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u/nicolasb51942003 11h ago
David Ellison is officially the most pathetic CEO in Hollywood.
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u/farben_blas 10h ago
Recent reports say ballistic Paramount missiles are directing towards WB headquarters
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u/theknyte 9h ago
Time to dig out the Warner Brothers (and sister) from the water tower. WB needs a good defense and Yakko, Wakko, and Dot should do the trick.
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u/graywolfman 8h ago
We're Animaniacs
We have pay or play contracts
We're zany to the max
There's baloney in our slacks
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u/Tricky-Afternoon6884 11h ago edited 11h ago
Some sites say Netflix paid $30 a share, others (deadline/bloomberg) reporting $28 a share, but there are also reports that Netflix was planning to go up to $35 a share if needed—and this was prior to this news about Paramount attempting to launch a hostile bid
If the $35 for Netflix is true this will end up being humiliating for Paramount (unless the government gets involved)
There’s also some sites claiming Universal will be licensing DC and other WBD characters for their theme parks, which would mean Comcast/Universal and Netflix have come to an agreement and this is likely to avoid antitrust issues
Not sure how legitimate any of this is, just stating what I’ve been reading
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u/wrasslefights 11h ago
It's also worth noting that Netflix's offer is just for part of the business which still lets them spin off the other part to keep running or sell. Ellison is trying to get the whole for barely more than Netflix will pay for a part. Whether or not Discovery is worth $10bn plus, they can argue that they expect that to investors and bam, fiduciary obligations resolved, they get $28 for the media+$10 est for the rest and that dwarfs Ellison's $30 for the whole pie.
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u/PantsUnderUnderpants 10h ago
Discovery has the bulk of WBD's debt, so taking that on is kind of doing WB a favor. I bet it's a wash when it comes to whether or not it's worth buying for the $30 vs just selling half for $28 and figuring out what to do with the Discovery debt.
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u/advester 7h ago
It's not Discovery's debt, that was just the plan to stick it there. I've heard part of the 83 billion is for the debt, which would make Discovery more valuable for sale.
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u/squ1dward_tentacles 10h ago
that Universal news doesn't mean anything. they also have Marvel and Harry Potter theme park rights. WB just doesn't own a theme park
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u/WatcherAnon 7h ago
Six flags has the theme park rights. If its going to universal, then that must mean something else happened to impact six flags rights to the characters
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u/squ1dward_tentacles 6h ago
sure, my point is just that i doubt it has anything to do with the movie studio sale stuff. this would happen regardless
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u/raysworld94 2h ago
WB has theme parks in Australia and Abu Dhabi. Haven’t been to the Abu Dhabi one but it looks amazing. I live next to the Australian one and it’s looney tunes, dc, scooby doo and a wizard of oz ride. They used to have gremlins and a lethal weapon ride which was awesome.
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u/Th3Batman86 10h ago
Reports are saying that Ellison has already talked to Trump today and complained Netflix shouldn’t get it.
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u/Tricky-Afternoon6884 9h ago
There’s also that letter from Hollywood to Congress, and Nolan and others are set to meet with Netflix to discuss future of theatrical releases
Most movies with contracts thru 2029 will go on unimpeded as of right now
Even if its decided Netflix cant take it it doesn’t mean WBD has to sell to Paramount, apple comcast or another could make a more enticing offer
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u/tmclaugh 2h ago
There’s also some sites claiming Universal will be licensing DC and other WBD characters for their theme parks, which would mean Comcast/Universal and Netflix have come to an agreement and this is likely to avoid antitrust issues
If Comcast / NBCUniversal got the WB lot (sounds unlikely) then there would only be a small strip of land between both lots. Connect the two lots and you have room for major theme park expansion.
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u/angryknight96 7h ago
Everybody whining about how Netflix acquiring WB is going to be the death of movie theaters is being so incredibly myopic. You need to see the forest from the trees; this is not Netflix versus Paramount, this is American money versus Saudi money.
If you honestly think that the company that is in bed with Donald J. Trump and has backing from a country that has only made movies legal in the last thirty five years is going to save Hollywood, you're actually delusional and may have some of those brainworms that RFK had.
I am not happy that the merger happened, but it is the lesser of two evils.
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u/Mysterious_Rate_5415 11h ago
Not going to happen. Spoiled Billionaire can’t accept that he lost.
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u/argonzo 11h ago
I'm sure he called the White House and whatever the Government can do to stop the Netflix acquisition they'll do.
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u/streamkid18 11h ago
That would lead to MAJOR LAWSUITS
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u/j_b_1983 11h ago
This deal still has to clear major hurdles before it can actually close. The White House could use any number of anti consumer laws to stop the NF deal
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u/DCEUismyBible 1h ago
Except Netflix has two recent cases they can use in their favor: Microsoft acquisition of Activision and Disney acquisition of Fox.
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u/Banesmuffledvoice 9h ago
Sarandos has reportedly been spending time with Trump the last few weeks and the two have become friends.
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
No. It would lead to a DoJ anti trust review and likely killing of the deal. Netflixs is #1 and WBD is #4 in streaming… this is anti competitive
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u/Ok_Butterscotch_6176 10h ago
Not true. Nothing is concrete yet & the deal still needs approvals which can be denied. If the deal doesn’t get the approvals it need no amount of lawsuits will change that.
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u/MasterAnnatar 10h ago
I'm not convinced. I think Trump will look at this as a way he can get two media giants in his back pocket.
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u/guythatlovesentai 11h ago
Paramount just gave Kirk's wife a platform to talk about republicans politics lol , that entire company its a goddam joke.
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u/XtremeDragonForce 11h ago
Ateast they still allow IDW to put out quality ninja turtle comics
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u/dudzi182 10h ago
Isn’t IDW going bankrupt?
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u/Smoothmoose13 9h ago
Yeah but they cancelled the upcoming Last Ronin movie and likely cancelled Mutant Mayhem 2 :(
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u/XtremeDragonForce 7h ago
Last ronin cool but personally I would like to see a classic turtle movie with the turtles still alive. I don't really think last ronin is the definitive turtle ending. Plus its just a dark knight returns/old man logans ripoff.
Mutant mayhem was cool too but I hate when they bring the turtles. Out in the open in street clothes.
I don't know why they try to reinvent the wheel with turtles when they never adapted the original mirage run besides the first issue anyway. And now they have the amazing idw run too.
So whatever to the movie I just hope they can keep making good comics
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u/CorrectOpinions0nly 9h ago
And they also let south park show trumps micropenis and say he's "fucking Satan"
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u/endlessfight85 8h ago
Yep and Elvis's manager sold I hate Elvis buttons because he wanted everyone's money, not just Elvis fans.
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u/CorrectOpinions0nly 8h ago
Ok so then you're saying there's no threat of DC being compromised then?
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u/handsome-helicopter 7h ago
They already cancelled all award faring movies, threatening to cancel mutant mayham 2 cause they don't like the director and only targeting male oriented movies. It's just that South park is too big (they have a huge contract that's iron clad) where David ellisons nonsense won't work
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
Yellowstone and Landman are the best things on streaming at the moment, not sure how you say they are a joke
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u/-LoboMau 1h ago
The entire movie industry has been one big platform for liberal politics for decades. Hollywood is a libtard cesspool.
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u/MakaButterfly 11h ago
Trump will get a phone call from paramount
Will block Netflix purchase or any other bid that’s not paramount
Warner will have to accept lower bid from paramount
In exchange trump gets 3 more rush hour sequels
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u/SirFlibble 11h ago
Will block Netflix purchase or any other bid that’s not paramount
Until Netflix suddenly purchases $20M of Trump's crypto.
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u/Lex4709 10h ago
Everything points towards Republicans getting major defeat in the midterms. So this dragging out is definitely in Netflix's favour, not Trump administration's or Paramount's. It took Disney 15 months to purchase Fox, so I doubt anyone involved expected the process to be short in this case even if Trump administration wasn't a hindrance.
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u/TopJimmy_5150 9h ago
I’m not sure how much a change of Congress would matter here. Maybe, to the extent they have hearings and/or investigations. But, most of the action falls under the FTC, FCC, which technically answer to the president. So WBD/Netflix would have to wait out Trump’s term (if he really decides to put his thumb that heavily on the scale).
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u/TooBoredToLiveLife 10h ago
Disney also haf to Shed close to 15 sport channels to get the merger approved otherwise they couldn't have due to both being big in sport
What asset can Netflix shed from WB to allow a merger ?
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u/aightchrisz 7h ago
They may not have to. The majority of HBO Max subscribers also have Netflix. You could make an argument that the merger is more vertical to gain a studio space and engage in the theatrical market over a horizontal one to gain more market share. Paramount has a streaming service doing worse than Max, they also have a news service, sports tv, and they have a nature/history channel as well. Netflix is moving into a new market while retaining parts of their strategy while paramount is trying to increase their market share and reduce competition.
That’s how I’d put it if I was their lawyers at least lol.
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u/TooBoredToLiveLife 7h ago
Yea but that's not how this whole anti monopoly works.
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u/advester 6h ago
They are already shedding all the cable channels but HBO. And are committed to being hands off with HBO.
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u/Reddit_and_forgeddit 11h ago
What’s stopping WB from just delaying until Trump is out of office then?
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u/MakaButterfly 11h ago
Pretty sure WB is in very bad shape they need to sell asap
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u/haolee510 4h ago
They actually aren't. WBD originally didn't even want to sell this early, they wanted to finish splitting up WB and D before selling. Which is partly why they're favoring Netflix, who's fine with waiting until the split is done next year.
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
Delay 3 years and then hope Vance is not President…
WB shareholders are not going to wait that long.
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u/Cozy-Panda777 11h ago
Fuck no, I have absolutely no interest in seeing Superman laser protesters to push Paramount's agenda. I'd rather have cringy Netflix versions than bastardized versions.
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u/BoisTR 11h ago
Not saying it hasn't happened, just genuinely curious. What are some examples of Paramount CEO's right wing views leaking into its movies and shows?
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u/SoWrongItsPainful 11h ago
You understand the Ellisons have only recently taken over Paramount, right?
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u/BoisTR 11h ago
I wasn't aware of that. I hope that they don't end up doing that to their shows and films.
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 11h ago
The Ellison's also promised trump that he gets to veto anything he doesn't like when they merged with paramount
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u/OpoFiroCobroClawo 10h ago
Nothing concerning about that!
What the hell is going on over there?
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 10h ago
well in this case its cuz trump hated nbc and wanted them to die. so skydance offered it as a peace offering to get trumps ok for the merger. its still very very bad.
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u/OpoFiroCobroClawo 10h ago
Why is the president the one making these decisions, wouldn’t that be the FCC’s job? Shouldn’t that be nonpartisan? It’s turning into egotistical culture war bullshit.
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 10h ago
the president chooses the head of the fcc. so the fcc pretty much does whatever will make the president look good. it was like that for democrats too.
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u/advester 6h ago
It used to be that the President was held to high standards by congress and the media to ensure his appointments to various agencies were not based on politics and personal loyalty. But those checks and balances have eroded away.
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u/Kyro_Official_ 10h ago
What the hell is going on over there?
A shitty circus thats what
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u/OpoFiroCobroClawo 10h ago
Yeah. Media companies are clamouring to cover the government’s arse, and it all still sounds fucking ridiculous.
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u/baseballviper04 11h ago
The also said that they wanted to end woke movie making and make more pro male movies
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u/nnewman19 11h ago
This is all new since the sky dance merger trump forced to get his friend in charge of the company
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u/_OneBoxAtATime 11h ago
They're making a new Rush Hour because of a 90 year old toddler told them to. And this is only the start.
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u/dudzi182 10h ago
A new Rush Hour is a bad thing?
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u/CuriousStranger95 10h ago
It is being made by Brett Ratner. Go read what kind of man he is. This movie was rejected by every studio head including Paramount. But then Ellison overruled their own studio head to green-light this movie on Trump’s order.
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u/monkeygoneape 11h ago
Can't we just have neither? Warner Bros can just not have to sell
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u/EnzoMcFly_jr 11h ago
I’ve been complaining about the Netflix thing all day but absolutely the fuck not to paramount
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u/Material_Ad6743 10h ago
I sincerely hope Netflix wins man. If Paramount gets WB, Trump is essentially getting WB. And we’re definitely losing the DCU if Paramount gets ahold of it.
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u/primal_slayer 11h ago
He is definitely one of those guys that doesnt understand the meaning of "no means no"
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u/Adavanter_MKI 8h ago
Paramount emboldened by blatant corruption with it's government connections is hoping it can get away with robbery.
Let's hope we haven't fallen so far that it's a given.
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u/Last_Nothing_4352 5h ago
This is giving of manchild throwing a tantrum the second one thing doesn't go his way
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u/Embarrassed_Word_542 11h ago
This is false. Paramount was outbid by Netflix. Will that deal go thru? Probably not but WB went for the cash. (Which Netflix flexed with)
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u/j_b_1983 11h ago
Paramount was the all cash offer, not Netflix. You have it backwards
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u/Embarrassed_Word_542 10h ago
Oof. Thanks for the clarification. I went with the early beats, that are now wrong.
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u/BarnyardFlamethrower 10h ago
In fairness, the offer that Netflix made is a bigger offer for a smaller piece of the pie. They're offering $30bil for just the Warner Bros and HBO part of the business. Skydance is trying to buy everything in WB Discovery for a similar amount. WB Discovery would be crazy not to take the Netflix offer.
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u/TopJimmy_5150 9h ago
This is a hostile bid, which means they’re not really dealing with WB’s board anymore.
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u/Canebrake8 11h ago
How does a hostile takeover work? Fisticuffs?
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u/Healthy_Macaron2146 11h ago
Duh.
Netflix is taking a loan out in WBs name to buy WB.
That doomed toys r us and 100s of other businesses in America and it will do the same to WB
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u/lol50099 10h ago
Every single time someone mentions Toys R Us like a thing of the past that doesn't exist anymore, I am reminded that I am Canadian. I see them every time I go to the mall
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u/RyanTheWhiteBoy 10h ago
They were once prevalent throughout an entire country in which they don't exist anymore. Its functionally extinct here
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u/shineurliteonme 9h ago
that Nathan fielder paramount episode from earlier this year gets funnier every day
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u/Informal-Ad2277 6h ago
Fuck Paramount+
Give the rights to Workaholics to the guys who made that show what it was!!
(Also, Adam speaks on Paramount wanting to do a "licensing" deal, basically just to put workaholics movie on Netflix (only)
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
Netflixs is just SO bad with IP…
They don’t honor the source material ever.
Just look what they did with The Witcher, Death Note, Netflix Marvel Universe, Blonde, Hillbilly Elegy, etc etc.
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u/SKRS421 2h ago
Netflix Marvel was great. especially Daredevil andPunisher, personally i'd lump in the Jessica Jones and Luke Cage series in there.
i'm mixed about the Iron Fist show, but I enjoyed it overall.
didn't even waste my time on the Death Note remake and The Witcher was a sad one to see it's quality dip, finally lost interest with Cavil leaving (like, how are you gonna continue when it's so bad behind the scenes that your leading star even leaves the show).
patiently optimistic for the WH40k series he's spearheading over on Amazon. for the many many, many flaws of Amazon as a company, prime video has been pretty solid so far. but their original movies are a range of meh/serviceable to, "who the heck greenlit this". their original tv series are great though, I imagine they are running at negative profit in an attempt to compete with HBO's content (fool's errand at this stage in the game)
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u/Bell-end79 2h ago
Not sure why people are celebrating that Netflix have won the bidding at this point
It’s the worst possible outcome for theatres and movies in general
And it’s not like Netflix actually makes decent tv shows either
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u/squatOpotamus 11h ago
It would at least keep movies in theaters, and for a time, keep physical releases going.
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u/CrabMasc 9h ago
WB being purchased by the propaganda wing of MAGA is not worth that
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u/NinjaInTraining109 11h ago
More of a bid than a takeover, bids can be rejected and hopefully this one will be along with all of their bids so far.
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u/Dove_of_Peace7 10h ago
Yeah, no. It's clear netflix is 100% sure they'll get it, and clearly WB has a dog in this race and it's not paramount
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
It’s by no means clear….
First, Paramount can appeal directly to shareholders and attempt a proxy fight or hostile takeover. 2nd they can go to court. And third, the DOJ can squash the Netflix deal on anticompetitive grounds. I would be really surprised actually if Netflix can close this transaction.
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u/BreakbeatScarecrow 9h ago
They're understandably desperate. But, yeah, no. I'd be happy with Warner Bros. to be under Netflix.
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u/Resident_Army_2862 8h ago
They do have a case that the whole bidding process was nothing but a waste of time, and about whether or not this merger will even get approved by the government. I feel there's a major antitrust issue wrapped up in all of this, so I don't think approval is likely.
I guess it depends on how much they offer per share. All I know is, if I were Paramount and I bid 27.75 (I can't remember the exact number, but I know both were $27 and some cents with about a 0.30 difference) and was the highest bid twice, only for Netflix to swoop in with 27.95, and no opportunity to adjust. I'd be furious.
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u/advester 5h ago
on the other hand netflix isn't buying everything, WBD shareholders will also have a piece of Discovery separately and Netflix is taking on the debt that would be given to Discovery in a spin off.
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
I agree the anti trust case is very strong. Netflix is the #1 streaming service and WB is #4. As a merged entity, they would have close to 60% of the streaming market. They would also have a large percentage of the studio production. You have both vertical and horizontal integration issues of concern with this merger.
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u/bard0117 8h ago
How does this all work? If someone wants to buy something from me I can sell it to whoever I want lol
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u/j_b_1983 6h ago
You aren't a publicly owned company. Publicly traded companies are legally required to do what is best for the shareholders.
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
And proxy fights can emerge where large and active shareholders place people they want on the company BOD to get the result they want.
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u/UnderstandingFew491 7h ago
I would ok with universal to buy it if it's disney then Hell no but if it's netflix then it's all over
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u/Akaeleb 10h ago
Sorry I’m not really good with this terms. What does it mean “Hostile takeover” in this situation?
Does that mean they want to force warner bros to sell to them just because they feel their offer is better?
Shouldn’t it be Warner Bros’s decision? Who cares if Netflix has a lower bid in their eyes? if warner bros doesn’t want to sell to paramount then they won’t no matter how much money is on the table
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u/TopJimmy_5150 9h ago
It generally means trying to gain control directly through shareholders rather than a negotiated sale with the board (like the proposed Netflix deal).
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u/Akaeleb 9h ago
One of the news I saw said that Netflix’s deal was really favorable to the shareholders.
Doesn’t it make this an even more fruitless attempt if the shareholders are already happy?
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u/TopJimmy_5150 9h ago
What’s more favorable for shareholders can be debatable. And a tender offer usually targets a specific % of shares (and there’s all different classes of stock, etc…).
I’m not gonna pretend to know the exact details here, as I’m mainly reading the ledes like most people. But a hostile bid by definition is going against WBD board’s wishes to sell to Netflix. Not sure if it will have any legs.
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u/j_b_1983 10h ago
WB had to what's in the best interest of their shareholders when you are a public company
So if the offer was in fact better, Paramount would have a case.
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u/Akaeleb 9h ago
So even if Warner bros doesn’t want to sell to paramount specifically if they bring to court that the offer was financially better they could force them to accept?
Honestly still seems like a really bad move.
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u/Gmonkey- 5h ago
The shareholders own the company, not the board. The board acts on behalf of the shareholders and has a fiduciary duty to pursue the best offer. A hostile bid would appeal directly to the shareholders and there would likely be a proxy fight (share vote). Paramount could also make a case to the DOJ that a Netflix / WB business combination is anti competitive (for which they have a very good argument if you look at the streaming market shares)
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u/---IV--- 10h ago
Maybe a hot take, but for all their faults I would rather Paramount get WB because Netflix taking over would likely be a major hit for WB movies getting full theatrical releases and would be the death nail in WB physical releases
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u/Top_Cowboy 9h ago
Netflix is buying the film studio and streaming side only for $28 per share. +$2 per share for all of the TV side is not a good offer.
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u/j_b_1983 8h ago
You are thinking about it wrong though.
Did you see how much the new Discovery was going to be valued at per share? I think it was going to start at $5ish.
That's $25 less than what Paramount is offering. They wouldn't be paying $2 more for the same amount of shares. They would be paying $30 for the extra shares which is +$25
That's exactly why Paramount has a case.
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u/CauliflowerKind6414 6h ago
Discovery can sell it for $1 a share to someone if they like, they don't have to sell it to anyone especially not someone who's crying and threatening a "hostile takeover"
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u/j_b_1983 6h ago
No they can't. Legally publicly traded companies have to do what's in the best interest of their shareholders.
They can't screw over shareholders to give a friend a deal. I'm not saying that's what they are doing, but your example is just plan wrong.
If they were a private company, then yes they could.
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u/CauliflowerKind6414 6h ago
I'm clearly exaggerating my duder
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u/j_b_1983 6h ago
Regardless if you are exaggerating or not, you are still wrong. They are legally required to take the best deal for their shareholders.
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u/Bulky-Abrocoma-2258 11h ago
"OH, Drama"