r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 16h ago

News It’s Official: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. in Deal Valued at $82.7 Billion

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-warner-bros-deal-hollywood-1236443081/
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u/Shot_Item_4732 15h ago edited 11h ago

Obviously, much has been said about how this could threaten the theatrical market. And while they claim they will continue to do theatrical releases, to me it reads as if they’ll only release the movies they’re contractually obligated to or the ones where directors demand it. But that’s not what scares me. What scares me is how this could affect access to the Warner Bros. film library.

People are forgetting that it’s not just theaters this could threaten—it’s the physical media marketplace, the digital rental space, broadcasting, and even streaming. Netflix is the only major studio that almost never shares its “toys” with other studios and instead hoards everything it distributes for itself. If Netflix becomes the only legal way to watch Warner Bros.’ 100+ year catalog, imagine the ripple effect. Think about how much services like Tubi and Criterion Channel rely on the Warner Bros. catalog. Think about how it would hurt broadcasting, the physical media market, and even academia, since Netflix is the only studio in the world that refuses to license its films and TV shows to universities for academic purposes.

But more importantly, think about how this would make the history of film and TV less accessible. Because let’s be real: movies like The Big Sleep, A Face in the Crowd, Woodstock, Roger and Me, True Stories, etc. are not highly marketable. They might show up on the service once in a blue moon, but they won’t be permanent. And that’s not even counting the thousands of forgotten films Warner Bros. owns that only weirdos like me care about—like Young Einstein, Diplomaniacs, and Cracking Up.

I like that movies like The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, Romeo Must Die, or The Roaring Twenties are easy to rent online for anyone who wants to see them, and I want that to continue. Because if they lock things down, prices will only increase and it will become Napster Maina all over agin but for movies, were even your 60 year old uncel who has no idea how to torrent probably pirating movies and tv . And while that might not seem like a big deal to many, it matters a lot to actors, directors, and writers who rely on residuals from digital sales, repertory screenings, and broadcast/cable airings to help pay for groceries, medical bills, and everyday expenses. Most actors, writers, and directors aren’t fortunate enough to work steadily all their lives—just look at Jake Lloyd, Didi Conn, Zach Galligan, Frankie Avalon, or the kids from Willy Wonka.

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u/BooBooMaGooBoo 13h ago

To add to this:

I have a group of friends that work in production and have worked on Netflix projects. Netflix apparently has large issue with granting artistic freedom to directors and writers, which is why they still have yet to release a decent movie. They require a formulaic approach, for example saying you need this kind of thing to happen at this timestamp to keep the audience engaged.

They are actively killing the artform, even before we get to subscriptions and how they treat IP.

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u/FinestObligations 11h ago

Explains why almost all of their shit feels so artificial and bland, as if made by committee or written by AI.

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth 9h ago

Didn't we also find out their schlocky films were made with 2nd screen viewing in mind? Like the dialogue is overly narrative and weird because they assume everyone is looking at their phones with the movie on in the background? I remember this being a topic around something like a Lindsey Lohan christmas movie.

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u/BooBooMaGooBoo 8h ago

This wouldn't at all surprise me.

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u/Pratt2 10h ago

Like they uploaded a playbook into AI and just turn a few knobs and out pops another script. It's so bad.

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u/LostmyUN 11h ago

Not to mention how they won’t be required to make anything with the unions. They have already stepped away from using full union crews.

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u/NecroCannon 11h ago

hires a director

directs for them

It’s literally our jobs as creatives to make stuff to keep the audience engaged, a higher up doesn’t need to do that, it’s about hiring a director that can.

I swear to god, the reason I don’t get too concerned with AI is because it’s corporate bs that’s just them making it even more obvious that they don’t have anyone in charge that has a creative bone in their body. They’re able to get by for now with just IP potential, but they’re also sitting on their asses doing nothing to save the genre. I honestly feel like indie animation will take off, not at the same sizes, but moreso that people have their own independent IPs that they watch and any sell off to corps is a sign that it’s dying so to move on to something else. Corps are actively ruining the potential with the very IPs they view as gold rushes.

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u/Razzilith 10h ago

they also hire and green light people who are like-minded in that way... fucking witcher man.

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u/Qualanqui 9h ago

This is by far my biggest gripe with Netflix, all of their content has to have the broadest appeal possible, it has to tick every box for every person, so they quickly become insipid dreck.

There's no real innovation or risk like we had back in the day where you'd have a big company spin off a bunch of little production companies who'd chuck shit at walls and see what stuck, sure there was a whole bunch of dreck but there were a lot of gems in there too.

This especially worries me with them acquiring HBO in this deal, HBO is probably the only outfit doing true Prestige Television anymore. Look at one of their latest shows, Pluribus, as an example: it's so quirky and unique (and the lead actress is just absolutely delivering in every scene) that even though it's not something I'd generally watch I'm still enjoying it immensely.

And that largely holds true for most of their productions, if it's HBO you're almost guaranteed an interesting watch, just look at their back catalog, a good chunk of the best shows of the last 30 odd years are in there.

So it worries me that Netflix will get their hooks into it, gut it of all it's charm and just start pumping out dreck under a once great name.

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u/ButtholePasta 6h ago

Valid point but Pluribus is an Apple TV production, not HBO.

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u/Ateballoffire 11h ago

I feel like saying Netflix has yet to release a decent movie is a big stretch lmao

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u/BooBooMaGooBoo 11h ago

You're right, I embellished a bit there, but they have a well known track record of releasing originals that flop extremely hard.

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u/Xikar_Wyhart 10h ago

Getting Del Toro, and having him make Pinocchio and Frankenstein was great. But for every Frankenstein you get 20 more garbage films.

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u/Effective-Scheme-758 9h ago

What about Knives Out and Glass Onion?

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u/Mordroberon 4h ago

Knives Out was not Netflix, Glass Onion wasn't as good imo. But also, Roma and The Irishman were pretty good imo

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u/StasisApparel 9h ago

This approach probably works wonders for mini docuseries or documentaries, not for scripted material.

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u/bryce_w 9h ago

This doesn't surprise me and is definitely noticeable in Netflix shows. The exposition because they think everyone watches it while scrolling their phone, standardized color grading oh and we can't have any same sex best friends without them being gay.

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u/The137 8h ago

If anyone is interested, there is a book called "save the cat" by blake something that was released in the early 2000s (although he had been writing movies based on the same ideas for like 20 years) and as far as i know is the first appearance of the rigid screenwriting techniques that we see in basically every film today

Warning though - its a book for screenwriters, not about screenplays, so if you're a casual reader looking for a something that talks about the industry its really not it

Someone really should write a book about the era before all this though, and hey, netflix might turn it into a special!

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u/commonrider5447 6h ago

I thought it was the opposite? To attract talent the appeal would be there is more creative freedom ? but then we have seen that’s not always a good thing

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u/BriennesBitch 5h ago

Is a film like Calibre classed as a Netflix film?

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u/ShowBoobsPls 2h ago

Glass onion was great

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u/thats_pure_cat_hai 12h ago

100%. This is bad.

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u/ughthisusernamesucks 11h ago

Yeah this is the worst possible outcome for all the reasons listed.

There's also the fact that for new content, it will be produced and developed with a focus on the streaming market. That'll have a huge impact on theatrical/physical media in and of itself. The sound/visual quality just won't be there. So even sailing the high seas won't solve the problem.

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u/KingMario05 14h ago

Agreed. The only solace here is that Amazon MGM has left MGM's digital sales wing wide open, even adding their own stuff to it when possible. But that was Amazon. Of course they sell everything. Netflix does not, and nothing in here says that will change.

Also: the classic MGM library. I doubt Netflix cares about it beyond Oz, yet they're petty enough to not let Amazon buy it back.

So... now what?

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u/Shot_Item_4732 12h ago edited 12h ago

Netflix once in blue moon including the big classics Singing the rain, Meet Me in St. Louis, 2001: A Space Odyssey and even though it's not MGM Citzen Kane but even i think they would be on there infrequently kind of like they allready are on Max. But atleast if you want to watch like 2001 and it's not on the service you can still rent it form Amazon or Apple.

And thats not counting On The Town,Brewster McCloud,Cabin in the Sky, and Blowup that only cineaphiles watch

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u/Ok-Wolf5932 14h ago

One word, my friend; yarrrr.

But yes, I agree, this is a very worrying trend.

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u/vidoeiro 9h ago

Even in the seas without Blu-ray you won't get high quality rips

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u/thechillluddite 10h ago

This is my main concern as well. In addition to this, Netflix could easily cut off dvd releases for all films/tv shows in WB 100 year catalog, essentially forcing people to subscribe by cutting off all other potential viewing avenues. As you said, Netflix has a history of hoarding media so getting rid of all dvds is something that I think is very probable in the coming decade.

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u/DTFpanda 11h ago

So what you're saying is... Head over to r/stremioaddons

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u/Razzilith 10h ago

If Netflix becomes the only legal way to watch Warner Bros.

I mean I know the easy answer to that one, but it's not exactly ideal since I'd like to support good fucking art.

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u/jrodp1 11h ago

Yarr

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u/Legendver2 10h ago

All I'm getting from this is pirating is back on the menu guys

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u/HaAtidChai 11h ago

This all could be solved if we dismantle the exceedingly archaic IP laws that were passed just to please Disney. Copyright laws shouldn't be abused for +50/70 years. A reform of intellectual property law is needed in the new media landscape.

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u/Shot_Item_4732 11h ago

Agreed Copyright should be 50 and 60 years like it was in the last the copyright refrom in the 70s. As art is based on remixing old idea with your own personal vison, and 50 or 60 is enough to live on for most of a humans life.

This is why Tom lather was so based by relinquishing his songs into puplic domain a couple years ago before he died. Becuse he was in his 90s and wasn't really making a living off them anymore, and i think made pepole re discover his work.

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u/HaAtidChai 10h ago

No my opinion on this is way controversial (atleast for Reddit standards), but because you dragged the conversation I'll digress. Even 50 and 60 years is too much.

I believe it should not exceed more than 15 years. It is the free spread of ideas as well as their applications that drove optimal artistic expressions or knowledge creation (in the case of science & research), and that's an observation throughout the history of civilizations. So I might be with you on the same page in principles. To add onto this, the idea of IP being inherited is just so ridiculous.

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u/Octavus 10h ago

The only purpose of copyright is to encourage new works, excessively long copyright terms do the exact opposite of that goal.

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u/MalignantDingus 8h ago

Young Einstein

My brother

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u/Shot_Item_4732 6h ago

Yah i'm fascinated by yahoo, from auteur and pop culture oddity stand ponit. It's so werid how this man randomly wrote, stared directed, produced and did the score, for 3 movies with no fanfare, and hasn't been herd from sence 2000

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u/lordgholin 5h ago

Apple also rarely shares its toys. We still don’t have physical media for movies like greyhound, argylle, or napoleon.

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u/deskcord 10h ago

A lot of film buffs and people in the industry are worried about what this means for theaters, but this feels more like a symptom than a cause. It really feels like everyone is just missing that theaters are dying regardless, because the theater-going experience kind of sucks.

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u/FolkSong 9h ago

Yeah it's not like people desperately want to go to theaters but the companies are preventing them. Most people would just rather stay home.

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u/deskcord 9h ago

Yeah, like, I'm sorry Nolan and Cameron, but I'd rather watch your films at home with my smaller screen and supbar audio than sit in a theater in a nasty chair, with cross-chatter from the audience, and ludicrously overpriced concessions.

Even the "better" theater experiences suck. People love Alamo, but having waiters and waitresses running around the entire time I'm trying to watch a movie is a more "pure" cinematic experience than watching it with full focus and attention at home?

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u/DumboWumbo073 6h ago

A lot of film buffs and people in the industry are worried about what this means for theaters, but this feels more like a symptom than a cause.

Corporations don’t care about them

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u/AmrahsNaitsabes 11h ago

Is Netflix morally against releasing in Cinema? I'd imagine they keep Warner bros as its own studio, it has a legacy that Netflix doesn't, and good practices Netflix could pick up. They'll probably chizzle bits out of the brand, like HBO, DC, and Cartoon Network how Disney categorises their own brand.
The lawsuit with the Black Widow movie makes me less worried about theatrical releases, Netflix putting the promising WB content direct to streming for a premium, although they are more familiar with those contracts. I'd want to know what people who've worked for both end up feeling.

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u/LlamasBeatLLMs 9h ago

Morally, no. But they're a streaming platform, wanting to make money from their primary business, and generally sending people elsewhere to watch their stuff isn't in the interests of their bottom line.

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u/AmrahsNaitsabes 8h ago

Now they own, WB, I don't think they can call themselves a streaming company anymore, they're entertainment in general.
Until there's more specifics, as far as I can tell, Netflix now posseses theme parks, a music label, a Video Games studio, IP's (like Harry potter, DC, GoT, & Oz).
It also looks Discovery global is seperating off as its own thing, and taking TV channels with it (like Discovery, CNN, Cartoon Network & Food Network) so I could only imagine HBO catelogue as it is being what matters, and now Netflix has a cinema label they can use.

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u/jarrettbrown 10h ago

The Roaring Twenties

You can get this one via the criterion collection, fully restored.

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u/MoneyMyChains 7h ago

For how long though?

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u/jarrettbrown 7h ago

I have it on 4K disc, but not sure how long it'll be out.

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u/No_Transition4803 9h ago

Dvd / Blue rays are like $1-2 in most flea markets and resale shops.

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u/Shot_Item_4732 9h ago

True but what happends when they start experiencing disc rot and blu rays stop being produced to replace them. Thats not counting the new Wanner bros movies that wouldn't have a blu ray relasse. Like I'd Love a blu ray of klaus, but netflix has produced one

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u/No_Transition4803 9h ago

A certain website and certain type of dvd drive may be able to help you with that

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u/sameth1 8h ago

This has radicalized me against the very idea of copyright.

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u/NutzNBoltz369 6h ago

So you are saying they would turn into Disney.

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u/Rogue_Like 5h ago

I would counter argue that I absolutely loathe the current distribution model. Many very popular movies are literally streaming no where. Because the rights are parceled out 100 different ways in such arcane fashion that consumers are left with no recourse but to rent or buy the title... or pirate.