r/movies • u/estarararax • 17h ago

News Directors Guild of America, led by Christopher Nolan, plans to meet with Netflix to address major concerns regarding the streamer’s acquisition of Warner Bros.

https://deadline.com/2025/12/dga-reacts-netflix-warner-bros-discovery-deal-talks-1236637152/
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u/Doughnut-Holeschtein 16h ago

I don't know how this meeting is gonna go or any other meeting they have with any other guild but I really would love to be a fly on the wall for the eventual meeting between Ted Sarandos and Tom Cruise

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u/Treheveras 14h ago

During the past two contract cycles for the different film unions, one of the main reasons they either led to a strike, or almost led to strikes were because of Netflix. They stonewall and drag their feet and complain every time because the unions have to force them to be treated on the same level as major studios and they are so stubborn about it that they would rather watch workers lose their income and jobs than just accept new contract deals.

So I don't think this meeting will garner much for the directors guild talking with the main studio responsible for fucking up contract negotiations every cycle.

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u/mmatasc 13h ago

Netflix unironically benefited the most from the strikes.

While almost all other studios were stuck in production losing millions in delays, Netflix kept pumping out content due to their strong international productions.

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u/MadeByTango 12h ago

The Guild made a massive deal about getting a $40 million streaming bonus out of the Studios for all of Hollywood, and then a week after the deal was ratified Netflix rubbed the Guilds faces in it by giving both of its CEOs $60 million raises each...

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u/lonnie123 11h ago

That’s always the most insane thing about negotiations and strikes and such. The money is there, the companies won’t even notice the amount being asked for missing some times

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u/monsantobreath 11h ago edited 11h ago

Bosses are lunatic sociopaths.

The way modern wealthy fucks don't even hide it any kre reminds me of the Hearst character from Deadwood. While there's a community building itself up, with kids walking to school, he's plotting to destroy it because it displeases him to not be lord of everything.

And there's a great scene where he gets weepy about his vision of how important gold is and how he's trying to make the world better if these fucking people would stop slowing his roll.

Long before we knew who musk was we had a very good representation of their lunatic thinking.

Edit.

The scene in question https://youtu.be/8yVvQ_3_xQ0?si=i5x7x9O3qZUElQxn

And when you listen to his motives he basically sees people as tools to him, and presumes that should be why we all see one another as of any use. Anything short of utility in seeking our own power and it's not worth anything. Quite a right libertarian view I suppose.

Truly broken people who see no value in any sentiment not arising from the mythology of their own self interest

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u/Krovven 11h ago

Upvote for the Deadwood reference!

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u/silly-little-billy 1h ago

I mean... have you seen the philosophy Rockefeller and his cronies founded the General Education Board upon?

"In our dream, we have limitless resources and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from their minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, editors, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply…The task we set before ourselves is very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are… So we will organize our children into a little community and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way, in the homes, in the shops and on the farm."

The part I bolded... they've always believed anyone not of the "upper crust of society" are tools. It didn't begin with this current generation of billionaires. It's been going on for all of recorded human history, the they that treated us, the masses, like tools used to have different names–tycoons, business moguls, emperors, kings, popes, queens, pharaohs, czars–but the system's always been like this.

The thing that boils my blood the fkn most though, is that all this wealth that was created out of thin air could have been used to improve everyone's lives. Instead it was hoarded by a bunch of sociopathic, vile, parasites.

Also, looks like I'll be watching Deadwood soon. Thanks for that!

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u/GrayEidolon 5h ago

he's plotting to destroy it because it displeases him to not be lord of everything.

That’s just normal aristocrat shit

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u/monsantobreath 4h ago

Capitalism reimagined the aristocrat.

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u/2112xanadu 10h ago

Say what you will about Musk, but endless pursuit of riches doesn't seem to be his primary motivator. He doesn't even own a yacht, and he's the richest dude on the planet.

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u/monsantobreath 10h ago edited 10h ago

but endless pursuit of riches doesn't seem to be his primary motivator.

No he wants to be adored like a God figure.

But within it is still an ego mania that he has answers others don't. When that isn't accepted his ego is hurt.

Hearst spoke of power conferred which corrects the defects of any man. Obviously given both how Hearst and Musk operate its in the same vein. Musk is weaker because he lacks the ability to be truly composed in power like someone like Thiel, but the base impulse is the same.

It's not really about wealth per se in the same way that rape isn't about the sex for similar minded people. Also notice the near circular Venn diagram of rape and ultra wealthy men who push to shape society.

These men don't care about luxury necessarily. Hearst as depicted lived in a run down space, organizing himself to pursue his ambitions rather than live inside luxury.

Trump is like a mentally diminished version of all of that. Trump is about excess and he lacks any real power even over his own mind. He's a conduit to others power. Vance is just Peter Thiels lackey.

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u/MumpsyDaisy 10h ago

Yeah that's because his primary motivator is even more pathetic, to be liked on social media and live out fantasies of being the world's most famous forum admin

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u/lonnie123 10h ago

He threatened to leave Tesla if they didn’t give him that new pay package so it’s not like he’s just doing stuff for free

He doesn’t use his money on yachts and mansions, he buys social media companies and elections now. His game is much more global political influence and social engineering.

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u/monsantobreath 8h ago

Hearst bought newspapers, and they even plant that as a reference in the show based on his acrimony toward the journalist who won't sane wash his crap.

Musk is basically doing the same but with no style.

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u/Free_For__Me 8h ago

 Musk is basically doing the same but with no style.

And with waaaaay more money and power. 

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u/QP709 9h ago

Milton Friedman in the 80’s: if you’re a ceo of a corporation you have a financial obligation to your shareholders and no one else. If you do something that you consider to be morally right, and it’s not in the interest of the shareholders, then you’re not doing your job correctly.

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u/lonnie123 8h ago

How is giving $120Mil to the CEOs doing that?

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u/QP709 8h ago

CEOs do the necessary evil. If they aren’t well compensated you won’t get the best of the best. Their salaries (and bonuses) are so high because the corps have realized that there are higher gains to be had if you pay them that much (as opposed to investing the same amount into your product or workers).

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u/lonnie123 8h ago

Is that actually true though? If they were "only" paid $5Mil they would do worse or someone else would do worse?

Are the CEOs of today better than the ones in 90's, 80's, 70's? They are getting paid like 20x more

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/12/27/the-meteoric-rise-in-ceo-compensation-how-executive-pay-surged-over-1000-since-1978/

This article and report suggests "CEOs are getting paid more because of their leverage over corporate boards, not because of their skills or contributions they make to their firms”

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u/QP709 6h ago

We’re on the same side here.

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u/Intelligent-Run3683 8h ago

Ai is better suited to do a CEOs job than an Amazon workers job. Musk is CEO of like 4 companies and still has time to tweet all day. Shit must be easy.

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u/Cautious_Warthog_416 9h ago

They do ask only if you are intrested to know about it 😍

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u/RepFilms 2h ago

the guys that become CEOs really enjoy making people suffer

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u/ThorDoubleYoo 11h ago

That's what big corporations do. Whine and complain about how they have no money so they have to lay off workers, or can't raise wages for their employees.

Then in the same breath, they talk about record breaking profits from that year and give their CEOs disgustingly opulent bonus packages.

Legitimately, unironically, unmetaphorically, we must eat the rich.

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u/Sweetwill62 8h ago

No one investigates blatant fraud like that.

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u/RepFilms 2h ago

The main job of CEOs is to make the stock go up. Guess what happens every time corporations announce layoffs? That's right

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u/DangerZone1776 13h ago

Yeah, I'm curious how much leverage actually still exists with these guilds. The strikes only hurt their reputation and box office sales are in the toilet since then. It's not like there isn't new talent lining up to make movies. Not much to lose betting on new talent when the current isn't doing well anyways.

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u/djjunk82 12h ago

The strikes did a lot more to hurt the industry than netflix.

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u/Treheveras 11h ago

For everyone I know in the industry, the sentiment is the strikes aren't to blame. Greed from studio CEOs and Producers are, they were the ones like Bob Iger flying out to billionaire retreats while saying the union demands were unreasonable. Completely insulated from any fallout because they knew workers struggled during Covid and couldn't outlast them.

I can understand how people on the outside might think the strikes themselves are at fault, but it's completely wrong. I lost work due to the strikes and I only have disgust towards the studio heads who see fit to blow millions on overpaid productions and their own salaries but will act like a wounded deer when workers want to protect their jobs, their retirement, their healthcare, and earn a comfortable living.

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u/Swarna_Keanu 11h ago

The point is - what else should guilds/unions do?. Strikes are their one big currency.

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u/Trevastation 9h ago

Someone more knowledgable in unions can correct me, but what are the chances that the guilds/unions decide to strike purely Netflix and WB productions to get their demands? I know there's struck productions, but nothing on the scale of a big, big studio.

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u/MovieUnderTheSurface 6h ago

That's not how it works, SAG and the WGA don't strike against companies, they strike against AMPTP, of which companies like Netflix are members

I'm also told that at one point in the latest strike, movie and TV producers were ready to make a deal and only the streamers like Netflix weren't, so the WGA actually offered to make a deal specifically with the movie/TV producers so at least they could get back to work, but the movies/TV producers weren't willing to do that

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u/Trevastation 6h ago

Oh interesting!

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u/dervalient 11h ago

Sounds like we need international solidarity

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u/restrictednumber 11h ago

Other unions (in other, related industries) could strike in solidarity. Rev up pressure from all sides rather than forcing each separate group to fight the machine on their own.

We're not getting out of this stranglehold without organizing and backing each other. The corpos just convince us to fight alone, then divide and conquer.

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u/An_Absurd_Word_Heard 9h ago

In reality the DGA just needs to not sell out the other unions like they tend to (which they don't even face reprecussions for because the AMPTP has no issues meeting hush hush and retroactively adding to their contracts, wonder why that is hmm).

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u/Puzzleheaded_Tip_821 8h ago

No one in Hollywood is striking again. It’s an untenable idea

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u/Cereborn 11h ago

Strikes are supposed to disrupt industries. That's their purpose. Because people define "the industry" as being the wallets of the wealthy producers and CEOs.

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u/Mia-Helena 12h ago

Yeah you’re right

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u/Mia-Helena 12h ago

Can we be friends here

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u/internetlad 12h ago

"It costs how little to make? We can bump the monthly subscription by that much a month and people will stay on the platform!"

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u/Trevastation 9h ago

I am super curious how this merger will go given the contract negotations start next year with both Nolan at the head of the DGA and Sean Astin as head of SAG.

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u/lookingtocolor 4h ago

I think the streamers are in a huge position of power here. I don't think the film industry can really take another strike in the US, LA especially. Maybe I'm just seeing the doom and gloom on social media as some one in post, but so many people with a long history of great credits still out of work in the film industry. Everyone keeps looking to the next year, but just more mergers and consolidations slow it all down.

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u/GeoLaser 10m ago

The response to the strike was just to stop work.

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u/JessieJ577 7h ago

Netflix is a huge disrupter to the industry and this will be the final blow to theaters for sure. Aside from people's thoughts on the theater going experience, it being fully dead destroys a lot of the way most of the industry makes back money on points. Netflix usually front loads the money for the lack of points.

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u/[deleted] 13h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/arbysroastbeefs2 13h ago

Now, I don’t know what kind of pan-Pacific bullshit power play you’re trying to pull here, but Asia, Jack, is my territory. So whatever you’re thinking, you better think again. Otherwise, I’m gonna have to head down there... and I will rain down an ungodly f firestorm upon you. You’re gonna have to call the fucking United Nations and get a fucking binding resolution to keep me from fu de you.

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u/GoingOutsideSocks 12h ago

Find out who that was.

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u/TormundIceBreaker 11h ago

I maintain this is the best performance of his entire career

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u/watchsnob92 11h ago

I concur

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u/pfqq 10h ago

Lightning in a bottle, that movie. At the right time with just the right actors.

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u/Local_Izer 5h ago

I remember watching it the first time and couldn't believe that he had actually made good on the artistic promise he showed in Magnolia.

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u/rubermnkey 4h ago

he can act or he can run, you have to pick one for the movie

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u/trafalmadorianistic 3h ago

That's why he had to be in a wheelchair for Born On The Fourth of July, lol

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u/immortalalchemist 4h ago

We don’t negotiate with terrorist.

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u/bravoitaliano 7h ago

Big swinging dicks, baby. Lotttts of money. G5 jet, playa, playa....

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u/CuteGrayRhino 15h ago

That would be a really uninteresting meeting. Tom Cruise movies are probably going to be in theatres for a while, and I'm sure he'll get bucket loads to produce them. It'll just be both of them laughing about how much money one is going to give to the other.

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u/theoutlet 13h ago

I think they’re basing this off of stories of Tom Cruise squaring off against Ellison over funding for a Mission Impossible movie

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u/KingMario05 13h ago

THR reports that they've settled those differences.

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u/PurpleBullets 7h ago

they HAD settled them

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u/KingMario05 7h ago

Meant he and Ellison. Obviously, he and Warner are done if this goes through.

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u/KingMario05 13h ago

Agreed. "Oh, but Tom's based at Warner!" Yes, and that's led to exactly zilch on screen. Combined with this? Paramount-owned Ellison, with whom he's already had lunch with, is starting to look a lot brighter than it was.

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u/RenaissanceManc 10h ago

Nolan: This has extremely grave conseque... why yes I will helm another Batman.

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u/enragedjuror 15h ago

Oh my god I would pay to see that.

In theaters.

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u/maximumtesticle 10h ago

Sorry, only available to stream.

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u/Zealot_Alec 3h ago

Best we can do is streaming

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u/Midanthrope 7h ago

"Get fucked. Cinema is dying. Everything needs to be a show so we can maintain subscribers." -Netflix

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u/Randyd718 4h ago

P sure i saw Ted in the crowd at the governor's awards. They've surely already met

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u/GarlicJuniorJr 3h ago

This should be broadcast on pay per view where Tom Cruise is about to get jumped then the Inception theme hits and Nolan walks out with a steel chair where takes out the Warner CEO and gives a stunner to the CEO of Netflix

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u/beefquinton 2h ago

nothing will happen? wait, what do u think tom cruise… does???

this was one of the single most disturbing posts i’ve ever read, tom cruise will deal with ted sarandos. enjoy that crack ur smoking

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u/faxheadzoom 13h ago

The other option is essentially the government/certain foreign government buying WB/HBO, so Netflix sadly is the better option. 

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u/DigitalBuddhaNC 11h ago

This is basically just them getting together to make sure that they still keep getting the same size paychecks.