Warner Bros. announced yesterday that it is closing both its indie arms, Warner Independent Pictures and Picturehouse. Speculation had the studio merging the indie and art-house divisions, but the studio opted for even more cost-cutting, the LA Times reports. More than 70 employees will lose their jobs in the shakeup.
"We're not abandoning the specialty business," promised the Warner Bros. CEO Alan Horn, saying the company will still seek out "movies that interest us creatively," but promote them through Warners. Skeptics question whether the studio that is hyping the blockbuster The Dark Knight could have done justice to Pan's Labyrinth. (More Warner Bros. stories.)