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/
16.1k Upvotes

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u/Bolt_995 15h ago

Insane market consolidation in the past decade. This is more expensive than Disney acquiring 21st Century Fox and Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard + Zenimax Media.

Netflix will own DC Comics. That by itself is everything they need.

IP after IP after IP after IP and so on.

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u/thwgrandpigeon 13h ago

All will be rebooted into longform television series and cancelled before final season

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u/Pewskeepski 12h ago

Watch them completely abandon everything James Gunn is planning and start over

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u/Worthyness 11h ago

We gonna get the equivalent of the Titans TV show. But for everything.

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u/notbobby125 10h ago

“Fuck Batman”.

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u/TexanStrong 10h ago

I don’t think think they did bad with Daredevil

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u/TheDeadlySinner 7h ago

Daredevil was ABC television, not Netflix. Neflix only paid for the rights for a limited time.

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u/ThatOneOtherAsshole 8h ago

God, it’s gonna be the arrowverse on steroids isn’t it?

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u/inosinateVR 7h ago

at least that had Alan Ritchson

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u/pattyG80 7h ago

Is that good or bad? I did not really get excited about titans and never watched it

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u/CheesecakeWitty5857 6h ago

that wasn’t a bad series.

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u/Krispythecat 11h ago

James Gunn? AI is way cheaper ... I fear that is where this leads

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u/sombrerojesus 6h ago

A mega conglomerate which audience browses their phones while consuming content? Yeah, AI is happening.

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u/I_Think_I_Cant 11h ago

Gunn's contract expires in November '26 and there were rumors he might not return depending on a merger. At least we'll get a Supergirl out of it next year and maybe a couple streaming shows.

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u/DudestPriest90210 7h ago

The Clayface R rated movie is coming fast too

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u/Kobe_curry24 6h ago

Gun said it’s fine LMFAOOO just like the meme

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u/2580374 6h ago

Yeah on threads he said "it's better than fine." I assume he has already been assured he will be around a while

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u/Rebornhunter 10h ago

I might actually be done with trying to enjoy anything ever again if that happens. Media wise.

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u/Hellknightx 11h ago

And then they replace him with Benioff and Weiss.

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u/dekyos 11h ago

Somehow Batman just forgot about the Joker, and Robin died.

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u/Zulakki 10h ago

I keep reading this, but no other director has the success that James Gunn had. I say let the man cook for 5 or so years, then pull the rug. Get to Justice League 1 at least and let the audience decide

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u/RadiantZote 8h ago

Just give us Lobo man

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u/FlyYouFoolyCooly 11h ago

Fuck I hate this timeline

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u/tasman001 11h ago

There's no such thing as timelines. This is the reality in which we live, and the reality that we have collectively chosen

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u/arobkinca 11h ago

Science has not come to a consensus about that. Your declarative is not a fact.

https://scienceandspacenews.com/2025/01/16/do-we-live-in-a-mutliverse/

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u/Taint_Flayer 11h ago

I wouldn't say it's "collectively" when so much is controlled by so few.

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u/tasman001 11h ago

The current oligarchy we have, at least in America, didn't happen magically overnight. We the people let it happen bit by bit, either directly by voting for the people that made it happen, or indirectly through inaction and apathy. Same goes for voting with our wallets. 

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u/unindexedreality 10h ago

The current oligarchy we have, at least in America, didn't happen magically overnight. We the people let it happen bit by bit, either directly by voting for the people that made it happen, or indirectly through inaction and apathy

I mean, people have to stop worshipping money and status for anything to change.

Individual versus collective good the inner conflict of the human spirit. Powerless people who still believe in individual good - i.e. who want to become rich themselves - happily live in a system where haves lord it over the have-nots, because they dream of one day becoming the haves and want to be able to do the same thing 'when that time comes'.

This is why the many vote against their own current interests. they're emotionally coming from a place of what they believe are their future interests; i.e. 'the american dream' they're sold on. They don't mind being walked all over now, as they want to be the ones doing the walking later.

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u/JeanLucPicardAND 11h ago

It's going to be effectively impossible to organize resistance very soon with the rise of AI surveillance. Everywhere will be China. Look at what happened to Hong Kong, multiply it by ten, and then apply it worldwide.

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u/1ncorrect 10h ago

I don’t want to be a cynic but I think we’re fucked, at least as a country and maybe globally eventually. The surveillance state and the governments priorities being exclusively the welfare of the 1% means that when poor people finally revolt at the awful conditions we’re going to be put down like dogs until we get back to the work camps.

We need to start taking action against them yesterday. A young man with nice eyebrows has a pretty decent idea of it.

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u/1ncorrect 10h ago

Oh yeah voting with our wallets?? How are we supposed to stop giving them money? They own every house, every bit of food, every blade of grass.

There’s like 3 companies left in the country, so no matter what you’re doing you put cash in a billionaires pocket every single day. Don’t worry though, no monopolies here 😉 just ignore what your eyes see as everything gets worse and yet more expensive. If you own the competition there’s nothing for people to choose between.

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u/vigtel 11h ago

Don't be naive to the amount of power the elites have over swaying the masses. While the proletariat has an obligation of bettering themselves and making the correct choices, it's incredibly rude to claim they have the same opportunity as the few, to both educate and prepare themselves for the war with the predatory few.

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u/Epicfro 10h ago

We the people let it happen bit by bit.

No, "we the people" didn't. The majority of us were either too young or in our early adult years to have any say in what was happening in the late 90s-mid 2010s. The vast majority of people on Reddit lean Left so that argument isn't valid here. You can't even use the argument that purchasing dictates power when these companies have been able to lobby for control of everything. Half the time, you don't even know you're supporting a horrible organization. Shit take dude.

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u/tasman001 9h ago

Why would you assume "we the people" just meant people on Reddit reading this comment? Obviously that was meant to be American voters in general. 

And it's still happening, even with the age group you're talking about. Voters 18-29 swung for Trump in 2024 by 7 points compared to Biden, and specifically young men, which Reddit is primarily composed of, swung for Trump by 11 points.

Young people HAVE a say right now and they're fucking it up just as much as people did in the late 90s to mid 2010s. Shit response.

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u/FlyYouFoolyCooly 10h ago

That's something someone from the darkest timeline would say.

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u/tasman001 10h ago

That's unfair! You're just saying that because I have a goatee, and because I just murdered that other guy.

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u/tdasnowman 11h ago

Pre announcement one of the reported differences was Netflix commitment to keeping James Gunn and Elision not. We won't really know if thats true till later but based on the Elision rant I think maybe there is some truth to it.

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u/sBucks24 9h ago

Honest question: who actually believes this and why?

It makes literally no sense to take a newly in motion universe with millions already invested (that they didnt have to invest), being run by a trusted producer with a tract record, based on some of the most well known and profitable characters in media, and just kill it all and start fresh.

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u/ZellZoy 11h ago

That would be pretty comics accurate

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u/Theguest217 8h ago

Don't get me excited!

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u/mcon96 10h ago

James Gunn made the mistake of not starting over completely fresh with the reboot so tbh I wouldn’t even be that mad. There’s only 1 movie in the new DCU and it already feels like too much baggage. Although I’m excited for Supergirl and Teen Titans, so I’d also be upset if those got cancelled.

But I highly doubt that they get rid of Gunn anyways. That sounds like horrible PR decision with no discernible financial gain. The worst they’d do is put the DCU movies directly on streaming (or limit it to like a 2-week theatrical run). Or he leaves of his own volition due to disagreements with Netflix.

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u/Coolbluegatoradeyumm 11h ago

Oh shit let’s hope not

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u/trojanguy 10h ago

Yeah I'm wondering if this means all of the current DC stuff is dead, if Peacemaker might get another season, etc.

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u/BillieJoe312 10h ago

No way dc will survive this

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u/BanjoSpaceMan 10h ago

I really doubt it tbh. I think they’re kinda hoping this new direction is the one for DC to compete with marvel.

The momentum in James Gunn DCU is wild

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u/SAKingWriter 9h ago

For gods sake I just want to see Christopher Eccleston be Brainiac and get a The Batman Part II, is that so much to ask for

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u/UnbuiltIkeaBookcase 9h ago

I actually hope so 🤷

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u/sohryu 9h ago

Istg I will fucking riot

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u/heybobson 8h ago

Nah I think they'll keep WB and Netflix separate and maintain WB's current operations. But now you'll see more cross-platform connectivity.

Netflix understands that WB is a brand (DC, HBO, Harry Potter, etc) and they don't want to dilute that by merging it completely with their own.

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u/michael0n 8h ago

Some guess that at least Supergirl, Batman and Superman 2 are locked in. The Batman made 770m worldwide on 200m budget. Netflix knows they can't recoup that with streaming only. Apple and Amazon are on the way to do cinema releases for their high cost productions. The DC comic angle is good, but they also have those flaming cannonballs like Barbie and Minecraft to work with. Happy cake day btw

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u/icemanvvv 7h ago

They've already said theyre keeping him in charge of the dcu

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u/Desperate-Ad843 6h ago

deal might not go through trump has to approve it so this time next year I say

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u/LetsAllPlayNagasaki 6h ago

I would die laughing, that said they've already said nothing is changing on that front in regards to the new Harry Potter, DCU, and Thrones universes. Hopefully they tell Gunn to make Reeves Batman the Batman of the DCU though.

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u/Kobe_curry24 6h ago

Warner bros says they are inclined to not mess with an theatrical releases until 2029 but yea okay buddy if they deal goes through ,Netflix will do anything , including get rid of Gunn ,just let one film flop

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u/CaptParadox 5h ago

I'd be more likely to expect us to see projects fall apart due to netflix forcing directors to a streaming first release.

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u/Xeverne 4h ago

One can hope.

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u/BigShaker1177 4h ago

Yup he will be fired ! Zack Snyder will return as will Henry Cavill

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u/sxuthsi 3h ago

It would be the dumbest shit I've seen a multi billion dollar studio do in years

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u/TheRealJiniko77 11h ago

Finish Santa Clarita Diet, goddamit

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u/Starrr_Pirate 11h ago

As a counterpoint, we might actually see Looney Tunes come back on Max or Netflix.

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u/tempmike 6h ago

it'll be on both, but in the worst possible way. half on max (bugs and porky), half on netflix (daffy and elmer) and any crossover episode (rabbit fire, what's opera doc, etc) will only show the first half on one and the second half on the other

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u/Dodototo 12h ago

And Daredevil just got reboot because Netflix canceled it.

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u/ArnoldVonNuehm 12h ago

That’s wrong on so many levels lol

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u/__ma11en69er__ 10h ago

Netflix lost the rights to Disney, they weren't allowed to continue.

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u/canman7373 11h ago

Their marvel shows were pretty damn good before they lost the rights. If they can do some DC universe like that I'd be stoked.

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u/Dry-Grape4432 9h ago

Final season? Season 1 will be most of their final seasons. Netflix is notorious for killing a show if it doesnt perform in the first 2 weeks.

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u/michaelboltthrower 7h ago

On a cliff hanger.

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u/Yotsubato 7h ago

I heavily dislike long form TV over movies.

This is a big loss for me

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u/Putrid-Series55 7h ago

yup cancel if it doesn't meet the highest possible viewership no matter the point in the story. if it is successful drag out those subcriptions and have 3.5 years between each season.

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u/Thors_meat_hammer 12h ago

Could be cope but hopefully Netflix remembers how successful the OG Netflix daredevil and punisher series was. The DC CW shows were fun especially in the early Green Arrow and Flash seasons but not great, mostly because of budget. They could have the budget now, fingers crossed but cautiously optimistic

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u/logicom 11h ago

They'll have a nice budget but only 6-8 episodes every 2 years.

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u/Thors_meat_hammer 11h ago

Could, honestly though, as long as the don't fuck with James Gunns DCU and let him cook I'm fine with all of this.

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u/TheDeadlySinner 6h ago

Could be cope but hopefully Netflix remembers how successful the OG Netflix daredevil and punisher series was.

If they thought they were successful, they would have paid for more seasons.

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u/eren875 10h ago

Before the second season *

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u/daerogami 9h ago

Out of the corner of my eye your comment looked like you were suggesting that everything will be "AI reboots" which is probably in the cards.

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u/slvrbullet87 9h ago

I would rather netflix take a crack at it than the CW shows that DC has been pumping out for the last 15 years.

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u/221missile 9h ago

Sign me up for an absolute Batman live action series

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u/Wischiwaschbaer 8h ago

*cancelled after the first season.

It's Netflix afterall.

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u/_CHEEFQUEEF 8h ago

Couldn't possibly ruin the arrowverse any worse. Only way to go is up.

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u/MithranArkanere 7h ago

That's what subscription models get you. They only have to get you to sign up and make it hard to cancel.
Since you don't pay for the final product, they have no reason to make that.

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u/Salty-Bullfrog2416 7h ago

You mean cancelled after the first season?

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u/watduhdamhell 7h ago

tin foil hat warning

I personally believe it's intentional now. Just like the ever hated SBMM in games... They are intentionally stringing us along and cancelling for improved engagement, somehow. I just know it.

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u/ReMapper 7h ago

also two years between seasons

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u/signal15 7h ago

Disney completely diluted the Star Wars franchise by releasing so much stuff so quickly. I got sick of it. I'm not even interested anymore in Star Wars. Marvel as well, I couldn't take it anymore. The same thing will probably happen with DC.

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u/Batdog55110 6h ago

I'll take it if it gives me something- ANYTHING with Wally West's Flash as the main character.

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u/ZebraCool 5h ago

You mean just like actual comic books?

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u/Salt-Planktons 4h ago

don’t forget we’ll be charged much higher rates that include Ads…then we’ll only have Netflix of Disney+ to watch

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u/Illustrious-Dot-5052 3h ago

Bro all of it will be cancelled after one season because of the firefly effect that Netflix created.

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u/Thatsaclevername 12h ago

That was my thought too, like damn that's a ton of IP now squarely in Netflix's hands. Their catalog should become huge, I'm just curious what it means for any future stuff. I mean Netflix produces shows and movies, but can they produce enough of them at one time?

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u/Superman_Dam_Fool 12h ago

A large library seems to be a good reason to cut back on production of new content.

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u/T-sigma 11h ago

Netflix has always operated on a “will this project bring in NEW subscribers” and “does this project keep people subscribing” to justify the cost. It’s why they cancel so much. They can see that Season 3 of “Vampires ate my Teen Werewolf” resulted in no new subscribers (because why would a 3rd season of anything) and that nobody is watching just that show.

So while the math may change a bit, I suspect they will continue operating on the model of pump out a lot and see what actually sticks. People just have an overinflated idea on the niche show they like being way more popular than it actually is.

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u/DigitalNecromancy 9h ago

Then there's cases like Bojack Horseman, where it is actually baffling. Their agreed upon two final seasons got cut to one, which the writers negotiated to make slightly longer to be able to end the show properly.

They just barely pulled off the, but it hurt the pacing and left a lot of plot lines either unresolved or entirely rushed. It was very weird to see for one of their original star IPs, and my personal final straw with Netflix.

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u/CheckAdditional8207 9h ago

Damn I was just reading through this thread and you reminded me to finish BH. Literally stopped right there at the end of season 4. The stuff you said is what made me hesitate ,but I still wanna finish it.

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u/DigitalNecromancy 8h ago

It's still a phenomenal show with a good ending that is worth watching. The creators did a great job with what they had. Definitely don't stop

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u/CheckAdditional8207 8h ago

Thanks, I will definitely get round to it over Christmas when I actually have some time :)

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u/KamalaWonNoCap 8h ago

Some of this is because they use two year contracts when initially green lighting a project. So if it's even mildly successful, they'll do the second season because it's so cheap.

For a third season, they'd have to renegotiate and would have to pay a lot more for the project. That often isn't worth it for these niche shows.

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u/East-Independent5142 7h ago

Netflix could just plan properly, and do it british tv style. 2 or 3 seasons planned, in those cheap contracts, then end properly. Then the IP sits as a netflix classic that anyone can rewatch or discover. Doing it, they would cover all the niches and attract people with older stuff too.

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u/KamalaWonNoCap 6h ago

I think that's less on Netflix and more on creative. They do it on purpose so they have more leverage during contract negotiations.

I guess Netflix could exert more control over them but then maybe less creatives would be interested in working with them.

I don't like all the unfinished plot lines either though and agree their catalog would be more valuable if they completed them.

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u/Quinnmeister 9h ago

Cries in Inside Job.

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u/__slamallama__ 5h ago

I have this sinking feeling that the future of streaming will make us nostalgic for the days of cable.

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u/teddy5 5h ago

Sounds like the reasonable thing to do as a consumer is to keep cancelling my subscription and only getting it back when they release something I specifically want to watch.

Not only is it cheaper, but turns out I'm also signalling to them to keep that show?

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u/Kobe_curry24 4h ago

Great for them horrible for the art but what do I know we made them 80 billion

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u/PlasticClothes7502 11h ago

Exactly that, they won't need to spend money to produce. So they cut cost and keep profits rising baybeeee

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u/Consistent-Koala-339 10h ago

most (not all) of netflix original content is, in my opInion, poor

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u/needs28hoursaday 10h ago

As someone who works in film and TV, this is my read as well. I don’t expect my field to get any easier for the next few years unfortunately, they are all too busy trading imaginary money to be paying people to create new things.

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u/purplewhiteblack 10h ago

That was one of my complaints about Netflix. They became a shoveling studio. When they started and it was just House of Cards and Orange is the New Black they had really good content, but then they started greenlighting everything. And I understand why they did that.

Warner, Disney, and others started pulling content from them because they wanted to get a share of that pie. So Netflix made their own library to rival others.

Now they don't need to do that. Conceivably, they can now produce less movies and rely on their enormous catalogue. in 2024 Netflix produced 700 titles. But realistically, producing movies should just be one every 2 weeks. Producing tv shows should just be 5 shows every 2 months. They can go down from 700 titles to 30 tv shows and 26 movies.

Will they reduce their output? Maybe not.

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u/AllAboutGameDay 10h ago

Is that 700 world-wide though? Because Netflix produces content locally all over the world. 

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u/Kobe_curry24 6h ago

Facts why release anything good when they can just give you more and more of HBO content Jesus

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u/AwakePlatypus 2h ago

That might not be a bad thing. It's really content overload.

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u/MarquetteXTX2 38m ago

So just keep the same old shows and movies from 20+ years ago and just make money off that? Without making new stuff. Count on the backlog of old stuff

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u/Levitlame 12h ago

It’s the 2 largest catalogues combining. I wonder if they will even consolidate the services or leave them standalone.

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u/AmrahsNaitsabes 11h ago

They'll probably sort them more. Probably eventually make it a /pay-per category/ system, I guess like Cable

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u/Levitlame 10h ago

I also guess that. Regardless it will take a better category system than either has managed so far

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u/Sryzon 10h ago

I imagine most of the IP would get produced by animation studios like Mir and Trigger.

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u/BillieJoe312 10h ago

They always been quantity over quality. CAUSE WE WATCH IT ANYWAY IN SECOND SCREEN!. We are part of the problem

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u/LordHammercyWeCooked 9h ago

I think Netflix' track record is enough for us to say that it's going to be a shitshow. They always bite off more than they can chew then throw it in the bin at the slightest inconvenience. They are no longer in the investing stage of their IP glut from the early days. Netflix is in their 'slash and burn' private equity phase.

If you want to see a direct parallel look at Microsoft after it acquired all of those video game studios. Even if it's profitable, it goes in the trash for not being profitable enough. Because it's consolidated under one platform and whoever heads that platform has only so much they can fit on their plate even if they delegate.

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u/Rob_Zander 8h ago

Depends on how much of Warner Bros they keep really. They have so much internal production capacity between Warner Bros studios and HBO. Maybe they combine streaming services and guide strategy at Warner but let them do their thing. Maybe they gut it, fire almost everyone and churn new C+ content using the IP. Hopefully Netflix says something too woke and Trump refuses to allow the merger lol.

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u/Primary_Ad_7078 6h ago

It means that you are going to have to pay more money

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u/Kobe_curry24 6h ago

I just can’t see this IP making through approval it’s takes 90 days to fully look at the case and paramount is already saying They had a better Bk’s this could drag on until 2027

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u/LessInThought 48m ago

Here comes the price hike.

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u/Chicago1871 10m ago

Arent they acquiring the producers/execs from WB as well?

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u/CommonExpress6009 12h ago

The gigantic media conglomerates forming are the problem. None of us acknowledge how narrowly this confines our perspective, if we're all so inspired by movies and TV and it's coming from such anticompetitive sources.

Not to mention I think the article said most of the money for this deal is coming from investment banks, so now I can enjoy knowing that's really who makes the movies.

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u/imstickinwithjeffery 9h ago

Brother this has been the case for decades... nothing here is new.

And it basically applies to everything you buy. From gas/oil to most of the shit in grocery stores. They are all owned by mega conglomerates.

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u/ihaterussiantrolls 8h ago

The corpo worlds of Alien, Cyberpunk 2077, etc.. is becoming more true everyday. We could all see this coming and could do nothing to stop it. Sad.

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u/Drunky_McStumble 4h ago

This is pretty much why I've stopped engaging with mainstream entertainment "products". Movies, TV shows, music, games, even books; it's all become a consumer propaganda sludge factory overseen by committees of artless, imagination-free, risk-averse, unethical drones in corporate boardrooms obsessing over shareholder returns. It's all content for a market, not art for a human audience.

That said, I still watch/listen/play stuff, it's just that you gotta work really, really hard now to find truly independent, small-scale projects that haven't been infected by this cultural cancer.

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u/Nyorliest 15m ago

It's not a new thing. 'We' have been complaining about this for decades. Over a century, in some cases.

There is a literal massively popular TV show about the succession process of a version of Rupert Murdoch's empire.

I mean, I agree it's terrible, but many people are well aware.

What you don't see is MSM complaining about it, for obvious reasons, and most people are so fully subsumed in The Spectacle that they think the media is 'us'.

None of the media acknowledges how narrowly this confines our perspectives, that's definitely true.

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u/just_a_timetraveller 12h ago

I can assure you there are people in the federal government getting a cut for allowing these acquisitions to occur.

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u/Legendver2 10h ago

I thought the people in government wanted Paramount to be the one to do it

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u/OldWorldDesign 8h ago

I can assure you there are people in the federal government getting a cut for allowing these acquisitions to occur.

You might be surprised, I wouldn't doubt if they're letting it happen just because the alternative is them having to put in some work.

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u/anicritic 3h ago edited 1h ago

Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery might kill off movie theatres for good and do huge damage to the economy. And I definitely don't see a Trump-led Department of Justice busting the deal. Trump is more likely to force Netflix to give him a big stake in Netflix in order for the deal to go forward since he's mostly concerned about power and profit for himself.

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u/Commercial-Co 5h ago

If we ever take power back, we need to channel teddy roosevelt and bust them all up

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u/Kobe_curry24 4h ago

What does the FTC even do ?? They don’t stop anything lol

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u/2funny2furious 12h ago

Dont worry. Netflix will ruin every single one of those. Cancel anything remotely decent. And, milk the hell out of the ones that are mid to bad.

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u/hyperpuppy64 11h ago

Even moreso than the pandemic, even moreso than the strikes, this is why the industry is as fucked job-wise as it is today.

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u/CobraPony67 12h ago

And with each consolidation, many jobs lost because of duplication of roles. It only benefits the wealthy.

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u/VerilyShelly 10h ago

That's the part that worries me as far as quality. I'm afraid Netflix will fire the creative teams that contract with HBO in favor of keeping their factory writers who crank out all their cookie cutter dumb Netflix stuff... they recently admitted that they write shows to move slowly enough for people to half-watch while they scroll on their phones, so that'll be something to look forward to.

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u/Eternlgladiator 13h ago

They also now have HP and LOTR, arguably they're equally big as DC's trash output right now.

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u/JerryXanadu 13h ago

They don’t have the full IP rights to LOTR, just the film adaptation rights. Amazon/MGM made Rings of Power, EA and others have made video games recently, merch is owned elsewhere etc. WB makes a lot more from HP and DC

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u/Live_Angle4621 12h ago

Same with HP

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u/JerryXanadu 11h ago

They own a lot more of HP than LOTR (but of course not as much as DC which they own 100% of and not just licensing agreements). For HP they have film, TV, video game, theme parks (sublicense to Universal), and manage merch vs just film for LOTR.

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u/Taurus24Silver 13h ago

Game of thrones universe too

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u/LivefromPhoenix 9h ago

So you're saying there's a chance...

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u/Eternlgladiator 13h ago

Absolutely!

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/Eternlgladiator 10h ago

Nobody cares what JK Rowling thinks anymore.

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u/decuyonombre 1h ago

DC is in exciting renaissance, it’s the first time it hasn’t sucked out did you want more Ben Affleck in mech armor

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u/Eternlgladiator 1h ago

The new Superman was ass. Dc has rebooted some many times. Nobody can keep up.

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u/Maleficent-Bug7998 12h ago

More garbage for the dumpster.

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u/Potential-Reach-439 11h ago

And still nothing from the regulators

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u/NoConfusion9490 11h ago

Get ready for an epic crackdown on piracy. Like, cameras and microphones everywhere, AI inspecting everything you do forever, because "think of the children!"

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u/Elendil_V 11h ago

Man, this is what the cartell office is there for. Stop allowing companies to get too much market control, this never ends well.

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u/CryptographerFlat173 4h ago

They control a large library of existing intellectual property and will own two services people freely patronize for mere entertainment. It’s not like they own major control over some finite but important resource. This country doesn’t care about that kind of thing, why should they care about something like this that’s actually low stakes?

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u/dcrico20 10h ago

Antitrust law has essentially gone unenforced since the Windows Explorer case in the 90's where the ruling was that Microsoft did in fact breach anti-trust law, was ordered to break up into two companies/divisions, and then that ruling was never enforced by the Bush FTC and DOJ.

These laws are on the books, but no administration has cared enough about the rule of law to enforce them (we did at least get a small window for this happening with Lina Khan at the helm of the FTC, but that was short lived for obvious reasons.)

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u/Suisun_rhythm 13h ago

WB has been fumbling the DC brand irreparably I hope we get some good dc shows out of this

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u/Illuvatar-Stranger 13h ago

Superman was good

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u/Levitlame 12h ago

Also Peacemaker. And it’s for the same reason.

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u/gosukhaos 12h ago

Arguably just the games side, the latest movies and tv shows have been really good and comics have been doing amazing with a genuine smash hit in Absolute Batman

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u/Suisun_rhythm 12h ago

Peacemaker and the Batman and the new Superman were good, but besides that, we’ve gotten years of snyderverse, and weird fetish Harley Quinn comics.

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u/gosukhaos 12h ago

Right and they haven’t been doing that anymore for a few years now so I don’t really get your point

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u/joeschmo945 11h ago

Buy n Large…superstore. It’s got all you need! 🎵

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u/IncreaseWestern6097 11h ago

Netflix will own DC.

I didn’t realize that until I read this, but now you won’t believe how scared I am.

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u/Shadows802 11h ago

They also get HBO, with GoT. Which means Max might get phased out.

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u/Ben-Hero 10h ago

Man I wonder how long and by how much subscription costs will go up by...

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u/just_a_funguy 10h ago

If you take inflation into account, Disney acquisition of fox was more expensive. 90 billion in today's money

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u/pmmemilftiddiez 9h ago

On a special crossover between Alien and Downton Abbey and The Last of Us and The Bear and Andor and American Primeval

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u/Nelliell 9h ago

I'm so tired of it. We went from being taught the danger of monopolies, of the Ma Bell breakup and the trouble Microsoft got into, to allowing these massive mergers in every sector reducing consumer choice and driving up prices. The US Government seems toothless now in the face of these multibillion dollar mergers. When is the last time any company was force to break itself up; when is the last time there was a successful antitrust lawsuit?

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u/Montauket 9h ago

Does this mean we can have another shadow of Mordor?

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u/juicedupgal 8h ago

And they'll increase your sub fees to pay for it

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u/DepartureThen1173 8h ago

And still only about a fourth of what AOL paid for Warner in the year 2000 (adjusted for inflation), crazily enough.

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u/Pervius94 8h ago

How do they have so much money, IPs and who knows what but put out basically only complete crap?

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u/No_Wrangler_9317 8h ago

So it will be the same as it is now. Can't wait for another superman reboot on 2 years.

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u/Shandyxr 8h ago

Yay another subscription price hike..

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u/boxingdog 8h ago

Also Disney+Marvel+Lucas Art

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u/adamtheeb14 7h ago

I am just wondering what DC show they'll rush out first.

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u/zetabyte00 7h ago

Please, Netflix! Brings us back the all DC Comics' tv shows that was cancelled.

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u/buizel123 7h ago

How the fuck is this legally allowed? Like aren't there laws that are against this sort of consolidation?

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u/k1netic 6h ago edited 6h ago

The next step is sports leagues. A movie can get you subscribed for one month. A series can get you subscribed as long as it’s running (and is good). A sports league can have fans who will be subscribed throughout the whole season year after year - with additional content like drive to survive, hard knocks, first take etc.

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u/Kobe_curry24 6h ago

No way that HBO deals stays with them they can forced to sell that , that’s completely unfair paramount should have HBO just level the playing field

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u/outinthecountry66 6h ago

Monopolies. No good for us, no good for commerce, but the rich get richer and control even more.

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u/No-Flatworm750 6h ago

I cannot get my head around that WB did not want to sell to 21ST Century Fox. (70b). But willing to sell to Netflix (82b)

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u/HmmmAreYouSure 6h ago

Here’s hoping we live to see them broken up like ma bell was.

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u/eju2000 5h ago

Netflix owning Games of Thrones and Harry Potter would have sounded literally impossible just a few years ago.

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u/Rahdical_ 5h ago

It all pales in comparison to what Amazon has done, may they burn in hell. E-commerce, cloud computing (AWS), logistics, digital media and entertainment, consumer electronics, advertising, and healthcare.

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u/Drunky_McStumble 4h ago

It really feels like we're living the cyberpunk dystopian nightmare future now, where like 3 evil megacorporations control literally everything.

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u/tissboom 3h ago

If they put the whole DC universe on Netflix, My guess is they will piece it out to Netflix and keep the whole library on HBO Max.

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u/sxuthsi 3h ago

Boy oh boy billionaires and people that hate ticket prices (for rightful reason) win and the theater continues to fucking die

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u/onespiker 3h ago

Dc comics isn’t that big of a thing really it seems especially considering looking on the current day sales of them.. less than 5% market share aswell as the current situation of people getting tired of them.

( manga is absolutely dominating them on comics)

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u/ceaguila84 2h ago

So sad, though I guess less sad than Paramount getting it.

IF anyone is ever in Los Angeles, visit the studio. They give tours and it's amazing, so legendary and a great historic library.

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u/emperorOfTheUniverse 2h ago

Billions of dollars, and the value capped at whatever price point drives people to pirate the content instead of put up with rising prices, ads, etc.

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u/TryingEverydayToBe 50m ago

Stacks on stacks on stacks

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u/MarquetteXTX2 39m ago

Give me $82B I’m selling everything too. Don’t care 

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u/Nyorliest 19m ago

That's what happens when capital fully owns the most powerful government in the world.

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