New Line Cinema

Background
New Line Cinema (also known as "New Line Productions, Inc." and formerly known as "New Line Cinema Corporation") originally started in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, as an indie/low-budget film studio. They did not use a logo until the early 1970s. New Line was acquired by Turner Broadcasting on January 28, 1994; both merged with Time Warner on October 10, 1996. In 2008, New Line became a genre and low-to-mid-budget unit of Warner Bros. Pictures, shutting down as an independent studio under Time Warner after CEO Jeff Bewkes fired Shaye and Lynne as a result of the American box office failure of The Golden Compass. The last movie produced by New Line Cinema as an independent company was The Final Destination.

1st Logo (1973-April 18, 1987)
Nicknames: "The (Creepy) Red Line", "A Nightmare on the New Line Street", "Flashes of Doom"

Logo: On a black background, a red line stretches out across the screen. It then "flashes" rapidly, seeming to vibrate and form more lines above. The lines eventually form the words "NEW LINE CINEMA", and when the text is completed the screen begins to flash red. When the flashing is finished, the logo is now red with black segmenting (a la the CBS/Fox logo), and the word "FROM" can be seen above and to the left of the logo. The logo is "wiped" away at the end.

Variants:
 * New Line used a different logo in print and at the end of trailers and movies from 1967 to 1987; it is the letters "NL" connected together. As far as we know, this was never used as an actual New Line logo.
 * There is also a high-contrast version with a dark blue background and "FROM NEW LINE CINEMA" in pink.
 * A black and white version can be found on Reefer Madness (A.K.A. Tell Your Children).

Closing Variants:
 * There is an ending variant with just the print logo, which says: "FROM NEW LINE CINEMA" and the "NL" combination. This appears at the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.

FX/SFX: The "flashing" and the line effects.

Music/Sounds: None. On Toei productions (such as The Streetfighter and Bronson Lee, Champion), it would use the second half of the specialized theme that played over the Toei logo. Strangely, The Streetfighter's Last Revenge (at least the Wizard Video release) uses an edited version of the second half of the specialized jingle from The Streetfighter.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on the first two Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Strangely, this is seen on the 1999 and 2005 DVDs of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (which originally used the next logo). This was also used on the first Critters movie, as well as Xtro. Early prints of Alone in the Dark didn't have any logo. The 1980 MGM/CBS release of The Streetfighter and the 1982 Wizard Video release of The Streetfighter's Last Revenge use this logo, but not the 1981 MGM/CBS release of Return of the Streetfighter. It is also featured on the 1987 HBO/Cannon Video release of The Evil Dead, though is completely absent on recent releases of said film; it is unknown if it's intact on the original Thorn EMI Video release or the Congress Video reprint. It is also unknown if this appears at the start of the 1978 Media Home Entertainment releases of Tell Your Children (under the title Reefer Madness), Night of the Living Dead (which was in the public domain), and Magical Mystery Tour (New Line during the '70s distributed all three in theaters), as well as the 1985 Media Home Entertainment release of the first mentioned film. The high-contrast version can be seen on a VHS of the 1976 version of The Cars That Ate Paris, as well as the Magnetic Video release of The Seduction of Mimi. This is also intact on the Image Entertainment DVD of Quiet Cool after the 4th logo, as well as the 1984 Warner clamshell of Hurray for Betty Boop. This can also be found on the Vestron Video CED and Media Home Entertainment VHS of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it is unknown if it is kept on the Wizard Video VHS. It is also unknown if this is seen on the Lightning Video VHS of the 1984 thriller Blind Date, the Media Home Entertainment VHS of Creepers (The cut version of Dario Argento's Phenomena) or the Wizard Video VHS of Mountain of the Cannibal God (AKA: Slave of the Cannibal God). It is confirmed to be on the Shout! Factory release of The Streetfighter Trilogy. It may be seen on the Force Video VHS of Immoral Tales.

Editor's Note: A very grindhouse-esque logo. Not suitable for viewers that are prone to epilepsy.

2nd Logo (February 27/April 19-August 28, 1987)
Nicknames: "The Filmbox", "Box and Filmstrips", "The Ladder", "The Earlier Ladder", "The Original Filmbox", "New Line Filmbox"

Logo: On a black background, we see a box, connected with 2 filmstrips. It glows blue, and "NEW LINE CINEMA" is below, glowing in blue as well. Basically a still of the next logo, but the words are in black.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. This plasters the previous logo on the RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video release of Quiet Cool. This was originally used on the original theatrical release and TV spots of A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and appears on the 1987 Media Home Entertainment VHS and Laserdisc releases, as well as the 1999 New Line Home Video VHS release. This was also used on the RCA/Columbia release of My Demon Lover and the theatrical trailers of Critters 2 and Hairspray (1988 film). It may have also appeared on U.S. theatrical prints of Summer Night, but the IVE release doesn't use a logo, though the logo can be seen on the packaging.

Editor's Note: Because this was only used for a short time, it's probably a placeholder.

3rd Logo (August 28, 1987-April 26, 1995)
Nicknames: "The Filmbox II", "Box and Filmstrips II", "The Ladder II", "New Line Filmbox II"

Logo: On a blue/white ethereal background, a black box zooms and twirls from the screen. In the background, several filmstrips float by, as the box is connected by two filmstrips. One of the filmstrips attaches itself to the side of the box, and the other filmstrip tilts to half a right angle and attaches itself to the top right of the box. The background fades to black, with the box/ladder "glowing" blue at the end. The words "NEW LINE CINEMA" fade under the logo.

Variants:
 * Some showings in Australia have the preceding Roadshow Television logo morph into the black box in the beginning of the New Line logo.
 * Beginning around 1991, there is less of a glow around the box and filmstrips and it has a more purplish tone to it.
 * There is a 2.35 scope variant where it is cropped from the 1.85 aspect ratio. This appears on Glengarry Glen Ross.

Closing Variants:
 * The first closing variant is basically the same as the opening logo, except the box and filmstrips are in white. This appears on A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
 * The second closing variant shows "From" above the company name.
 * Starting around 1994, the "From" is gone, though there is space between the logo and company name.
 * Monkey Trouble shows an in-credit closing logo: "RELEASED BY NEW LINE CINEMA" with the box and filmbox logo next to it.

FX/SFX: The spinning box and filmstrip.

Music/Sounds: Usually none or the opening of the film. However, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child has a quiet flute and string jingle, bells and chimes. The Roadshow Television variant has an extended version of the 1992 Roadshow Entertainment jingle playing over it. On the Shout! Factory Blu-Ray of Man's Best Friend, it has the theme from the next logo, due to a reverse plaster.

Availability: Rare. Current prints of most films update it with the next logo, though older prints will have this logo. Notable examples include older prints of the fourth, fifth and sixth films of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. This can be found on all pre-2002 releases of the second and third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. The first film, however, deletes this and goes straight to the opening credits on most U.S. VHS & DVD releases, while the Blu-Ray of the second film contains the 4th logo (though it's retained on current international prints (except the 2006 Magixeyes VCD) after the 1981 20th Century Fox logo). The end variant can be found on The Mask, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Dumb and Dumber and Friday. This made its last appearance on North (most video releases omit it and go straight to the Columbia logo), but it was also seen on UK theatrical prints of The Mask, despite all home video releases using the next logo. This is retained on most home video releases of Drop Dead Fred such as the original 1991 LIVE Home Video VHS (later reissued by F.H.E. in 1996), the 2003 Artisan DVD (after the Artisan logo), the 2002 Universal DVD from the UK (after the 1997 Universal logo), and the UK 25th Anniversary Blu-ray from Final Cut Entertainment (after the 1990 Universal logo). However the original UK rental VHS of Drop Dead Fred edits this out and goes straight to the opening credits. It also appeared on the theatrical U.S. release of Babar: The Movie, but most home video releases delete this and go straight to the opening credits (the first VHS from Family Home Entertainment and possibly eOne's 2014 DVD release have the closing logo intact, however). The MGM DVD release of Amos & Andrew has this plastering the Columbia Pictures logo before going to the Castle Rock Entertainment logo. However, a 1998 MGM/UA Movie Time VHS and one On Demand print had the New Line, Columbia and Castle Rock logos present, while most HD streaming masters and the Olive Films Blu-ray have the 2012 MGM logo plastering over the New Line and Columbia logos. It also may have been seen on U.S. theatrical prints of Communion (1989), but the Canadian Cineplex Odeon and U.S. MCEG Virgin VHS skips the logo entirely, although it is on the packaging. This is also retained on the Shout! Factory Blu-Ray of The Lawnmower Man. Strangely, the opening variant appears after the closing variant on recent HBO airings of The Mask. Don't expect this to show up on the Cinetel Films they distributed into theaters.

Editor's Note: Very good 2D animation, albeit a little dated.

4th Logo (June 3, 1994-September 3, 2010)
Nicknames: "The CGI Filmbox", "The Filmbox III", "Box and Filmstrips III", "The CGI Ladder", "The Ladder III", "New Line Filmbox III"

Logo: A black box rotates out from an extreme close-up, with a blue light in the background. Various filmstrips zooms past the box as two more filmstrips rotate in, one attaching itself to the side of the box, and one attaching itself to the top-right to form the familiar logo. The blue light dies down to create a glowing effect around the "ladder" as "NEW LINE CINEMA" zooms-out from below in ITC Garamond Cond Book font. The respective company byline fades-in underneath.

Bylines:
 * July 29, 1994-November 18, 1994: "A TURNER Company"
 * December 16, 1994-June 25, 1997: "A Turner Company"
 * August 1, 1997-December 25, 2000, November 7, 2003: "A Time Warner Company"
 * January 26, 2001-October 17, 2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
 * December 17, 2003-September 3, 2010: "A TimeWarner Company"
 * At the end of some films, the logo is bylineless.

Variants:
 * From July 29, 1994 to November 18, 1994, a prototype variant of this logo was used. The differences are the light moves all around the logo, before settling into its usual place, and the New Line text zooms out with a trail effect (and starts out black before fading to white); the finished product looks very similar to the 3rd logo's finished product. The Turner byline is used here, sometimes chyroned in on some releases. This was used on The Endless Summer II (at least on the original Columbia Tristar Home Video VHS release, as well as the Turner Home Entertainment VHS reprint), The Mask, Corrina Corrina, Wes Craven's New Nightmare and The Swan Princess (the US theatrical release only, all home video copies in the United States plaster it over with the Nest Entertainment logo, though it's still intact on the UK Columbia/Tristar VHS/DVD as well as Hulu and TubiTV prints of the movie). The second version would make its debut on Dumb and Dumber, released on December 16, 1994.
 * There is a videotaped variation of this logo where the animation runs at a smoother, fast-paced frame rate. This can be seen on original VHS releases of Mortal Kombat, the 1997 VHS of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Now and Then.
 * On 3D movies, including Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Final Destination, the filmstrips, ladders, and text zoom-in.
 * At the end of some movies, such as Elf, the print logo is shown with the words "NEW LINE CINEMA" in a bold Times font to the right of it, and the TimeWarner byline below; this scrolls up with the credits.

Closing: The logo is white during the end of the credits on most releases.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A string fanfare composed by Michael Kamen. It begins with a high violin note that rapidly but calmly descends with many notes, ending with a quiet chime/string theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some movies, such as The Corruptor and the Blade movies, the opening theme of the movie plays over the logo.
 * On Don Juan DeMarco, the fanfare is higher-pitched.
 * On The Wedding Singer, there is a re-orchestrated and double-pitched version of the logo's theme, which echoes more and has a different flute note.
 * The theme is shortened on some movies.

Availability: Common. Much more prolific than their past logos, given their higher-profile status thanks to the Turner and Time Warner acquisitions. The version with the Turner byline is a hard find, but not too hard. Turner-era New Line Home Video releases can still be found on the markets, if you look harder enough. Newer issues of Turner-era releases update the Turner byline with a Time Warner byline, which would become major in the near future. This logo has even been sighted plastering the 1987 logo on several films. Such examples include HBO's print of Drop Dead Fred, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and current prints of the Nightmare On Elm Street series. The prototype version can be found on the aforementioned movies above. The second version with the Turner byline can be seen on the films Seven, Mortal Kombat, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Friday, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Dumb and Dumber. Also seen on some video games based on New Line Cinema properties, mainly the Lord of the Rings franchise. This precedes the 1st logo on the Image Entertainment DVDs of Quiet Cool and Xtro, but many DVD releases are updating this logo with the 2003 version. It appears on the Canadian C/FP Video release of The Basketball Diaries, a co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment; don’t expect it on the PolyGram Video and Palm Pictures releases, as they only start with the Island Pictures logo. Debuted on The Mask and was last seen on Going the Distance.

Editor's Note: The definitive New Line Cinema logo, due to its longevity, its effectiveness as an ident, and its prevalence.

5th Logo(January 28, 2011- )
Nicknames: "The WB/New Line Combo", "The Transition", "The WB Shield/New Line Filmbox Transformation", "The WB/New Line Transition", "The CGI Filmbox II", "The Filmbox IV", "The Golden Filmbox", "Box and Filmstrips IV", "The CGI Ladder II", "The Ladder IV", "New Line Filmbox IV", "Golden New Line Filmbox"

Logo: We travel through the clouds to see the 1998 Warner Bros. shield, with the banner on it reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and the standard Time Warner/WarnerMedia byline fading in below, both zooming in toward the screen. The shield then breaks up into pieces, leaving the blue part of the shield and the byline. We pan from a day sky to a cloudy night sky. The gold pieces turn into the filmstrips and squares (now rounded at the edges) of the New Line logo while all the letters of "NEW LINE CINEMA", in a stylized flat font, appears flipping in. Also, parts of the WB shield appear in the filmstrips and squares for 3 seconds. The logo shines and the Warner byline fades in below.

Bylines:
 * January 28, 2011-June 15, 2018: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its own logo font, with "A" and "Company" in FF Meta typeface)
 * September 7, 2018-: "A WARNERMEDIA Company" (with "WARNERMEDIA" in its own logo font, with "A" and "Company" in AT&T Aleck Sans Light)
 * 2019 (tentative): "a WARNERMEDIA company"

Variants:
 * At the end of Dumb and Dumber To, a still shot of the logo is used.
 * On The Nun (the first movie to use the WarnerMedia byline) and The Curse of La Llorona, we fade into the zooming cloud background first. Then, the Warner Bros. shield fades in and the animation continues as usual. The entire logo is tinted in a dark greyish blue.

Closing: See Warner Bros. Pictures.

FX/SFX: The WB shield breaking up and forming the NLC logo. Amazing CGI with a great day into night transition, created by Picture Mill.

Music/Sounds: Usually none or the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * New Year's Eve has a custom fanfare which syncs up to the animation.
 * On If I Stay, the WB/New Line themes play for their respective logos, with the New Line theme being abridged.

Availability: Common. Can be seen on all New Line releases since The Rite in 2011, all distributed by Warner Bros. (since 2008, New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of Warner Bros., hence the WB shield in the beginning). The still version can be seen after the end credits on Dumb and Dumber To. The WarnerMedia byline first appeared on the trailer for Shazam!, while the fully animated version first appeared on The Nun.

Editor's Note: While not as popular as the previous logo, this logo has garnered a following over the years that it's been used.