New Line Cinema was founded in 1967 and is now one of the major American film studios. It is a subsidiary of Time Warner. New Line Cinema operates several divisions, including theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, and a unit specializing in independent film called Picturehouse with fellow Time Warner subsidiary HBO.
Unlike other independent studios such as Orion Pictures, Carolco Pictures, or Cannon Films, New Line Cinema has grown and prospered to become one of Hollywood’s major film studios, culminating in the hit The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that brought added prestige to the studio. Prior to this, New Line was responsible for the cult classic Dark City, the hit Austin Powers films, and the fantasy Pleasantville. One of the company’s early successes was its distribution of the parodic 1936 anti-pot propaganda film Reefer Madness, which became a cult hit on American college campuses in the early 1970s. A Nightmare on Elm Street was New Line’s first commercially-successful series, leading the company to be nicknamed “The House that Freddy Built”.
In 1994, New Line Cinema was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System, which then merged with Time Warner in 1996.