Sad news for the mini-major world of independent Hollywood, as Warner Bros has decided to shut down Picturehouse, the art-house/indie/foreign arm of New Line. But the bigger news is that WB also decided to close Warner Independent Pictures. The real problem is that the two companies had yet to find out a way to make a profit. So not only was Funny Games one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but it’s also partly responsible for the death of a good mini-major. I’m not quite sure if this means that Warner Bros/New Line is out of the art-house/indie/foreign business, or if they will continue to distribute/produce those type of films under the Warner Bros brand/arm? It sounds like New Line might go on to represent lower budget genre films.
In a statement, Alan Horn, president & COO of Warner Bros. said, “With New Line now a key part of Warner Bros., we’re able to handle films across the entire spectrum of genres and budgets without overlapping production, marketing and distribution infrastructures. After much painstaking analysis, this was a difficult decision to make, but it reflects the reality of a changing marketplace and our need to prudently run our businesses with increased efficiencies. We’re confident that the spirit of independent filmmaking and the opportunity to find and give a voice to new talent will continue to have a presence at Warner Bros.”
Picturehouse had made a name for itself in recent years with films like The Orphanage, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Rocket Science, Pan’s Labyrinth, and A Prairie Home Companion.
Warner Indepedent Pictures filmography includes: Before Sunset, March of the Penguins, Good Night, and Good Luck., The Science of Sleep, A Scanner Darkly, The Painted Veil and In the Valley of Elah, among many others.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:48 am
omg. this sucks
May 8th, 2008 at 11:55 am
such bullshit.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Goodbye good movies
(this excludes Funny Games)
May 8th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I just realized 2046 came from Picturehouse.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
This does suck.
Not a big surprise though is it? Doesn’t the reality of the cinema world dictate that the smaller “independents” (whatever that means anymore) always struggle in the face of bloated, lumbering, imitative films. These are same films that make the major studios money..so they can make more lumbering, bloated, imitative films.
We have all been eating Hollywood excrement for so long we now debate what type of Hollywood excrement tastes better.
So when does “Captain America” come out anyway?
May 8th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
i’m trying to remember a film that had me hate its characters as much as i did in funny games. i wanted to cut the smirks off mike pitt & his partner so bad! is that a success of the film? maybe, but more likely that its just an irritating film. bummer about the shutdown.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
The fact that people here and the article believe Funny Games is a terrible movie shows that none of you have an education in film whatsoever. It’s really sad that the movie was well above any of your heads. I would actually be more upset that this move from Warner Bros is solidifying the fact that we may never see the movie Trick R Treat.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Patrick: The fact of the matter is that the movie ruined an entire studio. It’s boring, elitist, and worst of all, a story not worth telling. Any screenwriter will tell you that introducing a fantastical device late into the second act is a huge cheat. I can respect what the film is trying to say, but as a movie, it fails.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Peter: How did one movie ruined an entire studio ?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I’m exaggerating slightly, but to be honest. The film cost around $20 million, and the studio spent a lot more money on marketing the film. So who knows what the total investment was. The box office was only slightly over the $1.2million mark. A loss of tens of millions of dollars in an arthouse division is huge. And I’m sure the resulting bottom line lead to Warner Bros closing he curtain on the studio.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.Damn.
Well, the indie spirit still soars, despite this blow.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
This is bullshit. Picturehouse was the best.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
@Nathan
2046 was Sony Pictures Classics
May 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I have to say I disagree about Funny Games; I think it was misunderstood. I have studied horror films, and I have to say it was one of the best I have ever seen. The editing and cinematography were very intelligent, not to mention the wonderful acting. The film questions the use of violence in the media and its relationship with violence in real life; it is not simply violent to be violent. I have to say I loved it.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Blaming “Funny Games” for the closure of the independant studio is ridiculous.
I guess since it didn’t have a man in a robot suit flying around to draw in the overweight and brain dead crowds, it was doomed for failure.
We must make sure that no more of these “elitist” films ruin our precious film studios.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Pill: Look at the numbers, Funny Games was a HUGE loss for a small division. And no, films don’t need to be Iron Man to be entertaining or profitable. I could point out countless indies which were both. The big problem is marketing the unmarketable. And bad word of mouth also doesn’t help.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
If a studo has put themselves in a position where their future is teetering on the performance of a single film, then I would be pointing my finger at the studo execs. In their own admittance, they haven’t managed to make a profit.
Your article also seems vindictive, you mention your dislike of Funny Games and its responsibility for the closure of Warner Independent in the same sentence.
I’m sure all of this has nothing to do with such BRILLIANT films as Chaos Theory (made less then its budget), In the Valley of Elah (made less then its budget), December Boys (made less then its budget), etc. Trying to point the blame at a single film is exactly what I said before, ridiculous.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Funny Games was a psychological test on the public from what I hear. The problem was that it was run at the wrong time for a studio that needed money not an evaluation.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Pill: the Valley of Elah was made for $23 million and made $27.2M worldwide at the box office and $20.6 million on DVD. Chaos Theory just came out, so who know if it might be able to recover some of its investment overseas and on home video. Sure, Funny Games hasn’t hit DVD yet either, but it did fail overseas. I wouldn’t expect it to make that much on home video. The difference betwen Chaos Theory and Funny Games is that the studio invested a lot more in production budget and promotion, and the loss is tens of millions of dollars.
Funny Games was a failure in every respect: Financially, critically (40-something percent on metacritic), and it failed to connect with audiences.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Mentioning DVD sales in comparison to a film that hasn’t been release on DVD yet is pointless. In its theatrical run, Valley of Elah underperformed. Granted, not as much as Funny Games, but it still didn’t make a profit.
My point is, that there is a loooong line of missteps by Warner Independant.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Mmm…..
Feel like I took that a little too personal. sucks about the studios though. I’m sure there will be other outlets for good independent/foreign films. Can’t keep a good film down.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Peter: I think it is simply incorrect to blame the closure of Warner Independent on Funny Games.
They didn’t actually produce the film, they only bought the distribution rights to it in the US and three other countries (Australia, Spain and France).
So whilst it was obviously a financial disappointment for them, I don’t think this is a similar situation to say, Heaven’s Gate causing the demise of United Artists.
The fact that Warner Bros want to scale back, save money and focus on more mainstream fare would appear to be the real reasons Warner Independent and Picturehouse are shutting down.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Ambrose: Without Funny Games, the bottom line of the last year looks half as bad. Would that have been enough to save the studio? Who knows.