HOLLYWOOD - The movie studio which has produced film franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Austin Powers has merged with screen giants Warner Brothers.
New Line Cinema CEOs Bob Shye and Michael Lynne left the company on Thursday--as the 40-year-old studio was absorbed as a unit of Warner Bros.
Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes, New Line's corporate overlord, signaled the move might be likely earlier this month--but the news was broken in a memo to distraught employees shortly before an announcement to the press on Thursday, reports the New York Daily News.
New Line Cinema's releases will now be scaled back to focus on making the kind of smaller, low-cost horror and comedy pictures upon which it built its name.
Shye says, "(New Line) will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past.
"This is, of course, a very difficult and emotional time for all of us."
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