A Lament for the Death of New Line

Earlier today it was announced that New Line Cinema as we know it is dead and will be folded into a unit of Warner Brothers (Full letter from New Line at the bottom of this article). Massive layoffs will begin immediately. This is sad news for us all, as New Line has always been the scrappy underdog, making independent choices in the midst of tons and tons of focus-grouped drivel; even if the films they decided to release were sometimes misguided, they were at the very least interesting, daring, and deserving of our attention. What this means for films in the pipeline (and the New Line name itself) is still uncertain, although plans for "The Hobbit" and other already-completed films will most likely go forward.

Over the last few decades, New Line has released films that have firmly ingrained themselves into the popular imagination. Here's a look back at the most notable films that New Line has given us. These aren't necessarily their best films, but they do each represent, in their own way, some contribution to our culture and to filmmaking as a whole:

A Nightmare on Elm Street (original released in 1984)

Wes Craven's original is still a classic horror film, inspiring the many that would come afterwards. This film not only inaugurated Robert Englund's chilling Freddy character for the first time, but was also Johnny Depp's feature debut. Even in today's hyper-connected age, the basic idea of a malevolent force invading our dreams is still chilling.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (original released in 1990)

I look back on the first two films in this series with complete fondness and nostalgia. To see the Ninja Turtles on screen, kicking the asses of real life actors is still one of my favorite childhood memories relating to film. Also, need I mention that this is the film series that gave us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rap? 

Dark City (1998)

This brooding, beautiful film directed by Alex Proyas foretold the coming of genre-bending flicks like The Matrix. It's decidedly dark tone and lack of mainstream appeal made it a huge bet with a $27 million budget (it never made back that money domestically). Nonetheless, we have New Line to thank for this intense contribution to the sci-fi genre. Check out this opening scene from Dark City, which spectacularly displays Proyas's unique visual style:

Austin Powers (1997)

Although by now, "Yeah, baby!" has been said so often that the sound of it has been known to cause fits of rage against images bearing the likeness of Mike Myers, the first Austin Powers film was a fresh parody on the then-staid spy genre. If anything, we can thank the series for bringing us the following gems, variations on a theme of "Covering up a guys penis" and "Shouting synonyms for penis":

Blade (original released in 1998)

Before Wesley Snipes was best known for his tax-dodging, he was impaling vampires in the Blade film series which breathed cinematic life into a relatively unknown comic book property. This opening scene from Blade showed that you can make vampire-slaying look completely badass: 

Lord of the Rings (original released in 2001)

What to say about Peter Jackson's magnificent achievement that hasn't been said elsewhere? In 2000, New Line took a $270 million bet on a relatively unknown filmmaker whose most well-known films were Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners. What resulted was a pitch-perfect adaptation that was a visual spectacle and an acheivement in fantasy storytelling for all ages. As I watch the opening scene from The Lord of the Rings, I still remember the wonder I felt at seeing it up on the big screen for the very first time:

The Golden Compass (2007)

I've heard all the complaints about this film (mostly that it was absolutely terrible) but let's at least recognize what a daring move this was. New Line tried to strike gold again with this epic film, sinking $180 million on a film based on a a book that was a thinly veiled atheist manifesto. To do that in the U.S. today actually takes some balls and New Line showed again that it had the testicles to spare. Unfortunately, even the controversy surrounding the film's religious message wasn't enough to save this film from box office disaster. It was, undoubtedly, one of the major causes of today's unfortunate announcement.

So long, New Line. You will truly be missed.

Here's the full text of the letter from New Line, announcing the change:

February 28, 2008

To: New Line Colleagues

From: Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne

Subject: Our Company

This afternoon, Time Warner is announcing that New Line will become a unit of Warner Bros. This is, of course, a very difficult and emotional time for all of us who have worked at New Line. While there is not much we can say that can lessen the impact of this announcement, we did want you to know about the decision before you read about it in the press.

New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, market, and distribute movies. But New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.’ distribution systems. The company will be holding group meeting with New Line employees tomorrow in Los Angeles and New York to discuss this announcement, and is committed to letting employees know as soon as possible about how this change affects them individually.

For our part, we will be stepping down as Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOS of New Line. This was a painful decision, because we love New Line and the people who work here have been like our second families. But we will be leaving the company with enormous pride in what all of us at New Line have accomplished together. From its humble beginnings 40 years ago, our studio has created some of the most popular and successful movies of all time. Those movies are a tribute to the amazing creative energy and entrepreneurial abilities of the talented people at New Line. They are a legacy that will endure forever.

Although we are stepping out of New Line, we intend to remain actively involved in the industry in an entrepreneurial capacity, and will keep you advised of developments.

We thank all of you who have worked so hard to make New Line such a success. We are very proud of every one of you.

Bob & Michael

If you liked this article, you should check out Dave's article on the Top 10 Most Outrageous Moments from The Transporter Series. You can also hear more from Dave, Devindra and Adam on The Watchers Podcast.