expects<\/a> the acquisition will close in 12-18 months.\n <\/p>\n\n Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the five big Hollywood studios, which include Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Studios.\n <\/p>\n
\n Warner Bros. Pictures was founded in 1923 by brothers Harry, Albert, Samuel and Jack Warner. It now operates on a 110-acre lot in Burbank, California.\n <\/p>\n
\n Here\u2019s a brief look at Warner Bros.\u2019 102-year history.\n <\/p>\n
\n The studio\u2019s first official release was a silent drama, \u201cMain Street,\u201d in 1923.\n <\/p>\n
\n The brothers eventually invested in sound using the vitaphone, starting with \u201cDon Juan\u201d (1926) with a synchronized score, and eventually \u201cThe Jazz Singer\u201d (1927), the first film with synchronized dialogue.\n <\/p>\n
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\n The 1929 musical \u201cOn With the Show!\u201d was the first all-talking color feature, and the second color movie released by Warner Bros.\n <\/p>\n
\n Warner Bros. produced about 100 motion pictures annually by the 1930s and controlled 360 theatres in the United States.\n <\/p>\n
\n In 1930, the short, animated \u201cLooney Tunes\u201d films were created to compete with Walt Disney. And Warner Bros. became well-known for releasing gangster films, including 1931\u2019s \u201cThe Public Enemy\u201d and \u201cLittle Caesar.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n Warner Bros. also owns the rights to MGM classics, like 1939\u2019s \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d and \u201cGone with the Wind.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n World War II served as a backdrop for many films during the 1940s, which included the acclaimed romantic war drama, \u201cCasablanca.\u201d Its wide release kicked off in January 1943 and was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.\n <\/p>\n
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\n Warner Bros. continued to release hits, like \u201cA Streetcar Named Desire\u201d (1951), \u201cEast of Eden\u201d (1955), \u201cRebel Without a Cause\u201d (1955), \u201cMy Fair Lady\u201d (1964) and \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virgina Woolf\u201d (1966).\n <\/p>\n
\n And in 1955, Warner Bros. expanded into television with rotating shows, including the westerns \u201cCheyenne\u201d (1955-1962) and \u201cMaverick\u201d (1957-1962), and the detective drama \u201c77 Sunset Strip\u201d (1958-1964).\n <\/p>\n
Crime, horror and drama adaptations<\/p>\n
\n In 1967, the company was acquired by Elliot and Ken Hyman, becoming Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. That same year, it released the gangster classic \u201cBonnie and Clyde.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n The studio would later release \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d (1973), \u201cBlade Runner\u201d (1982) and \u201cThe Color Purple\u201d (1985).\n <\/p>\n
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\n Warner Bros. also kicked off various film series, such as \u201cDirty Harry\u201d in 1971, which ended in 1988 with its fifth film, \u201cThe Dead Pool.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was bought by Kinney National Company in 1969, and was renamed Warner Communications Inc. Kinney also owned National Periodical Publications, which is now known as DC Comics.\n <\/p>\n
![\"Warner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/shutterstock-editorial-5885438al-copy.jpg\")
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\n Warner Bros. released \u201cSuperman\u201d in 1978 and then \u201cBatman\u201d 11 years later. Sequels followed, as would revivals decades later.\n <\/p>\n
\n Director James Gunn is leading a reboot of the DC Universe, most recently with the July remake of \u201cSuperman.\u201d A sequel to \u201cThe Batman\u201d (2022) is expected to be released in 2027.\n <\/p>\n
\n In 1980, Warner Bros. released the psychological horror film \u201cThe Shining,\u201d and in 1981, it released the Olympic sport drama, \u201cChariots of Fire.\u201d Warner Bros.\u2019 diversified slate in the 1980s included \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s Vacation\u201d (1983), \u201cOnce Upon a Time in America\u201d (1984), \u201cPee-Wee\u2019s Big Adventure\u201d (1985) and \u201cThe Lost Boys\u201d (1987).\n <\/p>\n
\n Warner Bros. movie and television studio merged with Time Inc. in 1989 to form Time Warner. Some of the company\u2019s television networks included HBO, CNN, TBS, TNT, the Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies. In 2000, America Online merged with Time Warner in a $350 billion deal \u2014 the largest merger in American business history and one that ultimately proved to be a failure.\n <\/p>\n
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\n In 1999, the studio released \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d which was followed by three sequels, and \u201cPokemon: The First Movie,\u201d which included two sequels from Warner Bros.\n <\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, upstart Netflix entered the scene in 1997 as a DVD-rental service. In 2007, Netflix developed a streaming service and in 2012 launched its first original series, \u201cLilyhammer.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
![\"J.K.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mcdhapo-ec057.jpg\")
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\n In 2001, Warner Bros released \u201cHarry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone,\u201d the highest-grossing movie of the year, and released seven more \u201cHarry Potter\u201d movies, wrapping up the franchise in 2011 with \u201cHarry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSex and the City\u201d (1998-2004), \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d (1999-2007), \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d (2011-2019), and \u201cSuccession\u201d (2018-2023) were just some of HBO\u2019s hit programs.\n <\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-51092892-copy.jpg\")
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\n In 2018, AT&T completed an $85-billion acquisition of Time Warner, and four years later, Warner Bros. Discovery was formed with the merger of AT&T\u2019s WarnerMedia unit and Discovery.\n <\/p>\n
\n Along with the over 100-year library of films, Netflix also stands to gain from some of the Warner Bros. films released this year, including \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d the top-grossing domestic movie of the year, and the surprise hit \u201cSinners.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix announced Friday that it has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s film studio and HBO assets, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-334849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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