First National Pictures is a defunct American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as
First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theater owners in the United States, and became the country's largest theater chain. Expanding from exhibiting movies to distributing them, the company reincorporated in 1919 as
Associated First National Theatres, Inc., and
Associated First National Pictures, Inc. In 1924 it expanded to become a motion picture production company as
First National Pictures, Inc., and became an important studio in the film industry. In September 1928, control of First National passed to
Warner Bros., into which it was completely absorbed November 4, 1929. A number of Warner Bros. films were thereafter branded First National Pictures until 1936, when First National Pictures, Inc., was dissolved.