Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery.
The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices.
As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal, trade magazine Variety said.
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In a letter to US lawmakers, the anonymous filmmakers said that Netflix would “effectively hold a noose around the theatrical marketplace,” further damaging a Hollywood ecosystem already strained by audiences’ shift from theaters and TV to streaming.
“I could not think of a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix,” former Warner Bros CEO Jason Kilar wrote on X.
At the center of Hollywood’s ire is Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has declared that the era of moviegoers flocking to theaters is over. During an analyst call on Friday, Sarandos acknowledged surprise over the acquisition, but pledged to maintain Warner Bros’ theatrical releases and preserve the HBO Max brand.
Many industry veterans consider theatrical releases essential to cinema’s appeal and prestige — a stark contrast to streaming content consumed on home sofas or on mobile devices.
Variety captured the industry’s alarm with a front-page headline asking: “Is Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Bros or Kill It?”
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, the world’s largest exhibition trade association, said: “Netflix’s success is television, not movies on the big screen. Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost.”
The backlash extended beyond Hollywood. Netflix shares plunged more than 3 percent following the announcement, while The Information, influential among tech industry readers, branded the deal an “US$82.7 Billion Blunder” by a management team that “has rarely put a foot wrong.”
Antitrust concerns loom large, with Netflix poised to control an even greater share of an entertainment industry it already dominates.
Bipartisan opposition has emerged in Washington. US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said the deal “could force you into higher prices, fewer choices over what and how you watch, and may put American workers at risk.”
Before the deal was announced, Republican US Senator Mike Lee said Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming assets “should send alarms to antitrust enforcers around the world.”
The deal’s biggest loser could be Warner Bros competitor Paramount Skydance Corp, the Hollywood studio owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people and a close ally of US President Donald Trump. Ellison’s son David runs Paramount and might lobby the White House directly to block the Netflix-Warner Bros merger.
Unlike Netflix’s targeted acquisition, Paramount had sought to buy Warner Bros in its entirety, including cable networks CNN, TNT and TBS, which are being spun off separately.
In a letter to Warner’s board on Thursday, presumably after it surmised the game was lost, Paramount accused Warner Bros Discovery of running an unfair process that favored Netflix.
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