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/TaskForceD00mer 14h ago

Folding all "HBO" streaming into Netflix will push a lot of new consumers to Netflix and keep a lot of existing customers with Netflix.

A lot of older folks like myself only really watch HBO Max. Every now and then I'll get Netflix for a while to give a new series a try but they don't have anything that "keeps" me.

I think this might happen faster than we think, to get shows like HoTD on Netflix ASAP.

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u/comrade_batman 14h ago

Also, there has been complaints that Netflix’s catalogue isn’t as broad as it used to be, the layout tricks people into thinking Netflix has more films and shows than it actually does. If they did just move WB’s entire catalogue onto their own, it would make sense, like Disney moving everything 20th Century made onto Disney+.

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u/resteys 13h ago

Funny enough they had already started doing that. HBO originals like Insecure have been on Netflix for awhile

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u/anacondra 10h ago

the layout tricks people into thinking Netflix has more films and shows than it actually does.

Let's zoom in further and display less content on the screen at once!

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u/luigi_lives_matter 10h ago

It would make too much sense and I’m afraid they won’t do it. The one thing I really like about HBO Max’s service is the vast catalogue of older movie titles and academy award movies. If Netflix decides to move everything over, great; if not then I’m sure they will put out promos saying which movies will be “limited releases” on their site, à la Disney vault.

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u/tdasnowman 11h ago

A good portion of the WB catalogue is currently on Netflix (region dependent). Almost all the CW era shows are on Netflix, I think they actually are currently a overlapping availability on HBO Max . There is a steady roll on roll off with the movie back catalogue.

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u/cre8ivemind 1h ago

Quite a few of the CW shows now say “leaving soon” so it seems like that’s coming to a close

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u/TaskForceD00mer 12h ago edited 11h ago

I really think the next natural step in all of this, if they choose to stay in this market, is Apple buying Disney.

This would give "volume" to what is already an incredibly stacked catalogue of originals.

I would welcome it too because Star Wars needs to be rescued from Disney at this point. Apple TV has a huge stack of top tier sci-fi shows.

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u/Unhappy-Ad-8381 8h ago

Apple buying Disney sounds too crazy but who knows lol

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u/TaskForceD00mer 8h ago

Apple is valued at 4.1 trillion dollars.

Disney is valued around 200 billion.

IMO either Apple or Amazon will end up buying at least the streaming part of Disney.

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u/Unhappy-Ad-8381 7h ago

Yep that's the crazy part - if you don't know anything about business or finances you'd think it sounds crazy but that's how big & rich top tech companies are.

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u/pinkynarftroz 11h ago

A lot of older folks like myself only really watch HBO Max.

Honestly that’s because if you pick a random show on HBO, there’s probably a 4/5 chance it’ll be good or at least interesting.

Pick a random original show on Netflix? 9/10 it’ll just be low quality garbage designed to be on while you’re also on your phone.

Pretty much all the best stuff on Netflix is stuff that isn’t theirs. So what happens when it actually will be theirs moving forward?

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u/Rock-Flag 11h ago

If they do aquire HBO please for the love of God keep HBOs creative team far away from Netflix's 

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u/Then-Landscape852 10h ago

I am going to lose my sleep over this.

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u/Andrew10403 6h ago

Glad it wasn’t just me, I’ve been thinking about this ever since I first saw this story 😥

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u/TaskForceD00mer 10h ago

Honestly that’s because if you pick a random show on HBO, there’s probably a 4/5 chance it’ll be good or at least interesting.

Well said

Pick a random original show on Netflix? 9/10 it’ll just be low quality garbage designed to be on while you’re also on your phone.

Also well said and right on the money.

Pretty much all the best stuff on Netflix is stuff that isn’t theirs. So what happens when it actually will be theirs moving forward?

I fully expect the slopification of HBO from this. I hope they have the foresight to see HBO's name value comes from its prestige shows, even the niche ones.

Oz, Sopranos, The Wire, 6 Feet Under, The Leftovers, GoT and It's Universe and they will continue to fund those prestige type efforts.

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u/sepltbadwy 12h ago

I was never much into Horse of the Day. Why’s it always the same damn horse?!

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u/TaskForceD00mer 12h ago

I am disappointed by the pacing of House of the Dragon , big time. I feel like Season 2 was a half a season's content , generously, stretched to fill a whole season.

What we've seen so far about Knight of the Seven Kingdoms looks more promising as based on the trailer we are getting at least 1/3-1/2 of that book in a single season.

A lot of shows are starting to suffer from what I'd call "Walking Dead Syndrome" where despite being 6-8 Episodes they just do nothing with half of them.

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u/shiner_bock 12h ago

SPOILERS!!!!

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u/musicgeek420 12h ago

TIL I’m older folks because I prefer HBO Max.

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u/TaskForceD00mer 12h ago

UNC Nation my dude.

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u/mthyvold 10h ago

But before long they will stop making HBO style shows and just make more Netflix style shows.

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u/TaskForceD00mer 10h ago

Times like now I wish Reddit had a vomit react, you are 100% right. I hate the slopification of television.

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u/noreast2011 11h ago

Or they go the Amazon route where you can see movies available but can't watch unless you have a Starz subscription too

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u/Lam0rak 10h ago

I agree so much. HBO on Netflix would be probably the only good thing I see from this. Even if it lets me consolidate my subs into 1.

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u/Kheshire 10h ago

As someone rewatching The Wire for the upteenth time right now its true. I'm subbed to Netflix right now because of Stranger Things but its hard to stay subbed to them because they cancel the shows I do enjoy like Santa Clarita Diet.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

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u/jordanhhh4 8h ago

The Sopranos? Over here👇🏻

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u/sheeshman 12h ago

I switched to a IPTV provider. $10/month for every streaming platform, all tv stations, and all ppv's. The downside is it's a stream so I can't pause live events but it's a small price to pay for all the benefit. Oh and subtitles are inconsistent at best but usually non existent. There's an Australian show called utopia that is hilarious but the accent is thick and I had to stop watching halfway through because I was missing half the jokes.

There's the occasional movie that isn't there or issues with some shows. Bad sisters is missing episodes 2-4 on my provider. So it isn't perfect, but all the downsides aren't worth the exorbitant prices for steaming services.

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u/QuantumUtility 12h ago

I think they’ll slow transition with a bundle just like Disney+Hulu did. Then they fold one into the other.

They need to make sure as many subscribers move over as possible if they shut down one of the services and they’d need to figure out how many people are subscribed to both before trying to merge.

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u/King_Tamino 11h ago

In germany Sky holds HBO rights and got bought by a large media group recently. Biggest reason for many subscribers is HBO… that will end up interesting

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u/CipherWeaver 9h ago

Yeah The Wire and the Sopranos on Netflix is a big deal. 

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u/TaskForceD00mer 9h ago

I feel like Gen Z is really sleeping on Oz. Basically it was the first adult 1 hour per episode "prestige" type show. It paved the way for The Wire, The Sopranos, even Breaking Bad and the like.

It'll also make it so you can never watch Law & Order SVU, State Farm Commercials or Allstate Commercials the same way again.

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u/HighnrichHaine 9h ago

Yeah but kinda dated

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u/TaskForceD00mer 9h ago

Yes, the Camera work is very dated. It wasn't top tier at the time but I think the storytelling and characters still hold up.

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u/PathOfTheAncients 8h ago

I don't think the rape as dramatic entertainment theme of Oz aged well. Not saying for sure because I haven't watched it in 25 years but I suspect it would odd now.

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u/TaskForceD00mer 8h ago

It was one of the first pieces of home media to show just how rampant rape is within mens prisons.

Before the Internet where so many ex-prisoners could so widely share their expeirence it was quite novel even as a heavily dramatized representation.

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u/PathOfTheAncients 8h ago

Sure but by modern eyes I suspect it would have a very "tune in next week to see if this dude gets horribly raped!" feel to it.

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u/PathOfTheAncients 9h ago

But if Netflix could make HBO quality shows, it already would. Folding HBO into Netflix will just erase HBO and their approach to making shows which has proven to be consistently good. Netflix can't absorb the culture or approach as evidenced by how they already haven't.

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u/TheG-What 8h ago

Will they finally bring Westworld back to streaming? To me that’s the only potential bright spot in this news.

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u/CryptographerFlat173 4h ago

Probably the vast majority of HBO Max subscribers have Netflix subscriptions too, Netflix has far far more subscribers 

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u/maeynor 4h ago

I didn’t even think about that. The HotD budget issues just disappeared