Sunday, 2 October 2016

Working Title: Short history + changing strategy

TIMELINE

1983  Founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe
1985  My Beautiful Laundrette released, social realist interracial, gay romantic comedy
marketed in the USA as a straight romance, made a minor profit.
1989  The Tall Guy, first affiliation with Richard Curtis
1990  First only TV-production in one of the stand-alone dramas of Screen One
1991  merged with PolyGram, which would later be taken over by NBC-Universal
1994  Four Weddings And A Funeral released, breakthrough, first film with Hugh Grant
1999  Notting Hill, big name Julia Roberts
2001  Bridget Jones's Diary
2003  Love Actually, soon to become one of the most beloved "British" cultural films
2004  Start of the Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun Of The Dead
2010  Green Zone, big name Matt Damon, attempting to market on intertextuality with Bourne  franchise , but big tentpole flop
2011  Working Title Television is officially launched with The Borrowers
2013  Les Miserables, adaptation of popular stage musical, first affiliation with Eddie Redmayne, most successful box office due to massive star billing 
2015  The Danish Girl, landmark in transgender film
2016  Bridget Jones's Baby, 12 years the franchise returns, success in the UK but internationally less successful than the two before.
2017  Upcoming films: Baby Driver, The Snowman, Victoria and Abdul, The Darkest Hour

With successes such as Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and Love Actually, for a long time romantic comedy seemed to be the staple genre of the company. 
However, recent films such as About Time and I Give It Year have not been that successful, and Working Title have been working on epics such as Les Miserables, as well as the CGI-spectical. However, Bridget Jones's Baby demonstrates the company going with the trend of franchise domination, although whether they will start any new franchises (as well as a third Elizabeth or Nanny McPhee film) remains to be seen.

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