warner Bros was a pioneer of films with synchronized sound then known as talking pictures or talkies In 1925 at Sam s urging Warner s agreed to add this feature to their productions 33 By February 1926 the studio reported a net loss of 333 413 34 Movie goers awaiting Don Juan opening at Warners Theatre After a long period denying Sam s request for sound Harry agreed to change as long as the studio s use of synchronized sound was for background music purposes only 33 The Warners signed a contract with the sound engineer company Western Electric and established Vitaphone 35 In 1926 Vitaphone began making films with music and effects tracks most notably in the feature Don Juan starring John Barrymore The film was silent but it featured a large number of Vitaphone shorts at the beginning To hype Don Juan s release Harry acquired the large Piccadilly Theater in Manhattan New York City and renamed it Warners Theatre 36 Don Juan premiered at the Warners Theatre in New York on August 6 1926 36 Throughout the early history of film distribution theater owners hired orchestras to attend film showings where they provided soundtracks Through Vitaphone Warner Bros produced eight shorts which were played at the beginning of every showing of Don Juan across the country in 1926 Many film production companies questioned the necessity 37 Don Juan did not recoup its production cost 38 and Lubitsch left for MGM 28 By April 1927 the Big Five studios First National Paramount MGM Universal and Producers Distributing had ruined Warner s 39 and Western Electric renewed Warner s Vitaphone contract with terms that allowed other film companies to test sound 39 As a result of their financial problems Warner Bros took the next step and released The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson This movie which includes little sound dialogue but did feature sound segments of Jolson singing was a sensation It signaled the beginning of the era of talking pictures and the twilight of the silent era However Sam died the night before the opening preventing the brothers from attending the premiere Jack became sole head of production 40 Sam s death also had a great effect on Jack s emotional state 41 as Sam was arguably Jack s inspiration and favorite brother 42 In the years to come Jack kept the studio under tight control 41 Firing employees was common 43 Among those whom Jack fired were Rin Tin Tin in 1929 and Douglas Fairbanks Jr in 1933 the latter having served as First National s top star since the brothers acquired the studio in 1928 43 Thanks to the success of The Jazz Singer the studio was cash rich Jolson s next film for the company The Singing Fool was also a success 44 With the success of these first talkies The Jazz Singer Lights of New York The Singing Fool and The Terror Warner Bros became a top studio and the brothers were now able to move out from the Poverty Row section of Hollywood and acquire a much larger studio lot in Burbank 45 They expanded by acquiring the Stanley Corporation a major theater chain 46 This gave them a share in rival First National Pictures of which Stanley owned one third 47 In a bidding war with William Fox Warner Bros bought more First National shares on September 13 1928 48 Jack also appointed Zanuck as the manager of First National Pictures 48 Warner Bros First National Studios Burbank c 1928 In 1928 Warner Bros 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 exclusively making sound films In 1929 First National Pictures released their first film with Warner Bros Noah s Ark 49 Despite its expensive budget Noah s Ark was profitable 50 In 1929 Warner Bros released On with the Show the first all color all talking feature This was followed by Gold Diggers of Broadway which would play in theaters until 1939 The success of these pictures caused a color revolution Warner Bros color films from 1929 to 1931 included 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 Bride of the Regiment 1930 Viennese Nights 1931 Woman Hungry 1931 Kiss Me Again 1931 50 Million Frenchmen 1931 and Manhattan Parade 1932 In addition to these scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences as well as numerous Technicolor Specials short subjects The majority of these color films were musicals In 1929 Warner Bros bought the St Louis based theater chain Skouras Brothers Enterprises Following this takeover Spyros Skouras the driving force of the chain became general manager of the Warner Brothers Theater Circuit in America He worked successfully in that post for two years and turned its losses into profits Harry produced an adaptation of a Cole Porter musical titled Fifty Million Frenchmen 51 Through First National the studio s profit increased substantially 52 After the success of the studio s 1929 First National film Noah s Ark Harry agreed to make Michael Curtiz a major director at the Burbank studio 53 Mort Blumenstock a First National screenwriter became a top writer at the brothers New York headquarters 54 In the third quarter Warner Bros gained complete control of First National when Harry purchased the company s remaining one third share from Fox 48 The Justice Department agreed to allow the purchase if First National was maintained as a separate company 55 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 the Justice Department required Warner to release a few films each year under the First National name until 1938 For thirty years certain Warner productions were identified mainly for tax purposes as A Warner Bros First National Picture In the latter part of 1929 Jack Warner hired George Arliss to star in Disraeli 56 which was a success 56 Arliss won an Academy Award for Best Actor and went on to star in nine more movies for the studio 56 In 1930 Harry acquired more theaters in Atlantic City despite the beginning of the Great Depression 57 In July 1930 the studio s banker Motley Flint was murdered by a disgruntled investor in another company 58 Harry acquired a string of music publishers including M Witmark amp Sons Remick Music Corp and T B Harms Inc to form Warner Bros Music In April 1930 Warner Bros acquired Brunswick Records Harry obtained radio companies foreign sound patents and a lithograph company 48 After establishing Warner Bros Music Harry appointed his son Lewis to manage the company 59 By 1931 the studio began to feel the effects of the Great Depression reportedly losing 8 million and an additional 14 million the following year 60 In 1931 Warner Bros Music head Lewis Warner died from an infected wisdom tooth 58 Around that time Zanuck hired screenwriter Wilson Mizner 61 who had little respect for authority and found it difficult to work with Jack 61 but became an asset 61 As time passed Warner became more tolerant of Mizner and helped invest in Mizner s Brown Derby restaurant 61 Mizner died of a heart attack on April 3 1933 62 By 1932 musicals were declining in popularity and the studio was forced to cut musical numbers from many productions and advertise them as straight comedies The public had begun to associate musicals with color and thus studios began to abandon its use citation needed Warner Bros had a contract with Technicolor to produce two more pictures in that process As a result the first horror films in color were produced and released by the studio Doctor X 1932 and Mystery of the Wax Museum 1933 In the latter part of 1931 Harry Warner rented the Teddington Studios in London England 63 The studio focused on making quota quickies for the domestic British market 64 and Irving Asher was appointed as the studio s head producer 64 In 1934 Harry officially purchased the Teddington Studios 63 In February 1933 Warner Bros produced 42nd Street a very successful musical under the direction of Lloyd Bacon Warner assigned Bacon to more expensive productions including Footlight Parade Wonder Bar Broadway Gondolier which he also starred in and Gold Diggers 65 66 that saved the company from bankruptcy 67 In the wake of 42nd Street s success the studio produced profitable musicals 68 These starred Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and were mostly directed by Busby Berkeley 69 In 1935 the revival was affected by Berkeley s arrest for killing three people while driving drunk 70 By the end of the year people again tired of Warner Bros musicals 68 and the studio after the huge profits made by 1935 film Captain Blood shifted its focus to Errol Flynn swashbucklers 71 1930 1935 Pre code realistic period With the collapse of the market for musicals Warner Bros under Zanuck turned to more socially realistic storylines Because of its many films about gangsters 72 Warner Bros soon became known as a gangster studio 73 The studio s first gangster film Little Caesar was a great box office success 74 and Edward G Robinson starred in many of the subsequent Warner gangster films 75 The studio s next effort The Public Enemy 76 made James Cagney arguably the studio s new top star 77 and Warner Bros made more gangster films 76 James Cagney and Joan Blondell in Footlight Parade 1933 Movie for movie Warners was the most reliable source of entertainment through the thirties and forties even though it was clearly the most budget conscious of them all Film historian Andrew Sarris in You Ain t Heard Nothin Yet The American Talking Film History amp Memory 1927 1949 78 Another gangster film the studio produced was the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang based on a true story and starring Paul Muni 79 joining Cagney and Robinson as one of the studio s top gangster stars 80 after appearing in the successful film 76 which convinced audiences to question the American legal system 81 By January 1933 the film s protagonist Robert Elliot Burns still imprisoned in New Jersey and other chain gang prisoners nationwide appealed and were released 82 In January 1933 Georgia chain gang warden J Harold Hardy who was also made into a character in the film sued the studio for displaying vicious untrue and false attacks against him in the film 83 After appearing in the Warner s film The Man Who Played God Bette Davis became a top star 84 In 1933 relief for the studio came after Franklin D Roosevelt became president and began the New Deal 85 This economic rebound allowed Warner Bros to again become profitable 85 The same year Zanuck quit Harry Warner s relationship with Zanuck had become strained after Harry strongly opposed allowing Zanuck s film Baby Face to step outside Hays Code boundaries 86 The studio reduced his salary as a result of losses from the Great Depression 87 and Harry refused to restore it as the company recovered 88 Zanuck 89 established his own company Harry thereafter raised salaries for studio employees 88 In 1933 Warner was able to link up with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst s Cosmopolitan Films 90 Hearst had previously worked with MGM 91 but ended the association after a dispute with head producer Irving Thalberg over the treatment of Hearst s longstanding mistress actress Marion Davies who was struggling for box office success 92 Through his partnership with Hearst Warner signed Davies to a studio contract 90 Hearst s company and Davies films however did not increase the studio s profits 91 In 1934 the studio lost over 2 5 million 93 of which 500 000 was the result of a 1934 fire at the Burbank studio destroying 20 years worth of early Vitagraph Warner Bros and First National films 93 The following year Hearst s film adaption of William Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream 1935 failed at the box office and the studio s net loss increased 94 During this time Harry and six other movie studio figures were indicted for conspiracy to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act 93 through an attempt to gain a monopoly over St Louis movie theaters 95 In 1935 Harry was put on trial 93 after a mistrial Harry sold the company s movie theaters and the case was never reopened 93 1935 also saw the studio make a net profit of 674 158 00 93 The studio as depicted in the trailer for The Petrified Forest 1936 By 1936 contracts of musical and silent stars were not renewed instead being replaced by tough talking working class types who better fit these pictures As a result Dorothy Mackaill Dolores del Rio 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 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 indecency around 1934 96 As a result Warner Bros turned to historical pictures from around 1935 to avoid confrontations with the Breen office In 1936 following the success of The Petrified Forest Jack signed Humphrey Bogart to a studio contract 97 Warner however did not think Bogart was star material 98 and cast Bogart in infrequent roles as a villain opposite either James Cagney or Edward Robinson over the next five years 97 After Hal B Wallis succeeded Zanuck in 1933 99 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 s historical dramas melodramas or women s pictures swashbucklers and adaptations of best sellers with stars like Bette Davis Olivia de Havilland Paul Muni and Errol Flynn avoided the censors In 1936 Bette Davis by now arguably the studio s top star 100 was unhappy with her roles She traveled to England and tried to break her contract 100 Davis lost the lawsuit and returned to America 101 Although many of the studio s employees had problems with Jack Warner they considered Albert and Harry fair 102 Code era In the 1930s many actors and actresses who had characterized the realistic pre Code era but who were not suited to the new trend into moral and idealized pictures disappeared Warner Bros remained a top studio in Hollywood but this changed after 1935 as other studios notably MGM quickly overshadowed the prestige and glamor that previously characterized Warner Bros However in the late 1930s Bette Davis became the studio s top draw and was even dubbed as The Fifth Warner Brother citation needed Humphrey Bogart in The Petrified Forest 1936 In 1935 Cagney sued Jack Warner for breach of contract 103 Cagney claimed Warner had forced him to star in more films than his contract required 103 Cagney eventually dropped his lawsuit after a cash settlement 104 Nevertheless Cagney left the studio to establish an independent film company with his brother Bill 105 The Cagneys released their films though Grand National Films however they were not able to get good financing 105 and ran out of money after their third film 105 Cagney then agreed to return to Warner Bros after Jack agreed to a contract guaranteeing Cagney would be treated to his own terms 105 After the success of Yankee Doodle Dandy at the box office Cagney again questioned if the studio would meet his salary demand 106 and again quit to form his own film production and distribution company with Bill 106 Another employee with whom Warner had troubles was studio producer Bryan Foy 107 In 1936 Wallis hired Foy as a producer for the studio s low budget B movies leading to his nickname the keeper of the B s 102 Foy was able to garnish arguably more profits than any other B film producer at the time 102 During Foy s time at the studio however Warner fired him seven different times 107 During 1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur proved a box office success 108 and star Paul Muni won the Oscar for Best Actor in March 1937 108 The studio s 1937 film The Life of Emile Zola gave the studio the first of its seven Best Picture Oscars 108 In 1937 the studio hired Midwestern radio announcer Ronald Reagan who would eventually become the President of the United States Although Reagan was initially a B film actor Warner Bros was impressed by his performance in the final scene of Knute Rockne All American and agreed to pair him with Flynn in Santa Fe Trail 1940 Reagan then returned to B films 109 After his performance in the studio s 1942 Kings Row Warner decided to make Reagan a top star and signed him to a new contract tripling his salary 110 In 1936 Harry s daughter Doris read a copy of Margaret Mitchell s Gone with the Wind and was interested in making a film adaptation 111 Doris offered Mitchell 50 000 for screen rights Jack vetoed the deal realizing it would be an expensive production 111 Major Paramount star George Raft also eventually proved to be a problem for Jack 112 Warner had signed him in 1939 finally bringing the third top 1930s gangster actor into the Warners fold knowing that he could carry any gangster picture when either Robinson or Cagney were on suspension 112 Raft had difficulty working with Bogart and refused to co star with him 113 Eventually Warner agreed to release Raft from his contract in 1943 114 After Raft had turned the role down the studio gave Bogart the role of Mad Dog Roy Earle in the 1941 film High Sierra 114 which helped establish him as a top star 115 Following High Sierra and after Raft had once again turned the part down Bogart was given the leading role in John Huston s successful 1941 remake of the studio s 1931 pre Code film The Maltese Falcon 116 based upon the Dashiell Hammett novel Warner s cartoons Main articles Warner Bros Cartoons and Warner Bros Animation The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series flagship character Bugs Bunny is the official mascot of Warner Bros The main characters of Animaniacs logo pictured Yakko Wakko and Dot are surnamed Warner after the company 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 musical cartoons for Leon Schlesinger who sold them 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 117 Harman and Ising broke away from Schlesinger in 1933 due to a contractual dispute taking Bosko with them to MGM As a result Schlesinger started his own studio Leon Schlesinger Productions which continued with Merrie Melodies while starting production on Looney Tunes starring Buddy a Bosko clone By the end of World War II a new Schlesinger production team including directors Friz Freleng started in 1934 Tex Avery started in 1935 Frank Tashlin started in 1936 Bob Clampett started in 1937 Chuck Jones started in 1938 and Robert McKimson started in 1946 was formed Schlesinger s staff developed a fast paced irreverent style that made their cartoons globally popular In 1935 Avery directed Porky Pig cartoons that established the character as the studio s first animated star 118 In addition to Porky Daffy Duck who debuted in 1937 s Porky s Duck Hunt Elmer Fudd Elmer s Candid Camera 1940 Bugs Bunny A Wild Hare 1940 and Tweety A Tale of Two Kitties 1942 would achieve star power 119 By 1942 the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Studios as the most successful producer of animated shorts 120 Warner Bros bought Schlesinger s cartoon unit in 1944 and renamed it Warner Bros Cartoons However senior management treated the unit with indifference beginning with the installation as senior producer of Edward Selzer whom the creative staff considered an interfering incompetent Jack Warner had little regard for the company s short film product and reputedly was so ignorant about the studio s animation division that he was mistakenly convinced that the unit produced cartoons of Mickey Mouse the flagship character of Walt Disney Productions 121 He sold off the unit s pre August 1948 library for 3 000 each which proved a shortsighted transaction in light of its eventual value 121 Warner Bros Cartoons continued with intermittent interruptions until 1969 when it was dissolved as the parent company ceased film shorts entirely Characters such as Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Tweety Sylvester and Porky Pig became central to the company s image in subsequent decades Bugs in particular remains a mascot to Warner Bros its various divisions and Six Flags which Time Warner once owned The success of the compilation film The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie in 1979 featuring the archived film of these characters prompted Warner Bros to organize Warner Bros Animation as a new production division to restart production of original material World War II According to Warner s autobiography prior to US entry in World War II Philip Kauffman Warner Bros German sales head was murdered by the Nazis in Berlin in 1936 122 123 124 Harry produced the successful anti German film The Life of Emile Zola 1937 125 After that Harry supervised the production of more anti German films including Confessions of a Nazi Spy 1939 126 The Sea Hawk 1940 which made King Philip II an equivalent of Hitler 127 Sergeant York 128 and You re In The Army Now 1941 128 Harry then decided to focus on producing war films 129 Warners cut its film production in half during the war eliminating its B Pictures unit in 1941 Bryan Foy joined Twentieth Century Fox 130 Bette Davis in Now Voyager 1942 During the war era the studio made Casablanca Now Voyager Yankee Doodle Dandy all 1942 This Is the Army and Mission to Moscow both 1943 131 the last of these films became controversial a few years afterwards At the premieres of Yankee Doodle Dandy in Los Angeles New York and London audiences purchased 15 6 million in war bonds for the governments of England and the United States By the middle of 1943 however audiences had tired of war films but Warner continued to produce them losing money In honor of the studio s contributions to the cause the Navy named a Liberty ship after the brothers father Benjamin Warner Harry christened the ship By the time the war ended 20 million in war bonds were purchased through the studio the Red Cross collected 5 200 pints of blood plasma from studio employees 131 and 763 of the studio s employees served in the armed forces including Harry Warner s son in law Milton Sperling and Jack s son Jack Warner Jr 129 Following a dispute over ownership of Casablanca s Oscar for Best Picture Wallis resigned After Casablanca made Bogart a top star Bogart s relationship with Jack deteriorated 106 In 1943 Olivia de Havilland whom Warner frequently loaned to other studios sued Warner for breach of contract 132 De Havilland had refused to portray famed abolitionist Elizabeth Blackwell in an upcoming film for Columbia Pictures 132 Warner responded by sending 150 telegrams to different film production companies warning them not to hire her for any role 132 Afterwards de Havilland discovered employment contracts in California could only last seven years de Havilland had been under contract with the studio since 1935 133 The court ruled in de Havilland s favor and she left the studio in favor of RKO Radio Pictures and eventually Paramount 132 Through de Havilland s victory many of the studio s longtime actors were now freed from their contracts and Harry decided to terminate the studio s suspension policy 132 134 The same year Jack signed newly released MGM actress Joan Crawford a former top star who found her career fading 135 Crawford s first role with the studio was 1944 s Hollywood Canteen 136 Her first starring role at the studio in the title role as Mildred Pierce 1945 revived her career 136 and earned her an Oscar for Best Actress 137 After World War II changing hands In the post war years Warner Bros prospered greatly and continued to create new stars including Lauren Bacall and Doris Day 138 By 1946 company payroll reached 600 000 a week 138 and net profit topped 19 4 million Jack Warner continued to refuse to meet Screen Actors Guild salary demands 139 In September 1946 employees engaged in a month long strike 139 In retaliation Warner during his 1947 testimony before Congress about Mission to Moscow accused multiple employees of ties to Communists 140 By the end of 1947 the studio reached a record net profit of 22 million 141 Warner acquired Pathe News from RKO in 1947 On January 5 1948 Warner offered the first color newsreel covering the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game In 1948 Bette Davis still their top actress and now hostile to Jack was a big problem for Harry after she and others left the studio after completing the film Beyond the Forest 142 Warner was a party to the United States v Paramount Pictures Inc antitrust case of the 1940s This action brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission claimed 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 the exhibition In 1949 the studio s net profit was only 10 million 141 Warner Bros had two semi independent production companies that released films through the studio citation needed One of these was Sperling s United States Pictures 143 Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 In the early 1950s the threat of television emerged In 1953 Jack decided to copy 144 United Artists successful 3D film Bwana Devil releasing his own 3D films beginning with House of Wax 145 However 3D films soon lost their appeal among moviegoers 146 3D almost caused the demise of the Warner Bros cartoon studio Having completed a 3D Bugs Bunny cartoon Lumber Jack Rabbit Jack Warner ordered the animation unit to be closed erroneously believing that all cartoons hence would be produced in the 3D process Several months later Warner relented and reopened the cartoon studio Warner Bros had enough of a backlog of cartoons and a healthy reissue program so that there was no noticeable interruption in the release schedule In 1952 Warner Bros made their first film Carson City in Warnercolor the studio s name for Eastmancolor After the downfall of 3D films Harry Warner decided to use CinemaScope in future Warner Bros films 147 One of the studio s first CinemaScope films The High and the Mighty owned by John Wayne s company Batjac Productions enabled the studio to show a profit 148 Early in 1953 Warner s theater holdings were spun off as Stanley Warner Theaters Stanley Warner s non theater holdings were sold to Simon Fabian Enterprises 149 and its theaters merged with RKO Theatres to become RKO Stanley Warner Theatres 150 By 1956 the studio was losing money 151 declining from 1953 s net profit of 2 9 million 152 and the next two years of between 2 and 4 million 153 On February 13 1956 Jack Warner sold the rights to all of the studio s pre 1950 films to Associated Artists Productions which merged with United Artists Television in 1958 and was subsequently acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in early 1986 as part of a failed takeover of MGM UA by Ted Turner 154 155 156 In May 1956 the brothers announced they were putting Warner Bros on the market 157 Jack secretly organized a syndicate headed by Boston banker Serge Semenenko 151 to purchase 90 of the stock 151 After the three brothers sold Jack through his under the table deal joined Semenenko s syndicate 158 and bought back all his stock 158 Shortly after the deal was completed in July 159 Jack now the company s largest stockholder appointed himself its new president 160 159 Shortly after the deal closed Jack announced 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 161 Warner Bros Television and Warner Bros Records By 1949 with the success of television threatening the film industry more and more Harry Warner decided to emphasize television production 144 However the Federal Communications Commission FCC would not permit it 144 After an unsuccessful attempt to convince other movie studio bosses to switch Harry abandoned his television efforts 145 Jack had problems with Milton Berle s unsuccessful film Always Leave Them Laughing during the peak of Berle s television popularity Warner felt that Berle was not strong enough to carry a film and that people would not pay to see the man they could see on television for free However Jack was pressured into using Berle who replaced Danny Kaye 162 Berle s outrageous behavior on the set and the film s massive failure led to Jack banning television sets from film sets 163 James Garner and Jack Kelly in Maverick 1957 On March 21 1955 the studio was finally able to engage in television through the successful Warner Bros Television unit run by William T Orr Jack Warner s son in law Warner Bros Television provided ABC with a weekly show Warner Bros Presents The show featured rotating shows based on three film successes Kings Row Casablanca and Cheyenne followed by a promotion for a new film 164 165 It was not a success 166 The studio s next effort was to make a weekly series out of Cheyenne 167 Cheyenne was television s first hour long Western Two episodes were placed together for feature film release outside the United States In the tradition of its B movies the studio followed up with a series of rapidly produced popular Westerns such as writer producer Roy Huggins critically lauded Maverick as well as Sugarfoot Bronco Lawman The Alaskans and Colt 45 167 The success of these series helped to make up for losses in the film business 167 As a result Jack Warner decided to emphasize television production 168 Warners produced a series of popular private detective shows beginning with 77 Sunset Strip 1958 1964 followed by Hawaiian Eye 1959 1963 Bourbon Street Beat 1960 and Surfside 6 1960 1962 Within a few years the studio provoked hostility among its TV stars such as Clint Walker and James Garner who sued over a contract dispute and won 169 Edd Byrnes was not so lucky and bought himself out of his contract Jack was angered by their perceived ingratitude Television actors evidently showed more independence than film actors deepening his contempt for the new medium 170 Many of Warner s television stars appeared in the casts of Warner s cinema releases In 1963 a court decision forced Warner Bros to end contracts with their television stars and to cease engaging them for specific series or film roles That year Jack Webb best known for originating the role of Sgt Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise became the head of the studio s TV division 171 Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra appear in a number of Warner Bros films produced in the early 1960s Both singers also recorded for Reprise Records which the studio purchased in 1963 In 1958 the studio launched Warner Bros Records Initially the label released recordings made by their television stars whether they could sing or not and records based on television soundtracks Warner Bros was already the owner of extensive music publishing holdings whose tunes had appeared in countless cartoons arranged by Carl Stalling and television shows arranged by Max Steiner 172 In 2004 Time Warner sold the Warner Music Group along with Warner Bros Records to a private equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr 173 In 2019 the since separated Warner Bros record division was rechristened Warner Records as WMG held a short term license to use the Warner Bros name and trademarks as such the label currently reissues the pre 2019 Warner Bros back catalog In 1963 Warner agreed to a rescue takeover of Frank Sinatra s Reprise Records 174 The deal gave Sinatra US 1 5 million and part ownership of Warner Bros Records making Reprise a sub label 174 Most significantly the deal brought Reprise manager Morris Mo Ostin into the company In 1964 upon seeing the profits record companies made from Warner film music Warner decided to claim ownership of the studio s film soundtracks 175 In its first eighteen months Warner Bros Records lost around 2 million 176 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 While he slowly recovered from a car crash that occurred while vacationing in France in 1958 Jack returned to the studio and made sure his name was featured in studio press releases From 1961 to 1963 the studio s annual net profit was a little over 7 million 177 Warner paid an unprecedented 5 5 million for the film rights to the Broadway musical My Fair Lady in February 1962 The previous owner CBS director William S Paley set terms including half the distributor s gross profits plus ownership of the negative at the end of the contract 178 In 1963 the studio s net profit dropped to 3 7 million 177 By the mid 1960s motion picture production was in decline as the industry was in the midst of a painful transition from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the era now known as New Hollywood Few studio films were made in favor of co productions for which Warner provided facilities money and distribution and pickups of independent pictures With the success of the studio s 1964 film of Broadway play My Fair Lady 176 as well as its soundtrack 176 Warner Bros Records became a profitable subsidiary The 1966 film Who s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf was a huge success 179 Following Jack Warner s 1966 year end sale to Seven Arts Productions the company was known as Warner Bros Seven Arts through to 1972 In November 1966 Jack gave in to advancing age and changing times 180 selling control of the studio and music business to Seven Arts Productions run by Canadian investors Eliot and Kenneth Hyman for 32 million 181 The company including the studio was renamed Warner Bros Seven Arts Warner remained president until the summer of 1967 when Camelot failed at the box office and Warner gave up his position to his longtime publicity director Ben Kalmenson 182 Warner remained on board as an independent producer and vice president 181 With the 1967 success of Bonnie and Clyde Warner Bros was again profitable 183 Two years later the Hymans were tired and fed up with Jack Warner and his actions 183 They accepted a cash and stock offer from Kinney National Company for more than 64 million 183 In 1967 Kinney had previously acquired DC Comics then officially known as National Periodical Publications as well as a Hollywood talent agency Ashley Famous 184 whose founder Ted Ashley led Kinney head Steve Ross to purchase Warner Bros Ashley Famous was soon spun off due to antitrust laws prohibiting the simultaneous ownership of a film studio and a talent agency Ashley became the studio head and changed the name to Warner Bros Inc once again 185 Jack Warner was outraged by the Hymans sale and decided to move into independent production most successfully with 1776 at Columbia He retired in 1973 and died from serious health complications of heart inflammation in September 1978 The logo designed by Saul Bass used from 1972 to 1984 the logo currently used by Warner Music Group Although movie audiences 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 including Paul Newman Robert Redford Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood carrying the studio successfully through the 1970s and 1980s Its hits in the early 1970s included those starring the aforementioned actors along with comedian Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles Stanley Kubrick s A Clockwork Orange The Exorcist John Boorman s Deliverance and the Martin Scorsese productions Mean Streets and Alice Doesn t Live Here Anymore Warner Bros also made major profits on films and television shows built around the characters of Superman Batman and Wonder Woman owned by Warner Bros subsidiary DC Comics The 1970s also saw Warner Bros Records become one of the major record labels worldwide and that company gained sister labels in Elektra Records and Atlantic Records In 1971 Filmation and Warner Bros entered into an agreement to produce and distribute cartoons for film and television with its television subsidiary handling worldwide television rights 186 In late 1973 Warner Bros announced that it had partnered with 20th Century Fox to co produce a single film producer Irwin Allen s The Towering Inferno 187 Both studios found themselves owning the rights to books about burning skyscrapers Warner was attempting to adapt Thomas N Scortia and Frank M Robinson s The Glass Inferno and Fox was preparing an adaptation of Richard Martin Stern s The Tower Allen insisted on a meeting with the heads of both studios and announced that as Fox was already in the lead with their property it would be preferable to lump the two together as a single film with Fox owning domestic rights and Warner Bros handling the film s foreign distribution The resulting partnership resulted in the second highest grossing film of 1974 turning profits for both studios and influencing future co productions between major studios Although Allen would make further films for Warner Bros he would not repeat the success he had with The Towering Inferno Abandoning parking lots and funeral homes the refocused 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 video game company Atari Inc in 1976 and later the Six Flags theme parks In 1972 in a cost cutting move Warner and Columbia formed a third company called The Burbank Studios TBS 188 They would share the Warner lot in Burbank 188 Both studios technically became production entities giving TBS day to day responsibility for studio grounds and upkeep 188 The Columbia Ranch about a mile north of Warner s lot was part of the deal 188 The Warner Columbia relationship was acrimonious but the reluctance of both studios to approve or spend money on capital upgrades that might only help the other did have the unintended consequence of preserving the Warner lot s primary function as a filmmaking facility while it produced relatively little during the 1970s and 1980s 188 Most films produced after 1968 were filmed on location after the failure of Camelot was partially attributed to the fact it was set in England but obviously filmed in Burbank 188 With control over its own lot tied up in TBS Warner ultimately retained a significant portion of its backlot 188 while Fox sold its backlot to create Century City Universal turned part of its backlot into a theme park and shopping center and Disney replaced its backlot with office buildings and exiled its animation department to an industrial park in Glendale In 1989 a solution to the situation became evident when Warner Bros acquired Lorimar Telepictures and gained control of the former MGM studio lot in Culver City and that same year Sony bought Columbia Pictures 188 Sony was flush with cash and Warner Bros now had two studio lots 188 In 1990 TBS ended when Sony bought the MGM lot from Warner and moved Columbia to Culver City 188 However Warner kept the Columbia Ranch now known as the Warner Bros Ranch 188 Robert A Daly joined Warner Bros on December 1 1980 taking over from Ted Ashley His titles were chairman of the board and Co Chief Executive Officer One year later he was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer and appointed Terry Semel President and Chief Operating Officer Time Warner subsidiary A panoramic view over today s studio premises Warner Communications merged in 1989 with white shoe publishing company Time Inc Time claimed a higher level of prestige while Warner Bros provided the profits The Time Warner merger was almost derailed when Paramount Communications formerly Gulf Western later sold to the first incarnation of Viacom launched a 12 2 billion hostile takeover bid for Time Inc forcing Time to acquire Warner with a 14 9 billion cash stock offer Paramount responded with a lawsuit filed in Delaware court to break up the merger Paramount lost and the merger proceeded In 1992 Warner Bros Family Entertainment was established to produce various family oriented films plus animated films The Family Entertainment label was dormant in 2009 In 1994 Jon Peters whose Peters Entertainment company had a non exclusive deal at Sony Pictures received another non exclusive financing deal at the studio citing that then president Terry Samel and producer Jon Peters were friends 189 The former Warner Bros shield logo which was used from 1993 to 2019 extensively used in films until 2020 and on its TV shows until 2021 Currently used for the on screen logo for Warner Bros Home Entertainment In 1995 Warner and television station owner Tribune Company of Chicago launched The WB Television Network seeking a large share of the niche market of teenage viewers The WB s early programming included an abundance of teenage fare such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Smallville Dawson s Creek and One Tree Hill Two dramas produced by Spelling Television 7th Heaven and Charmed helped bring The WB into the spotlight Charmed lasted eight seasons becoming the longest running drama with female leads 7th Heaven ran for eleven seasons and was the longest running family drama and longest running show for the network In 2006 Warner and CBS Corporation decided to close The WB and CBS s UPN and jointly launch The CW Television Network In 1996 Turner Pictures was folded into Warner Bros via the Turner Time Warner merger and brought Turner projects into development like City of Angels and You ve Got Mail into the studio 190 Later that year Warner Bros partnered with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment to distribute various movies produced by Time Warner subsidiary Castle Rock Entertainment 191 Also that same year Bruce Berman left Warner Bros to begin Plan B Entertainment then he subsequently headed Village Roadshow Pictures with a deal at the studio 192 In 1998 Time Warner sold Six Flags to Premier Parks 193 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 element was banished from the corporate name In 1998 Warner Bros celebrated its 75th anniversary In 1999 Terry Semel and Robert Daly resigned as studio heads after a career with 13 Oscar nominated films Daly and Semel were said to have popularized the modern model of partner financing and profit sharing for film production In mid 1999 Alan F Horn and Barry Meyer replaced Daly and Semel as new studio heads in which the studio had continued success in movies television shows cartoons that the previous studio heads had for the studio In late 2003 Time Warner reorganized Warner Bros assets under Warner Bros Entertainment Inc in an effort to distinguish the film studio from its then sister record label which since became Warner Records in May 2019 and Warner Music Group In the late 1990s Warner obtained rights to the Harry Potter novels and released feature film adaptations of the first in 2001 Subsequently they released the second film in 2002 the third in June 2004 the fourth in November 2005 the fifth in July 2007 and the sixth in July 2009 194 The seventh and at that time final book was released as two movies Deathly Hallows Part 1 in November 2010 and Deathly Hallows Part 2 in July 2011 From 2006 Warner Bros operated a joint venture with China Film Group Corporation and HG to form Warner China Film HG to produce films in Hong Kong and China including Connected a remake of the 2004 thriller film Cellular Warner Bros played a large part in the discontinuation of the HD DVD format On January 4 2008 Warner Bros announced that they would drop support of HD DVD in favor of Blu ray Disc 195 HD DVDs continued to be released through May 2008 but only following Blu ray and DVD releases Warner Bros Harry Potter film series was the worldwide highest grossing film series of all time without adjusting for inflation Its Batman film series was one of only two series to have two entries earn more than 1 billion worldwide Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was Warner Bros highest grossing movie ever surpassing The Dark Knight 196 However the Harry Potter movies have produced a net loss due to Hollywood accounting 197 IMAX Corp signed with Warner Bros Pictures in April 2010 to release as many as 20 giant format films through 2013 198 On October 21 2014 Warner Bros created a short form digital unit Blue Ribbon Content under Warner Bros Animation and Warner Digital Series president Sam Register 199 Warner Bros Digital Networks announced its acquisition of online video company Machinima Inc on November 17 2016 200 As of 2015 Warner Bros is one of only three studios to have released a pair of billion dollar films in the same year along with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Universal Studios the distinction was achieved in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey 201 202 203 As of 2016 it is the only studio to cross 1 billion at the domestic box office every year since 2000 204 AT amp T subsidiary In June 2018 Warner Bros parent company Time Warner was acquired by U S telecom company AT amp T and renamed WarnerMedia the former Time Inc properties having been sold off to new owners 205 On October 16 2018 WarnerMedia shut down DramaFever affecting 20 percent of Warner Bros digital networks staff 206 On March 4 2019 WarnerMedia announced a planned reorganization that would dissolve Turner Broadcasting System by moving Cartoon Network Adult Swim Boomerang their respective production studios Cartoon Network Studios and Williams Street as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media directly under Warner Bros Turner s remaining television services would be divided into WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News amp Sports respectively Aside from Otter Media these assets operate under a newly formed Global Kids amp Young Adults division 207 renamed on April 7 2020 to Warner Bros Global Kids Young Adults and Classics 208 On May 31 2019 Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros to WarnerMedia Entertainment to oversee the development of HBO Max a new streaming service that would feature content from HBO and WarnerMedia brands 209 Tom Ascheim resigned as president of cable network Freeform to become the president of the Global Kids Young Adults and Classics division on July 1 2020 210 On November 13 2019 Warner Bros unveiled an updated iteration of its shield logo by Pentagram in anticipation of the company s upcoming centennial which features a streamlined appearance designed to make it better suited for multi platform usage and iterations The company also commissioned a new corporate typeface that is modeled upon the WB lettering 211 212 Warner Bros and HBO Max announced the Warner Max film label on February 5 2020 which was to produce eight to ten mid budget movies per year for the streaming service starting in 2020 213 However the label was ultimately discontinued in October 2020 as part of a consolidation of the Warner Bros Pictures group 214 215 216 In February 2022 Village Roadshow a co financier of The Matrix Resurrections began a lawsuit against Warner Bros over the hybrid release of the sci fi sequel Like all of Warner s 2021 films the fourth Matrix film was given a simultaneous release on both HBO Max and in theaters due to the COVID 19 pandemic According to a complaint filed by Village Roadshow the decision ruined any December box office hopes 217 In May of that same year Village Roadshow agreed to arbitration with Warner Bros over the release of Resurrections 218 Warner Bros Discovery On March 23 2022 Warner Bros unveiled a logo and campaign for its upcoming centennial in 2023 100 Years of Storytelling It will begin in late 2022 and last throughout 2023 and include commemorative initiatives across all Warner Bros divisions and properties 219 On April 8 2022 AT amp T divested WarnerMedia to its shareholders and in turn merged with Discovery Inc to form Warner Bros Discovery The new company is led by Discovery s CEO David Zaslav 220 221 222 223 In November 2022 James Gunn and Peter Safran became the co chairpersons and CEOs of DC Films which was renamed to DC Studios The studio also become an independent division of Warner Bros 224 225 Company unitsWarner Bros Entertainment operates three primary business segments they call divisions Motion Pictures Television and other entertainment assets which includes Digital Networks Technology Live Theatre and Studio Facilities Motion Pictures includes the company s primary business units such as Warner Bros Pictures New Line Cinema DC Studios and Castle Rock Entertainment Pictures Group Television Group EntertainmentWarner Bros Pictures New Line Cinema DC Studios Warner Animation Group Castle Rock Entertainment Spyglass Media Group minority stake Flagship Entertainment Group 49 Lionsgate Entertainment 5 4 Warner Bros Television Studios Alloy Entertainment Telepictures A Very Good Production Cartoon Network Studios Warner Bros Animation Williams Street Warner Horizon Unscripted Television WBTVS International amp Formats Hanna Barbera Studios Europe CN LA Original Productions Warner Bros Theatre Ventures Warner Bros Studio Facilities Warner Bros Digital Networks Fandango Media 30 WaterTower Music TCM Library Wolper OrganizationExecutive managementChairman of the boardRobert A Daly 1980 1999 Barry Meyer 1999 2013 Kevin Tsujihara 2013 2019 Ann Sarnoff 2019 2022 Vice chairmanEdward A Romano 1994 2016 PresidentsTerry Semel 1994 1999 Chief executive officersRobert A Daly 1980 1999 Barry Meyer 1999 2013 Kevin Tsujihara 2013 2019 Ann Sarnoff 2019 2022 Chief operating officersTerry Semel 1982 1994 Barry Meyer 1994 1999 International distribution arrangementsFrom 1971 until the end of 1987 Warner s international distribution operations were a joint venture with Columbia Pictures In some countries this joint venture distributed films from other companies such as EMI Films and Cannon Films in the UK Warner ended the venture in 1988 On May 4 1987 Buena Vista Pictures Distribution signed a theatrical distribution agreement with Warner Bros International for the release of Disney and Touchstone films in overseas markets with Disney retaining full control of all distribution and marketing decisions on their product 226 In 1992 Disney opted to end their joint venture with Warner Bros to start autonomously distributing their films in the aforementioned markets On February 6 2014 Columbia TriStar Warner Filmes de Portugal Ltda a joint venture with Sony Pictures which distributed both companies films in Portugal announced that it would close its doors on March 31 2014 227 NOS Audiovisuais handles distribution of Warner Bros films in Portugal since then while the distribution duties for Sony Pictures films in the country were taken over by Big Picture Films Warner Bros still handles the distribution of Sony Pictures films in Italy Since January 1 2021 Warner Bros films are distributed through Universal Pictures in Hong Kong citing WarnerMedia s closure of its Hong Kong theatrical office 228 On January 12 2021 Warner Bros handles the theatrical distribution of Universal Pictures films in Brazil 229 In August 2022 Warner Bros Pictures entered into a multi year deal for distributing MGM films outside the United States including on home entertainment The contract included joint participation of both companies for marketing advertising publicity film distribution and relationship with exhibitors for future MGM titles 230 Film library Gate 4 Warner Bros Studios looking south towards the water tower For a more comprehensive list see Lists of Warner Bros films Acquired libraries Mergers and acquisitions have helped Warner Bros accumulate a diverse collection of films cartoons and television programs As of 2022 Warner Bros owned more than 145 000 hours of programming including 12 500 feature films and 2 400 television programs comprising more than tens of thousands of individual episodes 231 In the aftermath of the 1948 antitrust suit uncertain times led Warner Bros in 1956 to sell most of its pre 1950 232 154 155 156 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 233 234 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 235 In 1986 Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro Goldwyn Mayer Finding itself in debt Turner Entertainment 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 236 In 1989 Warner Communications acquired Lorimar Telepictures Corporation 237 238 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 239 240 and New Line Cinema on January 28 1994 241 242 On October 10 1996 Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting System thus bringing Warner Bros pre 1950 library back home However Warner Bros only owns Castle Rock Entertainment s post 1994 library In 2008 Time Warner integrated New Line into Warner Bros The Warner Bros ArchivesThe 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 It presents a complete view of the production process during the Golden Age of Hollywood UA donated pre 1950 Warner Bros nitrate negatives to the Library of Congress and post 1951 negatives to the UCLA Film and Television Archive Most of the company s legal files scripts and production materials were donated to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research See alsoWarner Bros Studios Burbank Warner Bros Studio Tour Hollywood Warner Bros Home Entertainment Warner Bros Family Entertainment Warner Bros Television Studios Warner Bros Discovery Enterprises Warner Records List of Warner Bros short subjects Warner Bros Animation Warner Bros Studios LeavesdenNotes Pronounced Warner Brothers the abbreviated form is always used in writing except when referring to the four Warner brothers themselves 5 ReferencesFootnotes 2020 Financial and Operational Trends PDF AT amp T January 27 2021 Archived PDF from the original on November 11 2021 Retrieved April 27 2022 Company history Warner Bros Archived from the original on October 16 2015 Retrieved April 9 2014 Patten Dominic Yamato Jen Warner Bros Layoffs Long Planned But Accelerated By Failed Fox Bid Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on September 6 2014 Retrieved September 6 2014 Warner Archive Collection podcast Warnerbros com April 8 2014 Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved December 17 2016 Gomery Douglas Pafort Overduin Clara 2011 Movie History A Survey 2nd ed New York Routledge p 150 ISBN 9781136835254 CCNY Film Professor Pens Two Books While on Sabbatical July 14 2015 Pollywood 2020 IMDb YouTube a Google company YouTube Archived from the original on April 25 2021 Warner Sperling Cass Director 2008 The Brothers Warner DVD film documentary Warner Sisters Inc Archived from the original on February 17 2016 McMorris Bill January 29 2009 Journey of discovery Warner documentary the result of a twenty year effort Santa Barbara News Press Retrieved May 27 2008 permanent dead link Jacobson Lara June 28 2018 The Warner Brothers Prove Their Patriotism Voces Novae 10 1 Archived from the original on October 30 2019 Retrieved October 30 2019 Hixson Walter L 2003 The American Experience in World War II The United States and the road to war in Europe Taylor amp Francis p 28 ISBN 978 0 415 94029 0 Cocks Geoffrey 2004 The Wolf at the Door Stanley Kubrick History amp the Holocaust Peter Lang p 41 ISBN 978 0 8204 7115 0 Meyer Carla March 17 2013 California Hall of Fame to induct the four Warner brothers California Museum Archived from the original on October 28 2019 Retrieved October 30 2019 Wielcy Polacy Warner Bros czyli bracia Warner Aaron Albert Szmul Sam i Hirsz Harry Wonsal oraz Jack Itzhak Wonsal Bialczynski April 22 2016 Archived from the original on September 21 2019 Retrieved November 16 2017 Green Fitzhugh 1929 The Film Finds Its Tongue New York G P Putnam s Sons p 41 WQED educational film Things that are still here PBS WQED Pittsburgh PA Harry M Warner film festival named one of thirty two premier events in state Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania January 31 2006 Archived from the original on August 17 2007 Retrieved March 5 2009 Progressive Silent Film List SilentEra com Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved September 2 2015 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 77 Is Fox really 75 this year Somewhere the fantastic Mr William Fox begs to differ New York Post February 10 2010 Archived from the original on December 20 2014 Retrieved June 30 2012 a b c d Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 81 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 80 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 82 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 101 Behlmer 1985 p xii Thomas46 47 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 83 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 84 Theatre Owners Open War on Hays The New York Times May 12 1925 p 14 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 86 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 88 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 95 Freedland Michael December 1983 The Warner Brothers St Martin s Press p 27 ISBN 978 0 312 85620 5 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 96 a b Thomas 1990 p 56 Thomas 1990 p 57 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 103 a b Thomas 1990 p 59 Warner and Jennings 1964 pp 180 181 a b Jews in Hollywood Jewishmag com Archived from the original on January 7 2008 Retrieved December 30 2007 Thomas 1990 p 62 a b Thomas 1990 pp 100 101 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 141 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 142 145 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 144 Thomas 1990 p 65 a b c d Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 147 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 151 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 150 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 148 Thomas 1990 p 4 Thomas 1990 p 127 Thomas 1990 p 208 Thomas 1990 p 67 a b c Thomas 1990 p 77 Warner Week Time June 9 1930 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved July 9 2008 a b Thomas 1990 p 72 Thomas 1990 p 66 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 160 a b c d Thomas 1990 pp 89 92 Thomas 1990 p 93 a b Thomas 1990 p 110 a b Warren Patricia 1995 British Film Studios An Illustrated History London B T Batsford p 161 ISBN 978 0 7134 7559 3 Meyer William R 1978 Warner Brothers Directors The Hard Boiled the Comic and the Weepers New York Arlington House pp 19 20 ISBN 978 0 87000 397 4 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 190 Thomas 1990 p 85 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 194 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 192 Thomas 1990 p 86 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 195 Doherty Thomas Patrick August 15 1999 Pre code Hollywood Sex Immorality and Insurrection in American Cinema New York City Columbia University Press pp 149 157 ISBN 978 0 231 11095 2 Doherty discusses the contemporary controversy around the gangster genre The mobster and the movies CNN August 24 2004 Archived from the original on March 21 2008 Retrieved July 9 2008 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 184 Thomas 1990 pp 77 79 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 185 Thomas 1990 p 81 Sarris 1998 p 26 Thomas 1990 p 83 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 186 Fugitive Time December 26 1932 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved July 9 2008 Fugitive Free Time January 2 1933 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved July 9 2008 Milestones Jan 16 1933 Time January 16 1933 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved July 9 2008 Thomas 1990 pp 82 83 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 161 Musicomedies of the Week Time July 3 1933 p 2 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved June 28 2008 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 182 183 a b New Deal in Hollywood Time May 1 1933 p 2 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved June 28 2008 Behlmer 1985 p 12 a b Thomas 1990 p 96 a b Thomas 1990 p 95 Thomas 1990 pp 95 96 a b c d e f Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 209 211 Thomas 1990 p 99 St Louis Suit Time January 21 1935 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved July 9 2008 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 188 189 a b Thomas 1990 p 109 Thomas 1990 pp 109 110 Thomas 1990 p 88 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 219 221 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 221 a b c Thomas 1990 p 115 a b Thomas 1990 pp 104 106 Thomas 1990 p 105 a b c d Thomas 1990 p 106 a b c Thomas 1990 p 144 a b Thomas 1990 p 116 a b c Thomas 1990 p 114 Thomas 1990 p 117 Thomas 1990 p 117 118 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 235 a b Thomas 1990 p 123 125 Thomas 1990 p 124 a b Thomas 1990 p 125 Thomas 1990 pp 125 126 Thomas 1990 pp 126 127 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 187 Barrier Michael 1999 pp 329 333 Porky Pig and the Small Dog Aharon s Jewish Books and Judaica Mile Chai City Archived from the original on July 14 2011 Retrieved July 9 2008 Warner Bros Studio biography Archived May 24 2009 at the Wayback Machine AnimationUSA com Retrieved June 17 2007 a b Thomas 1990 pp 211 12 McLaughlin Robert L Parry Sally E March 3 2006 We ll Always Have the Movies American Cinema in World War II University Press of Kentucky p 37 ISBN 0 8131 7137 7 Birdwell Michael E December 1 2000 Celluloid Soldiers The Warner Bros Campaign Against Nazism NYU Press p 17 ISBN 978 0 8147 9871 3 Youngkin Stephen D 2005 The Lost One A Life of Peter Lorre University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 8131 2360 8 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 225 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 233 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 247 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 246 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 240 Schatz Thomas November 23 1999 Boom and Bust American Cinema in the 1940s University of California Press p 178 ISBN 9780520221307 Retrieved September 29 2017 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 247 255 a b c d e Thomas 1990 p 145 Thomas 1990 p 98 Thomas 1990 p 148 Thomas 1990 p 150 a b Thomas 1990 p 151 Thomas 1990 p 152 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 258 279 a b Thomas 1990 p 163 Thomas 1990 p 164 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 279 Thomas 1990 pp 175 176 Hal Erickson 2016 Milton Sperling biography The New York Times Archived from the original on March 6 2016 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 286 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 287 Thomas 1990 p 191 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 pp 287 288 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 288 Boston to Hollywood Time May 21 1956 Archived from the original on December 14 2008 Retrieved July 9 2008 Balio Tino 1985 The American Film Industry Univ of Wisconsin Press p 567 ISBN 978 0 299 09874 2 a b c Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 303 Thomas 1990 p 190 Thomas 1990 p 225 a b Schickel amp Perry 2008 p 255 a b 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 a b Media History Digital Library archive org Archived from the original on March 25 2019 Retrieved September 17 2019 Boston to Hollywood Time May 21 1956 p 2 Archived from the original on December 14 2008 Retrieved June 20 2008 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 308 a b Thomas 1990 p 226 Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 306 2 Warners Sell Most of Stock in Film Firm Harry and Albert Dispose of Shares to Banker Jack to Be President Youngstown Vindicator The United Press July 12 1956 p 22 Issuu com permanent dead link p 144 Hope Bob amp Shavelson Mel Don t Shoot It s Only Me 1991 Jove Books Warner Bros Enters Tv Field With Pact for ABC TV Shows PDF Broadcast Magazine March 21 1955 p 112 Thomas 1990 p 192 Thomas 1990 p 193 a b c Thomas 1990 p 194 Thomas 1990 p 195 Thomas 1990 pp 196 8 Thomas 1990 p 199 Irvin Richard May 12 2014 George Burns Television Productions The Series and Pilots 1950 1981 McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 1621 6 Max Steiner at IMDb Warner Music to be sold for 2 6B CNN Money November 24 2003 Retrieved March 17 2020 a b Thomas 1990 p 255 Thomas 1990 pp 264 265 a b c Thomas 1990 p 265 a b Warner Sperling amp Millner 1998 p 325 Thomas 1990 p 259 Thomas 1990 p 278 Thomas 1990 p 280 a b Thomas 1990 p 279 Thomas 1990 pp 279 280 a b c Thomas 1990 p 288 William Poundstone Fortune s Formula Fleming Karl June 24 1974 Who Is Ted Ashley Just the King of Hollywood Baby New York Magazine New York Media LLC 30 35 Retrieved January 14 2018 Animator Warner Bros teams up for TV movies PDF Broadcasting Magazine February 1 1971 p 51 Anderson Erik September 28 2013 Best Supporting Studio Warner Bros Pictures Track Record in the Best Supporting Actor Category Awards Watch United States Archived from the original on June 3 2016 Retrieved April 29 2016 a b c d e f g h i j k Bingen Steven Marc Wanamaker 2014 Warner Bros Hollywood s Ultimate Backlot London Rowman amp Littlefield pp 194 202 ISBN 978 1 58979 962 2 Archived from the original on January 1 2016 Retrieved April 25 2015 Frook John Evan February 22 1994 Sony Peters change nature of their deal Variety Retrieved October 24 2021 Johnson Ted Cox Dan January 15 1997 ABSOLUTE POWER SORT OF Variety Retrieved September 12 2021 Cox Dan December 8 1997 WB Polygram to co fund Castle Rock Variety Retrieved September 12 2021 Karon Paul December 10 1997 WB takes a Village Variety Retrieved September 15 2021 Shapiro Eben February 10 1998 Premier Parks to Buy Six FlagsFrom Time Warner and Partner The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on March 3 2017 Retrieved March 3 2017 Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Moves to Summer 2009 Press release Time Warner August 14 2008 Archived from the original on September 30 2017 Retrieved September 29 2017 Warner Bros Goes Blu Ray Exclusive Consolewatcher com Archived from the original on October 7 2008 Retrieved June 30 2012 Box Office Final Harry Potter film has highest grossing domestic opening of all time Updated Los Angeles Times July 17 2011 Archived from the original on August 17 2016 Retrieved January 25 2017 Fleming Mike Jr July 6 2010 Studio Shame Even Harry Potter Pic Loses Money Because Of Warner Bros Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on August 7 2014 Retrieved September 2 2015 Georgiades Andy April 28 2010 Imax Warner Bros Sign Pact The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on October 4 2013 Retrieved September 2 2015 Spangler Todd October 21 2014 Warner Bros Unveils Digital Short Form Studio Blue Ribbon Content Variety Archived from the original on October 22 2014 Retrieved October 22 2014 Lieberman David November 17 2016 Warner Bros Agrees To Buy Machinima Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on March 22 2017 Retrieved March 25 2017 Toy Story 3 Reaches 1 Billion Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on April 4 2019 Retrieved September 2 2015 Around the World Roundup Avengers Reaches 1 Billion Worldwide Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on September 5 2015 Retrieved September 2 2015 Universal Crosses 3 Billion at the Worldwide Box Office GeekNation Archived from the original on July 11 2015 Retrieved July 9 2015 Lang Brent June 26 2015 American Sniper San Andreas Push Warner Bros Past 1 Billion Domestically Variety Archived from the original on October 24 2016 Retrieved December 30 2016 Stelter Brian June 15 2018 Time Warner s new name WarnerMedia CNN Money Archived from the original on December 15 2018 Retrieved March 8 2019 Lopez Matt October 16 2018 WarnerMedia Shuts Down DramaFever Streaming Service Archived from the original on October 16 2018 Retrieved October 16 2018 Feiner Lauren March 4 2019 WarnerMedia reorganizes its leadership team after AT amp T acquisition CNBC Archived from the original on March 4 2019 Retrieved March 4 2019 Andreeva Nellie April 7 2020 Tom Ascheim Joins Warner Bros As President of Global Kids Young Adults And Classics Deadline Hollywood Retrieved April 10 2020 Spangler Todd May 31 2019 WarnerMedia Reorg Gives Otter Media s Tony Goncalves Oversight of Streaming Service Development Variety Retrieved July 9 2019 Low Elaine Otterson Joe April 7 2020 Freeform Boss Tom Ascheim Moves to Warner Bros Variety Retrieved April 24 2020 Smith Lilly November 13 2019 Warner Bros new brand is a glimpse at the future of entertainment Fast Company Archived from the original on December 3 2019 Retrieved November 26 2019 D Alessandro Anthony November 13 2019 Warner Bros Refreshes Logo As Studio s 2023 Centennial Approaches Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on November 14 2019 Retrieved November 15 2019 Rubin Rebecca February 5 2020 Warner Bros HBO Max Set New Film Division for Streaming Service Variety Retrieved February 5 2020 Warner Max Restructures as WarnerMedia Consolidates Film Production The Hollywood Reporter October 23 2020 Retrieved January 29 2021 Fleming Mike Jr October 23 2020 WarnerMedia Film Group Streamline HBO Max s Jessie Henderson To Exit While Nikki Ramey Moves To New Line amp WB Deadline Retrieved January 29 2021 Donnelly Matt October 23 2020 HBO Max Film Shake Up Toby Emmerich Consolidates Power Two Executives Depart Variety Retrieved January 29 2021 Lee Benjamin February 7 2022 Warner Bros sued over abysmal Matrix Resurrections release The Guardian News p 1 Retrieved February 8 2022 Patten Dominic Hayes Dade Village Roadshow Agrees To Arbitration With Warner Bros In Matrix Streaming Strategy Lawsuit Update Deadline Retrieved June 11 2022 Maas Jennifer March 23 2022 Warner Bros Reveals 100th Anniversary Logo Teases Rollout of Commemorative Content Products and Events Variety Retrieved May 16 2022 Meredith Steve Kovach Sam May 17 2021 AT amp T announces 43 billion deal to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery CNBC Retrieved May 17 2021 Hayes Dade May 17 2021 David Zaslav And John Stankey Outline Plans For Merging Discovery And WarnerMedia Addressing Future Of Jason Kilar CNN Streaming Deadline Retrieved May 17 2021 Mass Jennifer April 5 2022 Discovery WarnerMedia Merger Could Close as Early as This Friday EXCLUSIVE Variety Archived from the original on April 6 2022 Retrieved April 6 2022 Maas Jennifer April 8 2022 Discovery Closes 43 Billion Acquisition of AT amp T s WarnerMedia Variety Retrieved April 8 2022 Couch Aaron Kit Borys October 25 2022 DC Shocker James Gunn Peter Safran to Lead Film TV and Animation Division Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved October 25 2022 McMillan Graeme November 1 2022 DC Has a Chance to Save Superman Here s What It Needs to Do Wired Retrieved November 1 2022 Warner Bros and Disney have a distribution pact Los Angeles Times May 4 1987 Archived from the original on January 29 2018 Retrieved January 17 2018 de Barros Eurico February 6 2014 Columbia Tristar Warner encerra escritorios em Portugal Columbia Tristar Warner closes offices in Portugal Diario de Noticias in Portuguese Archived from the original on September 30 2017 Retrieved September 29 2017 WarnerMedia Closing Hong Kong Theatrical Division Universal To Release WB Pictures In Market Press release Deadline December 24 2020 Retrieved December 22 2022 Portal Exibidor CADE autoriza acordo entre Universal e Warner saiba mais www exibidor com br in Portuguese Retrieved May 19 2022 D Alessandro Anthony August 14 2022 Warner Bros Forms Multi Year Pact To Distribute MGM Movies Overseas Beginning With Bones And All Creed III How Bond Will Be Handled Deadline Retrieved October 4 2022 Warner Bros Unveils Centennial Logo in Advance of the Iconic Studio s 100th Anniversary Press release Warner Bros March 23 2022 Retrieved September 12 2022 Warner Films Bought for 21 Million Largest Library Yet for Television PDF Broadcasting March 5 1956 p 42 Hoyt Eric July 3 2014 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 December 20 1985 Archived from the original on August 1 2017 Retrieved February 2 2018 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 Archived from the original on January 26 2013 Retrieved September 2 2015 Warner Completes Merger With Lorimar Telepictures Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on November 3 2012 Retrieved 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American Talking Film History amp Memory 1927 1949 Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 513426 5 Schatz Robert 1988 The Genius of the System Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era New York Pantheon ISBN 0 8050 4666 6 Schickel Richard Perry George 2008 You must remember this The Warner Bros Story Philadelphia Running Press ISBN 978 0 7624 3418 3 Sklar Robert 1994 Movie Made America New York Vintage ISBN 978 0 679 75549 4 Thomas Bob 1990 Clown Prince of Hollywood The Antic Life and Time of Jack L Warner McGraw Hill Ryerson Limited ISBN 978 0 07 064259 1 Warner Jack L Jennings Dean 1964 My First Hundred Years in Hollywood Random House ASIN B0007DZSKW LCCN 65011267 OCLC 1347544 Sperling Cass Warner Millner Cork 1998 Hollywood be Thy Name The Warner Brothers Story University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0 8131 0958 2 Further readingKrakowski Andrzej 2011 Pollywood jak stworzylismy Hollywood Pollywood How we created Hollywood Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN ISBN 978 0 7432 0481 1 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warner Bros Entertainment Official website Finding aid author James V D Arc 2013 Warner Bros collection Prepared for the L Tom Perry Special Collections Provo Utah Portals Companies United States Greater Los Angeles California Film 1920s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Warner Bros amp oldid 1133053598, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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