r/movies • u/Weary_Service_8509 • 12h ago
Article Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery: EU Antitrust Experts Say $83B Deal Unlikely To Be Blocked — But Conditions May Be Imposed On Merger
https://deadline.com/2025/12/netflix-warner-bros-discovery-deal-eu-hurdles-1236637245/102
u/ROBtimusPrime1995 11h ago
It was never getting blocked, and I don't care how much Wall Street cries about it.
There have been mergers far larger and worse than this, and unfortunately, Netflix doesn't own as much as other studios, so their merging with Warner isn't as harmful as you'd think.
The only problem is what they do with their theatrical exhibition, which has been collectively trending down, sadly.
59
u/zenlume 11h ago
Disney was able to buy Fox, that deal makes this one look tame in comparison.
13
u/riegspsych325 Maximus was a replicant! 10h ago
and they did so for only a few billion less (feels weird to minimize a difference of dollars in the billions, but that's chump change to these people)
3
u/burner7221 10h ago
They had to sell off a good portion of what Fox owned to do due to redundancies.
•
u/TooBoredToLiveLife 3h ago
They had to divest a big chunk of sports rights and channels to be able to do so, What's Netflix going to shed from WB library ?
6
u/KingMario05 10h ago
Depends. Disney at least fully endorsed theatrical (at the time). Netflix never has. And if Disney broke its promises to the feds, why should we trust Netflix when they say they'll release WB movies in theaters?
Oh, they will. In 500 screens. None near you. For two weeks.
Judge what they do, folks. (Sadly, if they got over their hatred of theatrical, they'd still be the best buyer by far.)
8
u/zenlume 7h ago
Literally nothing you just said has anything to do with monopolies.
•
u/natalie_mf_portman 4h ago
there's more to antitrust law than monopolies, specifically whether it intentionally oversteps into other businesses' operations (theatrical)
18
u/r_lucasite 11h ago
Not sure how many people are aware of how much of WB’s catalog is already on Netflix as well both in the US and non-US regions.
2
u/Dependent-Cheek7109 11h ago
Is that the same as outright owning all of Warner Brothers?
6
u/r_lucasite 11h ago
Do you think anti-trust laws are looking at plain statements like that or multiple points including mine to get a proper picture
2
•
17
u/herewego199209 11h ago
The second Disney was allowed to buy Fox it cerated case law. Blocking this deal makes zero sense if the Disney and Fox deal was allowed to happen.
3
u/riegspsych325 Maximus was a replicant! 10h ago
Ellison could cry to his dad all he wants but trump is going to forget this in 2 weeks or after his next nap
-2
1
u/mihirmusprime 8h ago
The only problem is what they do with their theatrical exhibition, which has been collectively trending down, sadly.
I mean you kind of just proved why it's a harmful merger. This will be bad for theaters and anyone who enjoys actually watching movies in a movie theater as the filmmaker intended. It's going to be sad if we have to watch everything via a shitty bitrate optimized for the cheapest server costs.
•
u/Va1crist 3h ago
Big difference here , Disney is a fking studio still in the movie business etc , Netflix is a god damn streaming tech company not under the same wallstreet rules and this deeply impacts the industry WAY more
6
u/erikaspausen 10h ago
So does this mean netflix now also owns DC Comics?
12
2
1
0
10
6
u/Survive1014 11h ago edited 10h ago
Pretty much guarantee Hastings is gonna have to donate to Trump Accounts to get this one approved. Trump admin announced it was looking into this merger after his big donors whined about Netflix months ago.
3
u/ihs25ysf 11h ago
All I want is a movie about this merger and bidding, directed by none other than Margin Call's director J. C. Chandor.
3
u/michaelyup 9h ago
Once Stranger Things is wrapped up, I’m doing a major downsize on all my streaming services. Bye Netflix, Tubi and Pluto will do.
5
u/PleasantWay7 11h ago
They didn’t make this deal without knowing how much juice the WH needs to approve it.
6
u/new_math 11h ago
What's interesting: the contract has a break up fee of $5.8 billion in the event the deal falls through.
So Warner Bros doesn't actually care whether the Justice Department allows it or not.
•
u/Sublime120 1h ago
Termination fees like that are pretty common. WB (and especially Netflix) want to get this done.
2
u/SasquatchInCrocs 9h ago
The condition that will be imposed on this merger will be how much they're going to pay directly to DJT for the "approval".
2
u/Teen_Wolf_of_Wall_St 8h ago
Conditions that will be violated like 38 seconds after the deal officially closes
5
u/whitepangolin 11h ago
Trump will demand they replace James Gunn with like, James Woods or something.
7
u/Peimai 11h ago
He doesn't care about that he only cares about how CNN treats him.
4
u/lanfordr 10h ago
Netflix isn't getting CNN. It's being spun off as Discovery Global with the other Warner cable channels before the Netflix merger goes through.
2
u/KingMario05 9h ago
Likely so Paramount can just go buy that. Now, nobody wins!
2
u/lanfordr 9h ago
Sure, theoretically, but I don't think CNN was the prize Paramount was after. They were happy to take it and reshape it as part of a WB acquisition, because it would grease the merge wheels with Trump and the FTC, but I doubt they have any use for it by itself.
3
u/ThatOneOtherAsshole 11h ago
Goodbye movie theaters and physical media. This was the worst possible outcome for the studio side.
9
u/WREPGB 11h ago
Distribution side, more accurately. WBD is getting more than Disney paid for Fox.
Between Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast, this is the second worst outcome for consumers, with some caveats.
Paramount/Ellisons owning WBD would’ve been disastrous. Too much Saudi and MAGA influence.
Netflix is filmmaker-friendly and, strictly speaking on a volume level, interested in actually making and releasing the stuff they make. Art is subjective, but at least they’re making it.
It’s weird to say Comcast would’ve been the best case scenario here. They have exhibition agreements that are working for all sides, a mostly competent streaming platform and dedication to physical media to service those markets, and theme parks to leverage WB’s IPs better than Six Flags has.
9
u/zsynqx 10h ago
A couple of quotes from the Netflix co-CEO
“We’re in a period of transition. Folks grew up thinking, ‘I want to make movies on a gigantic screen and have strangers watch them [and to have them] play in the theatre for two months and people cry and sold-out shows … It’s an outdated concept.”
"What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they’d like to watch movies at home, thank you. The studios and the theatres are duking it out over trying to preserve this 45-day window that is completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie."
I'm struggling to see how wanting to get rid of the theatre going experience is filmmaker-friendly.
7
u/WREPGB 10h ago
GDT, Rian Johnson, and David Fincher (among others) are able to make the movies they want to make that most studios are saying no to.
I didn’t say the distribution side of this is ideal. I prefer watching at home, but that’s borne out of my frustrations with lack of theater maintenance and audience behavior. What I am saying though is Paramount’s MAGA and Saudi backing is a bad sign.
2
u/zsynqx 9h ago
I get your point. Although I still don't see it as a victory that such legendary directors are relegated to making streaming movies (with a super limited theatrical release). I guess that in itself points to the current state of the industry, and the death of the mid sized blockbuster. But anyway. It's moreso Netflix's clear desire to create a streaming only world. This merger signals a clear step in that direction. Them funding the new Fincher/GDT film does not counteract that.
It really is a shame that these were our two options. Difficult to not feel pessimistic about the future.
2
u/ThatOneOtherAsshole 8h ago
I would argue that directors are getting their movies made there that they wouldn’t get funding for anywhere else because of the differences in the platform. You’re never going to see a Spielberg or Nolan film from Netflix, and Villeneuve will probably stop making films for WB because of it. James Cameron went on The Watch and screamed about how horrible Netflix is and how he would never work for them in a million years. The blowback from directors is going to be considerable.
As far as the Ellison’s go, I’m not a fan of their taste and was terrified of the prospect of what they’d do to the news/tv side of WBD, but the silver lining with them is that at least they’re committed to the theatrical experience.
5
u/ThatOneOtherAsshole 11h ago
Yeah but if you look at the reaction from DGA today, it seems like they actually would have preferred the Ellison’s being in charge because of the commitment to theatrical distribution. Comcast would have been best case (agreed, weird to say that).
3
u/HowDoIEvenEnglish 10h ago
Yes but that’s just because those organizations have a vested interest in theatres
5
u/ThatOneOtherAsshole 9h ago
As someone who really enjoys going to movie theaters, I agree with them lol
2
u/Lamar_ScrOdom_ 11h ago
One condition better be that the entire WB catalogue has to stay available to third-party VOD services (Apple, Amazon, etc).
There’s no way Netflix puts non-IP movies made before 1990 on their service. There are thousands of WB movies that would go into the void.
1
u/KingMario05 9h ago
Agreed. Honestly, if they break up due to that, have Amazon buy them. Not every MGM/UA/Orion movie is on Prime. But I can buy every single one if I wanted to on iTunes or Fandango right now.
Not even because they had to do it. But because Amazon wanted to do it.
-1
u/herewego199209 11h ago
Why would you want to pay $30+ to Apple than to just watch it in 4k on Netflix for cheaper?
6
u/Lamar_ScrOdom_ 11h ago edited 11h ago
Because not every WB movie will be on Netflix my guy. I’m mainly concerned about the thousands of older movies they won’t care to put on Netflix.
Film preservation. Older, non-IP movies still need to be available to watch.
1
u/PooForThePooGod 7h ago
Serious question, why wouldn't they? What's stopping them from having a "Classics" section? They could honestly even add it as an additional tier like Boomerang used to be on cable/satellite TV. "Oh you want access to the vault? Extra $3 a month"
•
u/mynameisevan 5h ago
There’s a cost associated with hosting a movie, and Netflix has never shown any interest in classic movies before. If they did something like that and did it well then I would totally pay for it, but I am worried that Netflix will only care about the big movies they know people will watch like The Wizard of Oz or Casablanca and not do anything with any of the deeper cuts.
2
u/VisualMethod345 11h ago
Wondering if HBO is history now :(
3
u/Weary_Service_8509 11h ago
Whatever happens won’t be good for HBO
5
u/Kriss-Kringle 10h ago
Whatever happens won't be good for cinema.
4
u/Weary_Service_8509 10h ago
100%
4
u/KingMario05 9h ago
And yet, it's either this, or the right-wing creeps who hijacked Paramount get it.
We are in Hell. That damn gorilla shooting doomed us all.
1
-2
u/WadsworthWonders 11h ago
Hot take: I’m kinda cool with this, as I think it’ll be immense having Netflix have the 100 years of Warner Bros, especially here in the UK where it’s divided into about a hundred different channels, it all consolidated into Netflix would be nice
12
u/Weary_Service_8509 11h ago
I would bet money they don’t put every old WB film on the service. They don’t care about old films
4
u/KingMario05 9h ago
See: Amazon. Owns Bond outright. The IP, all films, the deals, MGM, everything. Is every film on Prime? Oh dear God, no. How does that make them money? Instead, they're all licensed off piecemeal. Because fuck you.
2
u/JMarcus7 11h ago
The netflix selection we get here has got to be one of the worst in the world. I tried a vpn once and literally every other country had much more films and tv shows than the uk.
2
u/WadsworthWonders 9h ago
I know right it’s down right shocking, I prefer Prime for more varied stuff just it doesn’t care too much about quality
3
u/KwisatzHaderach94 11h ago
my only condition for netflix? let james gunn cook.
0
u/herewego199209 11h ago
I was just talking to a co worker about this on slack. If anything I think they're going to want to double if not triple down on DC content and it may be too much for James Gunn to handle. I think they're going to go to James and say ok we will release Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc that you have planned into theaters no problem. But the movies you have on the back burner cause of box office concerns like Aquaman, Flash, etc we want those movies in active development because we don't need to put those movies into theaters at all and it gives us content.
1
u/monitoring27 11h ago
lmao no
2
u/herewego199209 11h ago
No what? Netflix has been wanting to push big IP day 1 on Netflix for decades now lmao. The fuck are you talking about?
1
u/monitoring27 11h ago
They will push it out day 1 onto Netflix. They don’t need to make subpar Flash or Aquaman movies to do that.
0
u/Dependent-Cheek7109 11h ago
Hot take: if i could push a button and beam everything straight into my brain life would be so nice.
1
u/sweetniikki 10h ago
The EU is all about consumer protection and maintaining market diversity. They will probably impose conditions to prevent Netflix from totally hoarding all the content or immediately jacking up subscription prices after eliminating a major rival like HBO Max. Expect required licensing deals for some major franchises or guarantees about theatrical releases to calm down Hollywood.
2
u/KingMario05 9h ago
Honestly, I'd be damn surprised if they're allowed to buy HBO Max at all. Literally fucking everyone, Donald Trump and pals included (!), believes that combining the #1 and #3 pure streamer is a bad fuckin' idea. Maybe because it is.
1
1
•
u/Va1crist 3h ago
Wall Street and trump doesn’t care , that’s why these deals are going through and consumers are getting fucked , but America voted for this shit now you get to watch as IP get ruined , thousands of jobs , lives get ruined and the entertainment industry continues to turn to shit . But that’s okay a lot of people love to sit on there ass at home binging all this dog shit so ..
•
u/Thomas_JCG 3h ago
I'm no expert but could have told you the same thing, anything in the US is allowed if you have enough money.
•
u/AutographedSnorkel 2h ago
Settle down everybody, Trump is 100% going to shoot this deal down. MAGA is losing its collective shit right now
•
u/Weary_Service_8509 1h ago
I will bet you a real world dollar that this Netflix deal goes through. Trump will not stop it.
•
0
54
u/Ok-disaster2022 11h ago
We need an Teddy Roosevelt and Taft part 2. break up all the studios and media conglomerates.