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. Their most successful films are The Lord of the Rings trilogy released in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively. 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 Semi-Pro.

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

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 Video 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).
 * On some scope films, the logo is stretched to 2:35:1.
 * On The Kitchen, in keeping with said film taking place in the 1970s, the WarnerMedia byline appears on the bottom-right corner.

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 Company 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), and Night of the Living Dead (which was in the public domain), as well as the 1985 Media Home Entertainment release of the first mentioned film. It does not appear on the Media release of Magical Mystery Tour. 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 genre. The ugly font, red/black color scheme, and flashing are likely to put some viewers off. Not suitable for viewers that are prone to epilepsy.

2nd Logo (February 27/April 19-August 28, 1987)
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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)
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Logo: On a {{Font color|blue|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" {{Font color|blue|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 {{Font color|purple|purplish}} tone to it.
 * There is a 2.35:1 scope variant where it is cropped from the 1.85:1 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 still leftover 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 with bells and chimes. The Roadshow Television variant has an extended version of the 1992 Village Roadshow/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 without "From" can be found on The Mask, Corrina, Corrina, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Dumb and Dumber and Friday. This logo made its last appearance on Corrina, Corrina, though it is plastered on early home media releases with 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, and the Warner Archive Blu-ray of The Hidden. 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 (October 14, 1994-September 3, 2010)
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Nicknames: "The CGI Filmbox", "The Filmbox III", "Box and Filmstrips III", "The CGI Ladder", "The Ladder III", "New Line Filmbox III" "90s/2000s Filmbox"

Logo: Essentially a CGI redux of the previous logo. A black box rotates out from an extreme close-up, with a {{Font color|blue|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 {{Font color|blue|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 (alongside a line above).

Bylines:
 * October 14, 1994-November 18, 1994: "A TURNER Company" (in Helvetica; there is no line above the text)
 * December 16, 1994-June 25, 1997: "A Turner Company" (in Helvetica, it appears chyroned in since it fades out before the rest of the logo)
 * August 1, 1997-December 25, 2000, November 7, 2003: "A Time Warner Company" (in Helvetica Condensed)
 * January 26, 2001-October 17, 2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company" (in Times New Roman, earlier films may have a smaller byline)
 * December 17, 2003-September 3, 2010, March 31-August 20, 2016, December 7, 2016: "A TimeWarner Company" ("TimeWarner" is in the corporate font while "A" and "Company" are in FF Meta)

Variants:
 * From October 14 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 (in Times New Roman Condensed) 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 may or may not have been a placeholder logo, but it was only used on Wes Craven's New Nightmare (although newer prints plaster it with the 2003 version) 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). However, this version was also used to plaster the 1987 logo 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 (although some earlier theatrical releases used the 1987 logo), and Corrina, Corrina (on early home video releases, since newer releases restore the original 1987 logo). The second version would make its debut on Dumb and Dumber, released on December 16, 1994.
 * Earlier films from the Turner years shown in 1.85:1 aspect ratio have the logo more zoomed in. Also, the blue light has a larger "radius". Later 1.85 films used an open matte version, which is more zoomed out.
 * There are two variations of the 1997-2003 Time Warner byline:
 * The earlier variation essentially freezes the Turner version of the logo to hide the Turner byline (the shining animation on the filmbox and the blue rear smoke light stop if you look closely). Additionally, the size of the byline varies in this version and appears chyroned in. Debuted on Money Talks and made its final appearance on The Little Vampire, released on October 27, 2000. It was used in tandem with the next variation below.
 * The later variation slightly redid the logo to look more updated, thus no freeze frame was needed. The brightness and the lighting effects have been improved drastically. Additionally, the Time Warner byline has been redesigned to look less "chyroned in" and the logo also now fades out smoothly. Debuted on Blade (released on August 21, 1998), was used in tandem with the earlier variation at first, but afterwards was the version that New Line films used from that point onward (with the byline changes) until its last appearance in 2010.
 * However, if you look extremely carefully at the 2003 TimeWarner version, the shining effect continues but the light behind the filmbox freezes.
 * On Dog Park, the Time Warner byline is in Times New Roman, the same font that would later be used for the AOL Time Warner byline.
 * In the later years of its use, the logo seems to have gained hues of purple/pink.
 * 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 and older DVD releases of Mortal Kombat, the 1997 VHS of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Now and Then.
 * Depending on the quality of the print or the color grading, the logo may start out completely black, then reveal it is the box rotating, or may show a glossy surface before revealing the box. Usually, the logo had a generally darker shade during its earlier years.
 * On 3D movies, including Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Final Destination, a different logo is used where the filmstrips, ladders, and text zoom-in.
 * On the short-lived TV series adaptation of Rush Hour, the logo is shortened (beginning just as the byline fades in) and shares the screen with the RatPac Television logo.
 * On Hairspray Live!, the logo shares the screen with the Warner Bros. Television logo on a black background.

Closing Variants:
 * Earlier films that used this logo reused the previous closing logo.
 * At the end of later films released during the Turner era, it is the tail end of the animated opening logo without the Turner byline.
 * Starting from when the 1997 Time Warner byline was used, the logo is still and has the respective byline. Despite replacing the early TW variant as an opening logo, the later TW variant was almost never used as a closing logo, with most films released from 1998 to 2000 instead using the early TW variant at the end.
 * Some movies such as Elf have the print logo 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.
 * Some films may have the credit "A NEW LINE CINEMA RELEASE".

FX/SFX: CGI animation of the filmstrips and the box, and the zooming out of the text.

Music/Sounds: A beautiful 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.
 * Some earlier films with this logo contain a different orchestration of the fanfare that sounds slightly slowed down (New Line Home Entertainment and New Line Television continued to use this version until their demise). However, this is usually plastered with the standard fanfare on newer prints of such films.
 * On The Wedding Singer, there is a re-orchestrated and quadruple-pitched version of the logo's theme, which echoes more and has a different flute note (However, current prints use the standard version instead).
 * The theme is shortened on some movies.
 * On films that originally used the silent 1987 logo, either it is silent or it has the standard fanfare. Otherwise, it uses the opening theme.
 * On Don Juan Demarco, another different orchestration is used. The chimes when the text zooms out are more apparent, and the fanfare is doubled in pitch.
 * Strangely, recent prints of Jason X (2001) have a high-pitched version of this fanfare playing over the 2003 logo (plastering over the 2001 variation)
 * On current prints of The Mack (1973), the 2001 version has both normal and reorchestrated themes playing at the same time.

Availability: Common. Much more prolific than their past logos, given their higher-profile status thanks to the Turner and Time Warner acquisitions.


 * This logo debuted on Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and was last seen on Going the Distance.
 * The prototype version can be found on the aforementioned movies above.
 * The regular version with the Turner byline can be seen on 1994-1997 films such as Seven, Mortal Kombat, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Friday, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Dumb and Dumber (where it made its first appearance). It is a hard find, but not too hard. Turner-era New Line Home Video releases can still be found on the market if you look hard enough. Many newer issues of Turner-era releases replace the versions with the Turner byline with later variations having an AOL byline or Time Warner byline (whether the 1997 or 2003 one), although the bylineless closing logo is usually left unplastered.
 * The AOL Time Warner byline made its first appearance on Blow, and may also plaster the 1997-2000 Time Warner byline on later release prints of films released from late 2000-early 2001 aside from older films. Examples are Thirteen Days and Sugar and Spice.
 * Even the AOL Time Warner byline and the older Time Warner byline are plastered with the 2003 TimeWarner byline, most notably on Frequency, The Wedding Singer, recent releases of the extended editions of the first two Lord of the Rings films (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers), and on newer prints of Final Destination 2. That 2003 byline first appeared on the third film of the LOTR trilogy (The Return of the King), and was also the first overall usage of the 2003 TimeWarner byline until it was renamed to WarnerMedia.
 * This logo has even been sighted plastering the 1987 logo on several films. Such examples include home media releases of The Mask, early home video releases of Corrina, Corrina, HBO's print of Drop Dead Fred, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and current prints of the Nightmare On Elm Street series. 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.

Editor's Note: The definitive New Line Cinema logo, due to its longevity, its effectiveness as a logo, and its prevalence. However, as with the other TimeWarner properties, the version with the 2003 TimeWarner byline can be notorious to some due to it plastering the previous logos (and earlier variations of the same logo) on current releases of older films. Nonetheless, this is a favorite of many.

5th Logo (January 28, 2011-November 26, 2020)
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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", "The Warner Bros/New Line Logos", "Pre-Pentagram Filmbox", "2010s Filmbox", "Filmbox in the Night Sky", "Filmbox in the Sky"

Logo: We travel through the clouds to see the 1998 Warner Bros. Pictures shield, with the banner on it reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and the standard 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 behind, while the latter fades out. We then pan from a daytime sky to a cloudy night sky (with the sun being seen for a split-second) as the gold pieces from the shield turn into filmstrips and squares, now rounded at the edges, of the New Line filmbox logo (with the reflection of the WB shield in a few seconds when filmstrips and squares are forming the logo). Simultaneously, all the letters of "NEW LINE CINEMA", in a stylized flat font, appear flipping in. The logo shines, and the 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-November 26, 2020: "A WARNERMEDIA Company" (with "WARNERMEDIA" in its own logo font, with "A" and "Company" in AT&T Aleck Sans Light)

Variants:
 * At the end of Dumb and Dumber To, a still version is used.
 * On Isn't It Romantic, there is an error where one of the filmstrips' holes briefly disappears.
 * Few films (such as The Hobbit series) have a bannerless Warner Bros. shield not being reflected in the box and filmstrips.
 * On The Nun (the first movie to use the WarnerMedia byline), Annabelle Comes Home, 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 grayish green color. However, on the third title, once the NLC logo is done, we then pan down into the clouds to segue into the Atomic Monster logo.

Closing: See Warner Bros. Pictures.

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

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.

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

Availability: Common. Since 2008, New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of Warner Bros., hence the fact that the WB shield appears in the beginning. Nonetheless, it is seen on all releases from the studio from 2011 to 2020, starting with The Rite. A still version appears at the end of the said title mentioned above. The TimeWarner byline last appeared on Tag. In contrast, the WarnerMedia byline first appeared on the trailer for Shazam! and the fully animated version first appeared on The Nun. This does not appear on Creed II, as the standard Warner Bros. logo is used instead, and New Line only got a studio credit for said film. The last film to use this logo was Superintelligence.

Editor's Note: While not as popular as the previous logo, this logo has garnered a following over the years that it has been used. However, New Line Cinema would later carry their design over to the next logo, which is described below.

6th Logo (April 8, 2021-)
<youtube width="400" height="185">XUq2UGeLtZw Nicknames: "The WB/New Line Combo II", "The Transition II", "The WB Shield/New Line Filmbox Transformation II", "The WB/New Line Transition II", "The CGI Filmbox III", "The Filmbox V", "The White Filmbox", "Box and Filmstrips V", "The CGI Ladder III", "The Ladder V", "New Line Filmbox V", "The Warner Bros/New Line Logos II", "Pentagram Filmbox", "2020s Filmbox", "From Daytime to Sunset", "Filmbox in the Sunset Sky", "Filmbox in the Sky II"

Logo: Same concept as the previous logo, but the 2019 Warner Bros. Pictures shield and the 2021 logo background is now used instead. When we get closer to the shield, it shines, and in a similar fashion to the last logo, the shield breaks up to transform into the New Line Cinema logo on a more realistic sunset background (using the same design from before, but the line between the text and byline is removed), now in white this time to match with the 2019 WB shield with the white outline (as well as the reflection of the WB shield is removed in the New Line filmbox logo). The 2019 WarnerMedia byline fades in below (although much earlier this time just as it finishes forming).

Closing Variant: Same concept as the previous logo. See Warner Bros. Pictures.

Variant: A version exists where the logo doesn't fade in or fade out. This can be seen on Devastudios' website.

FX/SFX: Same as the last logo, but with updated visuals and effects. Awesome CGI done by Devastudios, who also worked on the other related on-screen 2021 WB logos. The clouds were done using Terragen from Planetside Software.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Brand new. First debuted on the trailers for Mortal Kombat (2021) and Those Who Wish Me Dead. It made its first appearance on the former film (albeit using a variant) and the standard version made its first appearance on the latter.

Editor's Note: A great update to the previous logo.