Warner Bros. Pictures #1

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Mallory Rogers

Mallory Rogers

[22]

Warner Bros. Pictures

4000 Warner Blvd.,
Burbank, CA 91522

http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/warner-bros-pictures

SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter

Facebook

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

[16]

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.

[17]

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.

[19]

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.

[23]

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.

[20]

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]

[21]

SLATED FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR

From top:

In The Heart Of The Sea: to be released December 11, 2015 [27]

Creed: In Theaters Now [28]

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.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Kyohei Kawada

By Ken Kawada

Courtesy of Deadline

Brief Overview

The Warner Brothers Pictures was founded on April 4, 1923, and it is one of the major studios in Hollywood. The studio handles production and distribution of films, and finances or co-finances their films. They collaborate with other studios such as Village Roadshow Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment and RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The studio is known for producing award winning films such as The Dark Knight, Inception and Argo. [1]

Key Executives

Greg Silverman

Courtesy of Deadline

Silverman is the President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production for Warner Brothers Pictures. Appointed in June 2013, he oversees the studio’s development activities, global production and budget. He also works with the studio’s senior management to seek opportunities for the company. [2]

Steven S. Spira

Courtesy of Variety

Spira is the President, Worldwide Business Affairs for Warner Brothers Pictures. Promoted on January 2004, he is responsible for overseeing the business aspects of the studio’s operations that include development, production and distribution of films. [3]

Sue Kroll

Courtesy of Film Independent

Kroll is the President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution for Warner Brothers Pictures. She oversees the strategic creation and marketing campaigns for the studio’s international releases. [4]

Recent Releases

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Courtesy of Movie Wallpapers

Continuing the success of Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Warner Brothers Pictures released its latest sequel on December 2, 2013, just in time for the award season. The film follows the titular character, Bilbo Baggins as he continues his journey with the dwarves to reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel of the same name, this anticipated sequel is the second film in the The Hobbit franchise. [5]

The film’s release was the fourth best opening weekend for the month of December, slightly behind the first Hobbit film. On Metacritic, the film received an average review score of 66 out of 100, which indicates generally favorable reviews from critics. Many critics have highlighted the overall improvement from the first film in the series, but still criticized the length. [7]

It has grossed over $950 million at the worldwide box office to this date, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2013. The Desolation of Smaug received 3 nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, including best visual effects. [6]

The LEGO Movie

Courtesy of Forbes

This 3D animated film is this year’s unexpected hit. Starring the voices of Christ Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and Will Arnett, the film tells the story of an ordinary LEGO construction worker, mini-figure who joins a quest to stop an evil tyrant from destroying their world. [8]

The film’s mass appeal to both children and adults contributed to the film’s success at the box office. The studio has already announced a sequel for the film, potentially starting a new franchise for Warner Bros. As of now, the sequel is set to be released in 2017. Jared Stern and Michelle Morgan were hired to pen the script for the sequel, but it is still unknown whether writer/director of the first film, Phil Lord and Chris Miller will return. The plot is also still yet to be determined. [9]

The film received an average review score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating an universal acclaim from critics. The film’s release was the second best opening weekend for the month of February, behind Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Grossing over $400 million to this date on a $60 million budget, the film is projected to continue its success in Blu-Ray and DVD sales. [10] [11]

300: Rise of an Empire

Courtesy of Nerdlocker

7 years after the release of their blockbuster film, 300, the studio finally released the long anticipated sequel on March 7 of this year. The film was initially scheduled to be released last August, but due to unknown circumstances, the film was pushed back to March of this year. Based on Frank Miller’s yet to be published graphic novel Xerxes, the film tells a story of Greek general Themistokles, and his charge against the Persian forces led by Xerxes and Artemisia. Zack Synder, who directed the first film in the series, served as the writer and producer for this film. [12]

As of April, the film has grossed over $300 million on a $110 million budget. 67.9% of the total gross comes from the international market. Compared to its predecessors, the film is not as successful, but still on a good track thanks to the international market. On the critic side, the film had a similar average review score with its predecessor, scoring 48 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Fans of the first film have criticized the storyline, but praised the visual style. [13] [14]

86th Academy Awards

Courtesy of International Business Times

In addition to the financial success for Warner Brothers Pictures, the studio also collected 21 nominations at the 86th Academy Awards, personal best for Warner Brothers. Gravity, which was released last October, tied with American Hustle for most nominations. By the end of the night, Gravity won seven awards, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron, who was the first Hispanic director to ever win in the category. Spike Jonze’ Her also received 5 nominations, including Best Picture. The film eventually won Best Writing for an original screenplay. The studio won a total of 10 Oscars by the end of the night. [15]

Financial

In 2013, Warners Brothers Pictures had the most successful theatrical year in company history, taking the number one spot in domestic, international and worldwide box office. The studio cumulated $1.893 billion in domestic box office, and $3.145 in international box office, surpassing the $5 billion mark, which is the first for the studio and only the second time that the feat has been achieved by any studio in Hollywood. Bolstered by the successes of films like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Gravity, and Man of Steel, Warners Brothers was able to beat other major competitors like Disney. [1] [16] [17]

Coming Soon…

Warner Brothers Pictures will be releasing Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, and directed by cinematographer, Wally Pfister, making his directional debut. Pfister is a usual collaborator of Christopher Nolan, known for The Dark Knight and Inception. As of now, the critical reception has mostly been negative, which can greatly impact the box office result. Hoping to continue their success from last year, they will be releasing more blockbusters as we approach the summer season. Godzilla, Edge of Tomorrow and Jupiter Ascending are other films that are slated to be released later this year. [18]

Sources

[1] Warner Bros. Pictures

[6] The Hobbit Box Office Mojo

[7] The Hobbit Metacritic

[8] The LEGO Movie IMDB

[9] Cinema Blend, The LEGO Movie Sequel

[10] The LEGO Movie Metacritic

[11] The LEGO Movie Box Office Mojo

[12] 300: Rise of an Empire on IMDB

[13] 300: Rise of an Empire Box Office Mojo

[14] 300: Rise of an Empire Metacritic

[15] The Hollywood Reporter Oscar Coverage

[16] Warner Bros. Leads Global Market Share

[17] Comingsoon.net Warner Bros. Pictures 2013 Box Office

[18] Deadline Hollywood coverage on WonderCon

Warner Bros. Pictures

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Jacob Tobias

By Jacob Tobias

Warner Brothers Pictures Logo [1]

History

Warner Brothers Pictures was founded on April 4, 1923. Since then Warner Brothers has been at the forefront of the movie industry. Founded by the 4 Warner brothers, Albert, Sam, Harry, and Jack, Warner Brothers quickly became a leader in motion pictures. Warner Brothers Pictures is responsible for Oscar winners such as, Casablanca, My Fair Lady, Driving Miss Daisy, and Million Dollar Baby. Warner Brothers Pictures is consistently a leader in the film industry. [2]

Key Executives

Kevin Tsujihara
Courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter [3]

Barry M. Meyer
Courtesy of thezog [4]

Greg Silverman
Courtesy of Deadline [5]

Kevin Tsujihara is the CEO of Warner Brothers. Barry M. Meyer is the chairman of Warner Brothers, and under his leadership consistently ranks as one of the strongest and most profitable studios in the film industry. Greg Silverman is the President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production for Warner Brothers Pictures. Silverman oversees the creative development and the budget for Warner Brothers Pictures.[6] [7] [8]

Financials

In 2012 Warner Brothers Pictures grossed $1.66 billion domestically, and another $2.67 billion internationally. It was the twelfth consecutive year in which the domestic box office, as well as the international box office has exceeded the billion dollar mark. In 2013 Warner Brothers is expected to cross the billion dollar mark again thanks to blockbusters such as Gravity, which has exceeded $500 million worldwide, Man of Steel, which has totaled about $663 million worldwide, We’re The Millers, which has totaled $266 million worldwide, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is projected to earn approximately $230 million domestically. This continued success should have Warner Brothers Pictures above the $4 billion dollar mark worldwide by the end of the year. [9] [10]

Recent Releases

Gravity

Gravity Poster
Courtesy of comingsoon.net [14]

Gravity is a space thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film follows the struggle of a medical engineer and an astronaut after they are stranded in space after an accident. [11]

Gravity opened in 3,575 theaters on October 4, 2013 to a number one ranking at the box office. It raked in $55, 785,112 during the opening weekend. It has gone on to make $240, 379, 710 domestically and another $275,200,000 in the foreign box office. That totals a gross of $515, 579,710 worldwide approximately five times its projected budget. [12]

Gravity has received universal acclaim and received a score of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic. Along with the incredible success in the box office there is also a lot of Oscars buzz surrounding the film. Critics believe that Gravity will receive a nomination for best picture, and may receive several other nominations as well, including a nomination for Best Actress for Sandra Bullock. [11] [13]

We’re The Millers

We’re The Millers
Courtesy of impawards.com [15]

We’re The Millers is the story of a drug dealer who creates a pseudo family in order to smuggle drugs across the Mexican border. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the film stars Jason Sudeikis, and Jennifer Aniston. [16]

We’re The Millers opened on August 7, 2013 and grossed $26, 419,396 the opening weekend. The film is still in select theaters around the country and currently the film has grossed $150, 024,262 domestically and another $116,300,000 in the foreign box office. [17]

Overall the film was not warmly received by critics. We’re The Millers received a Metacritic score of 44 out of 100. Although critic reviews were mostly mixed the imdb rating for the film is 7.1 stars out of 10. Clearly the target demographic of the film received the film much better than critics. Considering the mixed reviews the film still did extremely well for the studio, grossing over $250 million worldwide.

Upcoming Projects

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster Courtesy of collier.com

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster
Courtesy of collider.com [18]

On December 13, 2013, Warner Brothers will release the second installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. The film is projected to make about $230 million domestically, not quite as high as the first film, but still a good number for the studio. In 2014, Warner Brothers will release the third film of the trilogy, The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Although the reception for the first film was not overwhelming the studio is hoping that the return of familiar faces from The Lord of the Rings will aide in The Hobbits release. [10]

Although the first film made over $300 million, Warner Brothers has been working hard to market Gandalf, and Legolas, as well as the dragon Smaug, in an attempt to avoiding losing out on Lord of the Rings fans who did not enjoy the first film. The studio is hoping that the return of such characters will provide a breath of fresh air for the trilogy and will bring in more than the projected sum of $230 million. [10]

Superman vs Batman

Warner Brothers owns DC Comics so there has been a ton of success with both the Batman

Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck
Courtesy of Vulture [19]

and Superman franchises. The Dark Knight trilogy was wildly successful for the studio, and in 2013 Man of Steel was released. In the second installment of the Superman franchise Warner Brothers has brought together the man of steel and the caped crusader.

Ben Affleck has been cast as the newest Batman to star alongside Henry Cavill. The casting has come with major scrutiny. Director Zack Synder has given his full support to Affleck and is excited for the opportunity to work with him. The film is set to debut in the summer of 2015, and aims to piggyback off the success of the several DC Comics franchises. [20]

Grudge Match

Grudge Match Poster
Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly [21]

Grudge Match, is the story of two aging boxing rivals who fight 30 years after their last bout. It is the first time that Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone share the big screen. Grudge Match has an excellent cast and there is talk that it may be this years Silver Linings Playbook.

Grudge Match exemplifies Warner Brothers ability to produce movies with star power and the studio is hoping that Grudge Match could be the feelgood movie of the holiday season. It is to be released on Christmas Day. [22] [23]

Sources

[1] Warner Brothers Pictures Logo

[2] Warner Brothers Company History

[3] Kevin Tsujihara Picture – Hollywood Reporter

[4] Barry M. Meyer Picture- Who Controls Hollywood

[5] Greg Silverman Picture- Deadline

[6] Kevin Tsujihara Bio- Warner Brothers

[7] Barry M. Meyer Bio- Warner Brothers

[8] Greg Silverman Bio- Warner Brothers

[9] About Warner Brothers Pictures

[10] Box Office Mojo- Holiday Predictions

[11] Gravity- Imdb