{{Short description|Brand and corporate history article}} {{About|the brand and its corporate history|the modern entertainment corporation|Warner Bros. Entertainment|the now-independent music recording corporation|Warner Music Group}} {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
[[File:Warner_Bros._Discovery_(symbol).svg|thumb|Logo used since 2022 by Warner Bros. Discovery,<ref name="WBLogo">{{Cite web |last=Burgos |first=Matthew |date=May 4, 2023 |title=warner bros. logo gets a thicker, bolder, and sharper look from chermayeff & geismar & haviv |url=https://www.designboom.com/design/warner-bros-new-logo-chermayeff-geismar-haviv-05-04-2023/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233437/https://www.designboom.com/design/warner-bros-new-logo-chermayeff-geismar-haviv-05-04-2023/ |archive-date=May 4, 2023 |access-date=May 4, 2023 |website=Designboom}}</ref> the current corporate parent of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which includes the longstanding film and television studios]] [[File:Warner_Music_Group_logo_(2021).svg|thumb|The logo of Warner Music Group, which has been an independent company since 2004. It was one of several companies that were spun off by Time Warner in the mid-2000s but continued using the Warner name, but as of 2026 it is the only one to still do so.]] '''Warner Bros.'''{{efn|Pronounced "''Warner Brothers''".<ref name="Thomson_Page_1">{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=David |author1-link=David Thomson (film critic) |title=Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio |date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300197600 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaYsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |access-date=August 17, 2023}}</ref> The abbreviated form is always used in writing, except when referring to the four Warner brothers themselves.<ref name="Gomery_Page_150">{{Cite book |last1=Gomery |first1=Douglas |authorlink1=Douglas Gomery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0PP2Gm8xNcC&pg=PA150 |title=Movie History: A Survey |last2=Pafort-Overduin |first2=Clara |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136835254 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=150 |via=Google Books |access-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409130025/https://books.google.com/books?id=s0PP2Gm8xNcC&pg=PA150 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is never read out loud as "Warner Bros" (<i title="English pronunciation respelling">-BROHZ</i> or similarly); the opening voiceover of ''The Lego Batman Movie'' (2017) alludes to this common mistake.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 4, 2017 |title=The LEGO Batman Movie review: everything is awesome! |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a820489/lego-batman-movie-review-everything-is-awesome/ |access-date=2026-02-10 |website=Digital Spy |language=en}}</ref>}} is a brand name that has been used by several multinational mass media and entertainment companies and corporations, mostly based in the United States, with attributions to Warner Bros. Pictures, a major American film studio founded on April 4, 1923 and the original namesake.
As of 2026, Warner Bros. Discovery owns the motion picture and television assets derived from the original Warner Bros. studio, while the latter's original recorded music arm, Warner Records (formerly known as Warner Bros. Records), now a flagship subsidiary of Warner Music Group, has been independently owned since 2004. Several other former subsidiaries and divisions have been spun off or sold, but no longer use the Warner name.
== Historical overview == Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. was founded on April 4, 1923, by the brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, replacing their previous company, Warner Features Company, founded in 1910.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warner Bros. |url=https://californiamuseum.org/inductee/warner-bros/ |access-date=2025-12-23 |website=California Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> Jack Warner took full control of the company in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yogerst |first=Chris |date=2023-12-22 |title=When Warner Bros. First Left the Family: Betrayal and High Drama In a Classic Hollywood Megadeal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/warner-brothers-sell-1956-1235768464/ |access-date=2025-12-23 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> During this time, the company began activities in animation (Warner Bros. Cartoons), television (Warner Bros. Television Studios)<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=Company History |url=https://www.warnerbros.com/studio/about/company-history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926073602/http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/about/company-history |archive-date=26 September 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |publisher=warnerbros.com}}</ref> and music publishing (Warner Bros. Music).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Warner |first1=Jack |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=xTzOB_MbMvgC}} |title=Hollywood be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story |last2=Sperling |first2=Cass Warner |last3=Millner |first3=Cork |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=1998 |isbn=0-8131-0958-2 |pages=147}}</ref>
Seven Arts Productions merged with Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. in 1967 to form Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1967-07-18 |title=Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Ltd., Chooses Hyman as Chairman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/18/archives/warner-brosseven-arts-ltd-chooses-hyman-as-chairman.html |access-date=2025-11-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> Kinney National Company then purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969<ref name="history" /> as part of a buying spree that also included National Periodical Publications (predecessor to DC Comics), Television Communications Corporation (predecessor to Time Warner Cable) and Paperback Library (predecessor to Warner Books).<ref name="kinneytvc">{{cite news |last1=Hammer |first1=Alexander R. |date=November 23, 1971 |title=Kinney-TVC Terms Shift |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/23/archives/kinneytvc-terms-shift-kinneytvc-pact-on-link-changed.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> After spinning off its non-media assets, Kinney National Company was renamed Warner Communications, which merged with Time Inc. in 1990 to form Time Warner.<ref name="history" />
In the mid-2000s, Time Warner spun off or sold several Warner-derived or branded divisions as independent companies, most notably Warner Music Group (which remains independent {{As of|2026|lc=y}})<ref name="kinneytvc"/> and Time Warner Cable (later acquired by Charter Communications),<ref name="kinneytvc"/> while Warner Books was sold to Hachette Livre.<ref name="kinneytvc"/> During this time, Time Warner's film and television assets were incorporated into a new Warner Bros. Entertainment subsidiary on December 3, 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kobrin |first=Janet A. |date=2007-02-26 |title=Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. The Kaplan Trust: Declaration of Janet A. Kobrin |url=https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-92043813-CAN-41.pdf#PAGE=20 |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=U.S. Patent and Trademark Office}}</ref>
Time Warner, much reduced in scope at this point, was acquired by AT&T on June 15, 2018, and renamed WarnerMedia.<ref name="rebrand">{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2018 |title=Time Warner is changing its name to WarnerMedia; Turner CEO to depart |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/15/time-warner-is-changing-its-name-to-warnermedia-turner-ceo-to-depart.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320102836/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/15/time-warner-is-changing-its-name-to-warnermedia-turner-ceo-to-depart.html |archive-date=March 20, 2020 |access-date=June 15, 2018 |website=CNBC}}</ref> AT&T then sold WarnerMedia to Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery on April 8, 2022.<ref name="wbdlaunch">{{cite web |last=Maas |first=Jennifer |date=April 8, 2022 |title=Discovery Closes Acquisition of AT&T's WarnerMedia |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-close-warner-bros-discovery-1235200983/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408211723/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-close-warner-bros-discovery-1235200983/ |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=April 8, 2022 |website=Variety |publisher=Penske Media Corporation}}</ref>
== List of entities derived from Warner Bros. == The following entities have used the Warner name and have been derived from or affiliated with the original Warner Bros. Pictures studio.
The film studio:
* History of Warner Bros. Pictures (1923–1967) * Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969) * Warner Bros. Pictures (1969–present)
Animation studios:
* Warner Bros. Cartoons (1929–1963) * Warner Bros. Animation (1980–present) * Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (2013–present) Television studio:
* Warner Bros. Television Studios (1955–present)
Corporate parents:
* WarnerMedia, previously known as Warner Communications, Time Warner, Time Warner Entertainment and AOL Time Warner (1972–2022) * Warner Bros. Discovery (2022–present) * Warner Bros. Entertainment (subsidiary corporation, 2002–present)
Subsidiaries that were spun off:
* Warner Music Group ** Warner Records, previously known as Warner Bros. Records ** Warner Chappell Music * Time Warner Cable * Time Warner Telecom * Warner Books
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Set index article}}
*