Mallory Rogers
Warner Bros. Pictures
4000 Warner Blvd.,
Burbank, CA 91522
http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/warner-bros-pictures
SOCIAL MEDIA
KEY EXECUTIVES
Kevin Tsujihara [12]: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros.
Jon Gilbert [13]: President, Warner Bros. Worldwide Studio Facilities
Steve Papazian [14]: President, Worldwide Physical Production, Warner Bros. Pictures
Greg Silverman[15]: President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Warner Bros. Pictures
BACKGROUND
Warner Brothers Pictures produces and distributes a variety of anywhere from 18 to 22 films each year. To date, Warner Bros. has produced 23 films in 2015. These films range in genre from Pan to Vacation to Entourage. Warner Bros. is part of the Big 6, a group of movie studios that produce and distribute the majority of films in Hollywood.
The focus of Warner Bros. Pictures is to produce films that are wide ranging to appeal to all audiences. It “produces and maintains worldwide distribution rights.” It has joint ventures with Village Roadshow Pictures and PatPac-Dune Entertainment to finance such films. Warner Brothers Pictures also has a deal with Alcon Entertainment to help finance films. [11]
This company is also under the larger media conglomerate umbrella of TimeWarner. In addition to Warner Bros. Pictures TimeWarner also owns the remaining segments of Warner Bros. such as Warner Bros. Animation as well as HBO and Turner.
HISTORY
Well-respected and one of the most diversified companies in the industry, Warner Bros. Pictures has a storied past. Warner Bros. Studios was founded April 4, 1923 by brothers Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack. [11]
The four Warner brothers (left to right) Sam, Harry, Jack, and Albert, 1926. [18]
One of the moments that sparked its respect was the release of “the world’s first ‘talkie’” in 1927. This talkie was The Jazz Singer. A “talkie” is a synchronized-sound feature film. This innovative success spurred the success of the brothers’ film company for years to come.
However, their work in the film industry started much earlier. In 1903 the four brothers traveled though Pennsylvania and Ohio as traveling exhibitors showing films off a portable projector. The Great Train Robbery was one of the first films they displayed to the public. This film was hailed as “the first motion picture to tell a definite story.” From here, the brothers continued and expanded their business in Pennsylvania where they opened the Cascade Theater. Each brother had their own skill/job in the theater. Albert and Harry sold tickets, “Sam ran the hand-crank projector while Jack sang ‘illustrated’ songs during the intermissions to sister Rose’s piano accompaniment.” [11]
New Line Cinema, a unit of Warner Bros. Pictures, was acquired in 2008 by TimeWarner. Their production of highly successful, critically acclaimed films attracted them to TimeWarner. Though their production, marketing, development and distribution are all separate from Warner Bros. the collaboration serves to “maximize film performance and operating efficiencies.” [25]
Warner Bros. Pictures has amassed a large amount of success through the years, including the Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises. This studio has been producing nearly 6,500 feature films since the late 1920s/early 1930s.
FINANCE
According to the third quarter results for 2015 ending in September 2015 Warner Bros’ parent company, TimeWarner, revenue has increased 5%. This 5% translates to $6.6 billion. However, these results did not include anything past September. This means the release of Pan and the lack of success it had in the box officer were not taken into account. The increase came from Warner Bros. and Home Box Office to offset the decline from Turner. Also from the third quarter Warner Bros. had an adjusted EPS of $1.25 and repurchased 41 million shares that will run through October 30 for $3.3 billion. [8] [24]
The proxy statement TimeWarer released to educate investors for the year 2015 lays out all that TimeWarner has done over the past year. It details what all has happened, operating strategies, expansion programs, etc. As of 2015 Warner Bros. Studios has production companies in 16 international territories. Warner Bros. Studios is expanding globally to capture a wider reach, becoming bigger. This plays into the financial aspect to see what is working in the company, what films have brought in, monetarily and other important financial details. In fact, “Warner Bros. generated over $4 billion at the global box office for the 6th year in a row; announced expanded slate of movies for 2016-2020.”[24]
FILMS THUS FAR
Producing 23 films this year to date, one of Warner Bros.’ more recent films, Pan, seemed to flop. [9] This flop did not sit well with executives after already having had a less-than- successful summer. None of its films surpassed $500 million worldwide. Settling in at number three among top movie studios when usually number 1 indicated to executives something had to change. Anticipated success from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was dashed after making only $13.4 million opening weekend. [3] Warner Bros’ looked at Straight Outta Compton, worked with New Line Cinema to produce it but backed out thinking its budget was too high ceding this film to Universal Studios. Hope for the remainder of the year was placed in Black Mass and others. Black Mass might be Warner Bros’ saving grace with rumors of Oscar consideration for main character Johnny Depp.
However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Pan, provided a setback for the studio. Going off the old story of Peter Pan this film aimed to reinvent the classic. With a $129 million dollar budget executives were sure this film would be a success. Originally supposed to be released in July Pan’s release date was later moved to October to avoid summer competition. This was concerning because Warner Bros. did not want to bump up against Pixels opening that same July weekend. Warner Bros. pulled the film to avoid the same weekend release as Pixels. [4] This change had a domino effect. Advertising and targeting tactics changed when the demographic of Pan originally aimed at, children, matured to skew older.
Its lack of success can also be attributed to the film being “overly formulaic and too wild a deviation from J.M. Barrie’s beloved children’s classic to succeed.” [3] Meant to be an origin story, Pan, didn’t quite make it. One box office analyst, Jeff Bock, remarked that fairy tale adaptations were a difficult feat to accomplish without the backing of Disney. The story strayed too far from the original fairy tale for audiences to be acutely engaged. Other adaptations did a much better job and were used as comparisons to this film; those compared were Spielberg’s Hook and the animated adaptation from Disney.
Warner Bros. is expected to lose anywhere from $130 to $150 million as a result. [4]
LOOKING TO CHINA
Hoping to expand to China’s “booming film market” Warner Bros. Pictures was in talks with China Media Capital (CMC) and came to an agreement in September to make more Chinese-language productions. [6] This collaborative company is Flagship Entertainment Group Ltd. and it is hoping to combine the skills of Warner Bros. with the financial resources of CMC. In addition, CMC has collaborated with Oriental DreamWorks and IMAX for at least 10 Mandarin films to be produced.
They aim to “develop, distribute and produce a slate of Chinese-language films, including global tent poles, for distribution in China and around the world” using Warner Bros.’ name and network. [7] The new company they form will be owned primarily by CMC with a 51% share. Warner Bros. owns the remaining 49%. [6] Hoping to bring more of Warner Bros’ signature storytelling and experience in the industry to China’s film industry this future of their collaboration is hopeful. This partnership may release a film as soon as 2016.
FUTURE FOR WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Looking to the future Warner Bros. Pictures is looking to produce a new film, King Kong vs. Godzilla. Recently acquiring the rights and hoping to debut the first in the trilogy in 2016 executives are excited about potential success of the highly anticipated film(s). Hoping to collaborate with Japanese studio, Toho, Warner Bros. Pictures was chosen over Universal to produce this remake of the 1962 film due to previous history. Also, Legendary Pictures decided to move this film to make it consistent and join the first Godzilla with the rest of its franchise. Having release Godzilla in May of 2014 with Godzilla 2 being released June of 2018 Warner Bros. wanted to keep it in the family. Hoping to feature more key components of the “Godzilla Universe” Legendary Pictures wanted to acquire rights to additional characters in this world. These characters include Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah.This is what Marvel Studios has done with its superhero films to keep the films together. [1]
This will be one of three in a trilogy to be produced in 2020. The lineup for films is as follows: Kong: Skull Island in 2017, Godzilla 2 in 2018 and then Godzilla vs. Kong in theaters 2020. Production for Kong: Skull Island was slated to begin October 19, 2015. Casting has already started with Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston and Corey Hawkins on board. Main roles are being considered for Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly with Jordan Vogt-Robert signed on to direct. [5]
SLATED FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
From top:
In The Heart Of The Sea: to be released December 11, 2015 [27]
Point Break: to be released December 25, 2015 [26]
SOURCES
[1] Fleming, Mike. “Warner Bros Sets King Kong Vs Godzilla, As Deadline Told You Last Month.” Deadline. 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://deadline.com/2015/10/king-kong-godzilla-warner-bros-legendary-pictures- 1201582155/>.
[2] Galloway, Stephen. “Warner Bros.’ Chilly Summer Puts Execs in the Hot Seat (Analysis).” The Hollywood Reporter. 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-chilly-summer-puts-816176>.
[3] Lang, Brent. “Does ‘Pan’s’ Box Office Bomb Spell the End for Origin Stories?” Variety. 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://variety.com/2015/film/news/pan-box-office- bomb-death-of-origin-movies-1201615656/>.
[4] McClintock, Pamela. “Warner Bros.”Pan’ Could Lead to $150 Million Loss.” The Hollywood Reporter. 12 Oct. 2015. Web.25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-pan-could-lead-831412>.
[5] Owen, Luke. “Warner Bros. Set to Remake King Kong vs. Godzilla.” Flickering Myth. 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/09/warner- bros-set-to-remake-king-kong-vs-godzilla.html>.
[6] Spear, Lisa. “Warner Bros.Unveils New Chinese Film Venture.” Time. Time, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Nov.2015. <http://time.com/4042115/china-warner-brothers-film-movies-hollywood/>.
[7] Tartaglione, Nancy. “Warner Bros, China Media Capital Form Flagship Entertainment Group; JointVenture To Make Local-Language Films.” Deadline. 20 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://deadline.com/2015/09/warner-bros-china- media-capital-flagship-entertainment-group-local-language-films-joint-venture- 1201537954/>.
[8] “Time Warner Inc.” Time Warner Inc. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.timewarner.com/>.
[9] “Warner Bros. Box Office Receipts by Release Date.”Box Office Mojo.Web.22 Nov. 2015. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com>.
[10] “Warner Bros. Partners With China Media Capital on Major Production, Distribution Joint Venture.” MSN. 20 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.msn.com/en- nz/video/celebs/warner-bros-partners-with-china-media-capital-on-major- production-distribution-joint-venture/vi-AAexXnM?refvid=AAd57s2>.
[11] Warner Bros. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. <http://www.warnerbros.com/>.
[12] “Kevin Tsujihara.” WarnerBros.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[13] “Jon Gilbert.” WarnerBros.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[14] “Steve Papazian.” WarnerBros.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[15] “Greg Silverman.” WarnerBros.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[16] Santoso, Alex. “The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos.” Neatorama. 3 Dec. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
[17] Robehmed, Natalie. “Hollywood’s Most Profitable Movie Studios.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 15 May 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[18] “What Los Angeles Can Learn From the Warner Bros.” Aarmadillocom. 2 July 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[19] “The Jazz Singer (1927).” The Jazz Singer (1927). Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[20] “Star China Media Announces Appointment of a New Management Team.” China Screen News RSS. 02 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[21] Martinez, Phillip. “New ‘King Kong vs Godzilla’ Movie: Remake Needs To Happen In Next 5 Years.” IDigitalTimes.com. 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[22] “Warner Bros. Pictures.” Logopedia. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[23] “Pan.” Fandango. Fandango.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[24] “IR Relations.” TimeWarner. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[25] “New Line Cinema.” WarnerBros.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[26] “First Poster for the Point Break Remake.” Flickering Myth. 25 May 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[27] “In the Heart of the Sea.” IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
[28] “Rocky Isn’t Doing So Well in New Creed TV Spot.” Film RSS. 24 Sept. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.