Founded: January 1, 2008
The WARNER BROS. PICTURES GROUP brings together the Studio’s motion picture production, marketing and distribution operations into a single entity. The Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures International, was formed to streamline the Studio’s film production process and bring those businesses’ organizational structures in line with Warner Bros.’ television and home entertainment operations.
In 2010, the Warner Bros. Pictures Group broke the all-time industry worldwide box office record with receipts of $4.814 billion, which surpassed the prior record of $4.010 billion (set by the Studio in 2009). Warner Bros. also established a new industry benchmark for the international box office with a total of $2.93 billion (marking a record third time of crossing the $2 billion threshold) and retained its leading domestic box office ranking with receipts of $1.884 billion. 2010 also marked the 10th consecutive year Warner Bros. Pictures passed the billion dollar mark at both the domestic and international box offices.
Warner Bros. Pictures produces and distributes a wide-ranging slate of some 18-22 films each year, employing a business paradigm that mitigates risk while maximizing productivity and capital. Warner Bros. Pictures either fully finances or co-finances the films it produces and maintains worldwide distribution rights. It also monetizes its distribution and marketing operations by distributing films that are totally financed and produced by others.
The Studio’s 2011 slate includes “The Hangover Part II,” “Green Lantern,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2,” “Happy Feet 2” and “Sherlock Holmes II.”
Warner Bros. Pictures International is a global leader in the marketing and distribution of feature films, operating offices in more than 30 countries and releasing films in over 120 international territories, either directly to theaters or in conjunction with partner companies and co-ventures.
The Warner Bros. Pictures Group also supports the Studio’s local-language film production initiative, in which Warner Bros. Pictures serves as a producer, production partner or distributor of local-language films in various countries around the world. In addition to promoting cultural diversity, a guiding principle behind this initiative is to employ local management and crews to produce films in a country’s native language, while working with the broadest range of in-country talent available. When applicable, the Studio commits its worldwide resources to exporting these films beyond their country of origin, bringing a “local” film to an international audience. To date, the Studio has released more than 200 of these indigenous-language films.