WThe Ace Ventura franchise consists of American detective-comedies, with two theatrical films, one made-for-television film, and one animated television series. The overall story, based on an original concept and story written by Jack Bernstein, follows the criminal investigations of the titular and comedic pet detective.
WBeetlejuice is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The plot revolves around a recently deceased couple who become ghosts haunting their former home, and an obnoxious, devious poltergeist named Betelgeuse from the Netherworld who tries to scare away the new inhabitants.
WTorchy Blane is a fictional female reporter, the main character of nine films produced by Warner Bros. between 1937 and 1939. The Torchy Blane series were popular second features during the later 1930s and were mixtures of mystery, action, adventure, and fun.
WAquaman has made several appearances in numerous adaptations since his comic book debut in 1941. The character has also been referenced beyond the scope of traditional comics entertainment.
WSince his first appearance in 1939, Batman has been adapted into various media such as film, radio, television, and video games, as well as numerous merchandising items. The Batman franchise has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
WBatman: Arkham is a series of action-adventure video games based on the DC Comics character Batman, developed by Rocksteady Studios and WB Games Montréal, and published originally by Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The franchise consists of four main installments and an upcoming spin-off, along with four smaller titles for mobile devices, a virtual reality game, and tie-in comic books and an animated film. The continuity established by the games is often referred to as the "Arkhamverse", and is part of the larger DC Multiverse.
WThe DC Animated Universe is a shared universe of superhero-based animated television series, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The shared universe, much like the original DC Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
WThe DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films based on characters that appeared in American comic books by DC Comics, produced by DC Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The franchise also includes comic books, short films, novels, and video games. The DCEU, much like the original DC Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
WFinal Destination is an American horror franchise consisting of five films, two comic books, and nine novels. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for The X-Files television series, and was distributed by New Line Cinema. All of its five films are set around a small group of people who escape impending death after one individual sees a sudden premonition and warns them about the mass-casualty accident that is about to happen. After avoiding their foretold deaths, the survivors are killed one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force creating complicated chains of cause and effect, resembling Rube Goldberg machines, and then read omens sent by another unseen entity in order to again avert their deaths.
WThroughout his 80-year history, the Flash has appeared in numerous media.
WThe many incarnations of the DC Comics superhero Green Lantern have appeared in numerous media over the years.
WThe Harry Potter video games are a series of video games based on the Harry Potter franchise originally created by J.K. Rowling. Many of the Harry Potter-inspired video games are tie-ins to the novels and films of the same name. The main series features a video game for every novel, as well as two for the finale. There are multiple distinct versions for individual games.
WThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Since their first appearance in The Brave and the Bold #28, various incarnations of the team have appeared in film, television, and video game adaptations.
WSince 1995, 85 commercial video games based on Lego, the construction system produced by The Lego Group, have been released. Following the second game, Lego Island, developed and published by Mindscape, The Lego Group published games on its own with its Lego Media division, which was renamed Lego Software in 2001, and Lego Interactive in 2002. The division also co-published with Electronic Arts before closing. Former Lego Interactive staff founded company Giant Interactive Entertainment for future Lego game publishing. Following the release of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, Giant merged with Traveller's Tales to form TT Games. TT Games was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in November 2007, making WBIE the primary publisher for Lego games.
WMerrie Melodies is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. As with its partner series, Looney Tunes, it featured cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Elmer Fudd. Between 1934 and 1943, the Merrie Melodies series were distinguished from the black-and-white, Buddy or Porky Pig–starring Looney Tunes shorts by an emphasis on one-shot stories in color featuring Warner Bros.–owned musical selections. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout recurring star of Merrie Melodies, and Looney Tunes went to color in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series more randomly.
WThe MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe that is centered on a series of monster films featuring Godzilla and King Kong, produced by Legendary Entertainment and co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The first installment was Godzilla (2014), a reboot of the Godzilla franchise, which was followed by Kong: Skull Island (2017), a reboot of the King Kong franchise, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). The franchise received generally positive reception and has been commercially successful with a combined gross of $1.950 billion worldwide.
WMortal Kombat is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games, originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, but as that idea fell through, a science fantasy-themed fighting game was created instead. Still the developers paid homage to him with Johnny Cage, a fictional film star whose personal style resembles Van Damme's. The original Mortal Kombat was the first fighting game to introduce a secret fighter, reached if the player fulfilled a set of requirements.
WRick and Morty is an American animated science-fiction comedy franchise whose eponymous duo consists of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith. Rick and Morty were created by cartoonist Justin Roiland for a 2006 parody film of Back to the Future for Channel 101, a short film festival co-founded by Dan Harmon. After six years, the sketch was developed into Rick and Morty, a half-hour prime time show that was a hit for Adult Swim, receiving universal acclaim across all seasons. The popularity of Rick and Morty has made it a billion-dollar merchandising and media franchise. Alongside the original television series, the characters of the show have been featured in a variety of media, including spin-offs, comic books, musical releases and video games.
WScooby-Doo is an American animated franchise comprising many animated television series produced from 1969 to the present, as well as their derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, for Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1969. This Saturday-morning cartoon series featured teenagers Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and their talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo, who solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures through a series of antics and missteps.
WThe American comic book character Superman has appeared in many types of media. Since his first comic book appearance in 1938, Superman has appeared in radio, television, movies, and video games each on multiple occasions, and his name, symbol, and image have appeared on products and merchandise.
WTom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.
WWarner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of AT&T's WarnerMedia through its Studios & Networks division. Founded in 1923 by four brothers Harry, Albert (Abe), Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games, and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
WWestworld is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film Westworld, written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populated by androids that malfunction and begin killing the human visitors; it was followed by the sequel film Futureworld (1976). The franchise moved to television in 1980 with the short-lived series Beyond Westworld on CBS. In 2016 a new television series based on the original film debuted on HBO; the critically acclaimed series has broadcast three seasons, with a fourth in production.
WSince her debut in All Star Comics #8, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman has appeared in a number of formats besides comic books. Genres include animated television shows, direct-to-DVD animated films, video games, the 1970s live action television series, Wonder Woman, the 2014 CGI theatrical release, The Lego Movie, and the live-action DCEU films, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).
WDirty Harry is an American action film series featuring San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan. There are five films: Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988). Clint Eastwood portrayed Callahan in all five films and directed Sudden Impact.
WThe Exorcist is an American horror film series consisting of six films based on the 1971 novel The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. The films have been distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
WThe Hangover is a trilogy of American comedy films created by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, and directed by Todd Phillips. All three films follow the misadventures of a quartet of friends who go on their road trip to attend a bachelor party. While all of the films finds three of the four men on a mission to find their missing friend, the first two films focus on the events following a night of debauchery before a party in Las Vegas and Bangkok; whereas the third and final film involves a road trip and a kidnapping in lieu of a bachelor party. Each film in the series focus on how the friends deal with the aftermath of their antics while they are being humiliated and occasionally physically beaten up at every turn.
WHarry Potter is a film series based on the eponymous novels by J. K. Rowling. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). A spin-off prequel series that will consist of five films started with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), marking the beginning of the Wizarding World shared media franchise.
WThe Hobbit is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The three films are The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). The films are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to The Return of the King, which expand on the story told in The Hobbit, as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
WIt is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It was his 22nd book and his 17th novel written under his own name. The story follows the experiences of seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It" primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
WThe Lego Movie is an American media franchise based on Lego construction toys. It began with the 2014 film The Lego Movie, which was directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The success of the film led to the release of two licensed video games, a 4D film theme park attraction, two spin-off films titled The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, which were released in 2017, Unikitty! an animated television series that also came out in the same year, and the sequel to the original movie titled The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in 2019. Plans for a third spin-off film and a sequel to The Lego Batman Movie were later shelved. The franchise has received a generally positive critical reception, with the exception of The Lego Ninjago Movie which received mixed reviews, and has grossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office. While Warner Bros. still owns the rights to their run of the franchise from 2014 to 2020, including the Unikitty! TV series, Universal Pictures bought the rights to make plans for an upcoming Lego Movie as part of a 5-year deal.
WThe Lost Boys is an American multimedia franchise that began with the 1987 Warner Bros. film The Lost Boys, written by Janice Fischer, James Jeremias, and Jeffrey Boam. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Harvey Bernhard. Starring Corey Haim, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes, the story revolves around two brothers who move to a new town and end up fighting a gang of young vampires. The film was followed by two direct-to-DVD sequels, Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) and Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010).
WMad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film series and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with Mad Max, and was followed by three sequels: Mad Max 2, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Miller directed or co-directed all four films. Mel Gibson starred in the first three films and Tom Hardy took over as Max in the fourth film.
WThe Matrix is an American media franchise created by writers-directors the Wachowskis and producer Joel Silver. The series consists of four, beginning with The Matrix (1999) and continuing with three sequels, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). The films are written and directed by the Wachowskis and produced by Joel Silver. The franchise is owned by Warner Bros., which distributed the films along with Village Roadshow Pictures. The latter, along with Silver Pictures, are the two production companies that worked on the first three films.
WNancy Drew is a fictional character, a sleuth in an American mystery series created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer as the female counterpart to his Hardy Boys series. The character first appeared in 1930. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Over the decades, the character evolved in response to changes in US culture and tastes. The books were extensively revised and shortened, beginning in 1959, partly to lower the printing costs with arguable success. In the revision process, the heroine's original character was changed to be less unruly and violent. In the 1980s, an older and more professional Nancy emerged in a new series, The Nancy Drew Files, that included romantic subplots for the sleuth. The original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series started in 1930 and ended in 2003. Launched in 2004, the Girl Detective series features Nancy driving a hybrid electric vehicle and using a cell phone. In 2012, the Girl Detective series ended, and a new series, Nancy Drew Diaries, was launched in 2013. Illustrations of the character evolved over time to reflect contemporary styles. The character proves continuously popular worldwide: at least 80 million copies of the books have been sold, and the books have been translated into over 45 languages. Nancy Drew is featured in five films, three television shows, and a number of popular computer games; she also appears in a variety of merchandise sold around the world.
WNational Lampoon's Vacation film series is a comedy film series initially based on John Hughes' short story "Vacation '58" that was originally published by National Lampoon magazine. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of five main films, two of which are not sponsored by National Lampoon, and one spin-off. In recent years, the series has been the inspiration for various advertising campaigns featuring some of the original cast members. The series portrays the misadventures of the Griswold family, whose attempts to enjoy vacations and holidays are plagued with continual disasters and strangely embarrassing predicaments.
WA Nightmare on Elm Street is an American supernatural slasher-horror media franchise consisting nine films, a television series, novels, comic books, and various other media. The franchise began with the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), written and directed by Wes Craven. The overall plot of the franchise centers around the fictional character Fred "Freddy" Krueger the apparition of a former-child killer who was burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, who returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of Springwood, Ohio in their respective dreams. Craven returned to the franchise to co-script the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and to write/direct New Nightmare (1994). The films collectively grossed $472 million at the box office worldwide.
WPolice Academy is a series of American comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s and the seventh in 1994. The series opened with Police Academy (1984), which started with the premise that a new mayor had announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The film followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers, and succeeding both in spite of and because of their eccentricities. The main character in the first four films, Carey Mahoney, was a repeat offender, who was forced to join the police academy as punishment. The seventh and to date last installment, Mission to Moscow, was released in 1994. Guttenberg in September 2018 announced that a new Police Academy film was in the works.
WRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 American action adventure film based on the English folk tale of Robin Hood that originated in the 12th century. It was directed by Kevin Reynolds and stars Kevin Costner as Robin Hood, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. The screenplay was written by Pen Densham and John Watson.
WThe fictional comic book team known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird have appeared in six feature-length films since their debut. The first film, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was released in 1990 at the height of the franchise's popularity and was a commercial success. The success of the film garnered two direct sequels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993. During a revival of the franchise prompted by the successful 2003–2009 TV series, a separate computer-generated imagery (CGI) film titled TMNT was released in 2007. A fifth film by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies was released on August 8, 2014, and served as a reboot to the original live-action films. A sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, was released on June 3, 2016. The six films have grossed $1.2 billion worldwide. A seventh film, which will be a CGI reboot, is in development and is scheduled to be released on August 11, 2023.
WThe Wizarding World is a fantasy media franchise and shared fictional universe centred on a series of films, based on the Harry Potter novel series by J. K. Rowling. The films have been in production since 2000, and in that time ten films have been produced—eight are adaptations of the Harry Potter novels and two are part of the Fantastic Beasts series, with more films already slated to come out in the coming years. The films are owned and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and three more are in various stages of production. The series has collectively grossed over $9.2 billion at the global box office, making it the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time.