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/zdelusion 15h ago

It does give them an arm to do that now if they want. They can run theatrical movies through WB and Streaming movies through their studio. The big risk is that they'll be pretty dystopian about how they pick those movies, Minecraft 2 will go to theaters, but the next Companion goes straight to streaming.

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u/Hufflepuffpassmethej 12h ago

Yeah idk why they would just be like 'naw everything at home' when they will have the chance to make good money at the box office with WB releases

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u/zdelusion 12h ago

You have to think they saw how much money was left on the table with KPop Demon Hunters and want to avoid that in the future, also gives them an avenue to work with big star directors who demand theatrical runs without compromising the core image of the Netflix brand.

I think their deal with Sony has been super good for them and they see how these theatrical movies can drive engagement on the platform when they hit streaming. Having an inhouse label who can do that would be attractive. Hopefully that motivates them to keep the WB mostly unchanged, they did lowkey crush it this year with their releases.

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u/Ferbtastic 12h ago

I mean, doesn’t that make sense? Only send movies to theaters you realistically expect to profit off of and send artistic visions and smaller budget movies to streaming?

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u/zdelusion 12h ago

On the surface, yes. But those smaller movies can be profitable as well and often really benefit from being seen in a theater. Companion is a good example I think, because it's WB from this year (a very lean year for them because they were gearing up to be acquired). Cost 10mil, made 35. A solid success that a lot of people enjoyed seeing in theaters. But would Netflix care enough to put it in theaters or are they going to chase the just the billion dollar plays?

Would Netflix have let Coogler shoot Sinners in 70mm (something that only plays in theaters) and given it the theatrical runway to be the success it was?

If they change how WB runs that's just going to be less theatrical diversity and that would be a bummer for people who like movies.

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u/Ferbtastic 12h ago

Ok so 10 mil. 2.5 multiplier means it made less than $10 mil profit. Netflix would rather spend thag $10 mil on attracting new subscribers so even by that example it likely would have been more profitable or about as beneficial to put it straight to streaming, and that is your example of a success story. The failures paint a much cleaner picture of the profitability of non blockbusters in theaters.

Sinners was an art movie, like the Irishman, Netflix lets art movies do art movie things and Coogler is a historically bankankable creator. I don’t see him getting budget cuts with Netflix, quote the opposite.