Sad news from the entertainment world today — New Line Cinema, producer of Snakes on a Plane, is no more.

The company has been folded into Warner Brothers and Bob Shaye, brother of Snakes on a Plane star Lin Shaye, has stepped down as co-Chairman.

New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, market, and distribute movies. But New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.’ distribution system.

This is a sad day both on a personal level, and on an industry level. Personally I have gotten to know a number of people at New Line who have been tremendously enthusiastic and supportive and who I’d like to see weather this storm. I have no idea what’s in any of their futures, but I wish them all well.

Throughout the Snakes on a Plane process, I always asserted that New Line Cinema, as a corporation, was handling themselves very well. I thanked them frequently for being more progressive on new media issues than Paramount, Universal or Fox. On one notable occasion I came to them when a fan felt that New Line had appropriated one of the fan’s merchandising ideas and, within hours, the issue was resolved with the fan being fully compensated. New Line understood the value of their fans and the importance of taking care of them. The movie industry as a whole could learn a lot from how New Line carried itself with respect to fan relations. I just hope that this merger with Warner Brothers doesn’t crush their fan-friendly, independent spirit.

I can only wonder what impact this might have on the future of Snakes on a Plane. Warner Brothers, any ideas?

Good luck New Line and New Line people, I wish you well.