New Line Bites the Dust

New Line Cinema has reached the end of the line. Time Warner announced Thursday that it will merge the studio into Warner Bros. and lay off hundreds of employees, including Co-Chairmen and -CEOs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne. The company's plans were originally reported last month by L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke but were strenuously denied at the time by a New Line spokeswoman. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes indicated that the New Line banner will continue to exist but that it will no longer greenlight, market or distribute its films. "Between the cost savings and the revenue enhancements, we believe we can at least double the earnings of New Line," Bewkes told the Los Angeles Times. In an email to New Line staffers, Shaye called his departure "painful" but added that he was proud to have been a part of creating "some of the most popular and successful movies of all time." He said that he and Lynne "intend to remain actively involved in the industry in an entrepreneurial capacity" but otherwise gave no hint of their future plans.

Will Ferrell will be adding basketball to his series of sports spoofs and is expected to give the hapless New Line a rare box office victory (it's final one ever) with Semi-Pro this weekend. Box-office analysts predict that the film will score a slam-dunk $25-30 million -- and that figure could be conservative.