Last May, New Line Cinema threw a 40th-anniversary party in Cannes. Tied in with a promotional push for the company’s movie, The Golden Compass, it was a lavish affair. As guests consumed champagne, while admiring the ice sculptures, little did they guess this was more a last hurrah than a birthday bash. For within the last month it has been announced that New Line Cinema is to be drastically downsized and folded into the conglomerate’s studio outfit, Warner Brothers. Just four years ago, The Return of the King, the final chapter in New Line’s adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, took 11 Oscars, tying with the all-time record set by Ben Hur and equalled by Titanic. The film had already grossed US$1 billion ($1.26 billion) worldwide, only the second to do so after Titanic. That’s before you take into account the millions accumulated by the previous two films and the money created by merchandise. The bitter end of the New Line