Warner Bros. Pictures Is an American Film Production And Distribution Company Of The Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Division Of Warner Bros. Entertainment (Both Ultimately Owned By Warner Bros. Discovery). The Studio Is The Flagship Producer Of Live-Action Feature Films Within The Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Unit, And It Based At The Warner Bros. Studios Complex In Burbank California. Animated Films Produced By Warner Bros. Pictures Animation Are Also Released Under The Studio Banner.
Founded In April 4, 1923 By Brothers Harry Warner, Albert Warner, Sam Warner, And Jack L. Warner, In Addition To Producing It Own Films, It Handles Filmmaking Operations, Theatrical Distribution, Marketing And Promotion For Films Produced And Released By Other Warner Bros. Labels, Inculding Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, New Line Cinema DC Studios, And Castle Rock Entertainment, As Well As Various Third-Party Producers.
Warner Bros. Pictures Is Currently One Of Five Live-Action Film Studios Within The Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, The Others Being New Line Cinema, DC Studios, Castle Rock Entertainment, And A Minority Stake In Spyglass Media Group. The Most Commercially Successful Film Series From Warners Include Harry Poter, DC Universe (Formerly DC Extended Universe), Batman, The Lord Of The Rings, And Monsterverse; Barbie Is The Studio's Highest-Grossing Film Worldwide With $1.4 Billion.
History.
The Studio's Predecessor (And The Modern-Day Warner Bros Entertainment As A Whole) Was Founded As The Warner Features Company In New Castle, Pennsylvania, By Filmmaker Sam Warner And His Business Partners And Brothers, Harry, Albert, And Jack, In 1911. They Produced Their First Film, The Peril Of The Plains In 1912, Which Sam Directed For The St. Louis Motion Picture Company. In 1915, Sam And Jack Moved To California To Establish Their Production Studio, While Albert And Harry On July 8, 2015, Set Up Corporation To Release The Films. In 1918, During WW1, To Kickstart Their Business, The Four Warner Brothers Chose To Produce An Adaptation Of The Book My Four Years In Germany By James W. Gerard To Be Their First Full-Scale Picture, As They Were Considered By The Sensitivity Of Both The Content And The War For Their First Production At The Time. The War Film Was A Box Office Hit And Helped The Brothers Establish Themselves As A Prestige Studio.
On April 4, 1923, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. Was Officially Established As Their Main Focus Was Entirely On The Motion Picture Industry. In 1927, Warner Bros. Pictures Revolutionized The Film Industry When The American-Jewish Warner Brothers Released Their First Pictures ''Talkie'' The Jazz Singer Starring Al Jolson. However, Founding Member Sam Warner Died Prior To The Premiere Of The Film. When The Company Diversified Over The Years, It Was Eventually Rebranded To It's Current Umbrella Name, But Warner Bros. Pictures Continued To Be Used As The Name Of The Film Production Arm Of The Company.
The Studio Has Released Twenty-Five Films That Have Received An Academy Award For Best Picture Nomination: Disraeli (1929), I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932), 42nd Street (1933), Here Comes The Navy (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), The Life Of Emile Zola (1937), The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938), Four Daughters (1938), Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), To Name A Few.
In The Aftermath Of The 1948 Antitrust Suit, Uncertain Times Led Warner Bros. In 1956 To Sell Most Of It's Pre-1950 Films And Cartoons To Associated Artists Productions. 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 UA.
In November 1986, Jack Gave In To Advancing Age And Changing Times, Selling 32% Of The Studio And Music Business To Seven Arts Productions, Run By Canadian Investors Elliot And Kenneth Hyman, For $32 Million. Eventually, The Company, Including The Studio, Was Renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts On July 14, 1967
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.
In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System Acquired MGM. Finding Itself In Debt, Turner Kept The Pre-May 1986 MGM Film And Television Libraries And A Small Portion Of The UA Library (Including The a.a.p Library And North American Rights To The RKO Radio Pictures Library) While Spinning Off The Rest Of MGM.
In 1989, Warner Communications Acquired Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation And Merged With Time Inc. To Form Time Warner (Now Warner Bros. Discovery). Lorimar's Catalouge 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 And New Line Cinema On January 28, 1994. On October 10, 1996, Time Warner Entertainment Acquired Turner Broadcasting System, Thus Bringing Warner Bros.'s Pre-1950 Library Back Home. In Addition, Warner Bros. Only Owns Castle Rock Entertainment's Post-1994 Library.