Warner Brothers Entertainment, the Hollywood studio behind The Dark Knight, the biggest grossing movie of 2008, is to shed 10 per cent of all employees as the recession starts to bite in Hollywood.

The entertainment industry has traditionally been relatively immune to recessionary pressures. But with the slump in consumer spending hitting DVD sales – the industry’s most important revenue stream – and Blu-ray, the next generation home entertainment format, still yet to take off, studios are looking to tighten their belts.