Finally, the bidding war for Warner Bros. has a victor. 

Netflix is now in one-on-one negotiations to fully acquire Warner Bros. (WB), a move that would give the streamer rights to the entire WB film and television library, including HBO Originals and Max Originals. 

Other studios like Universal and Paramount were also looking to buy Warner Bros., but Netflix has pulled ahead. Paramount wouldn’t take no for an answer, putting together eight different offers for control of WB. 

The company is set to purchase WB for an all-cash offer of $72 billion. 

When the acquisition is finalized, Netflix will take ownership of nearly every major division under the Warner Bros. umbrella. That includes WB Animation, Warner Bros. Studios, HBO, HBO Max, New Line Cinema, DC Studios, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim. 

The acquisition doesn’t just include WB film and television divisions. It also brings WB Games under Netflix’s scope. 

Studios such as TT Games (Lego Games), Rocksteady (Batman: Arkham Series), and NetherRealm (Mortal Kombat) would now fall under Netflix’s ownership. In other words, the deal extends far beyond movies and TV. 

This, of course, is a part of Netflix’s growing push into interactive entertainment. 

When word got out, Netflix released a statement on December 5th.

“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said. “By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies—from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends—with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, K-Pop Demon Hunters, and Squid Game, we’ll be able to do that even better. Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”

For the average American, the merger could mean a significantly expanded Netflix library. 

However, the deal is far from being finalized. The companies estimate it will take 12 to 18 months to close. 

That timeline leaves significant questions unanswered: will Netflix and HBO Max eventually merge into a single platform? Will they introduce a bundled plan like other streaming services? 

If the two services do combine, subscribers should brace for higher monthly prices.

Industry groups have already raised an alarm about the merger’s potential. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strongly opposed this deal. 

The WGA warns that the acquisition would eliminate jobs, reduce wages, and ultimately raise consumer prices. The WGA released a statement about the deal on December 5th.

“The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the WGA said. “The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers, along with the public, are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.” 

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has also expressed its concerns about this matter. 

The DGA had recently elected Christopher Nolan as its next president. Nolan spent 18 years making films such as Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy at WB. 

Nolan is a strong advocate for theatrical releases and fought tooth and nail to get his last WB film, Tenet, into theaters during the pandemic. 

Nolan has since moved to Universal to create films such as Oppenheimer and next year’s The Odyssey. Nolan and the DGA will meet with the streamer to understand its plans for one of Hollywood’s most sacred studios. 

Nolan warned that the greatest risk of the merger lies in television and streaming, where most guild members now work. 

“The reality is, the issues on the television side and the streaming side are far more important to our membership,” Nolan said. “When you add up what our members contribute to television, obviously that’s the major part of it, and that’s where, in the shifting streaming landscape, a lot of the major issues are with the deal. The reality is, we have very, very significant concerns about how this is all going to happen. It’s a very worrying time for the industry. The loss of a major studio is a huge blow.”

Nolan continued to address the broader issue of consolidation in the industry.

“A merger is going to mean loss of jobs,” he said. “It’s going to mean consolidation. We all know that. We can all look at history to see that our interest right now is in trying to get to grips with how we can ameliorate some of these concerns. How can we try and secure some kind of meaningful commitments from these companies so that Warner Bros.—a fantastic, historic 100-year-old company with its incredible library and employees—has the best chance to survive and potentially thrive? Whether from Paramount or Netflix, we want to know how consolidation will affect our members, and we’re deep in those conversations.”

Moviegoers—myself included—may be wondering what this means for the big-screen experience. 

Netflix says major WB films will still get theatrical runs. When the deal was first announced, people were skeptical. 

Netflix is notorious for limited theatrical runs. For instance, the theatrical run of Wake Up Deadman: A Knives Out Mystery lasted only two weeks before subscribers could watch it at home. 

The only reason the company even offered a theatrical run was to qualify for awards season. 

However, to my surprise, it seems Netflix had a change of heart, because on January 16th, Sarandos issued a statement easing Hollywood. 

“We will run that business largely like it is today, with a 45-day window,” Sarandos said.

However, Nolan cautioned that promises about release windows are like handshake deals.  They are easy to make and easier to break. Unless it’s written in ink, we all should be skeptical. 

Bottom line, theatrical releases represent a larger symbolic issue about Warner Bros.’ future. 

“There are encouraging noises, but that’s not the same as commitments,” Nolan said, making clear that windows are not the primary issue. “The theatrical window becomes a sort of easily graspable symbol of whether Warner Bros. will be run as a theatrical distributor or whether it be folded in as a streamer.”

Nolan provided his own opinion on what he would like to see a theatrical window look like.

“We strongly take the position that we need a 60-day theatrical window,” Nolan said. “Disney, the most successful theatrical distributor, does that—and that’s what everybody should be doing.”

I am a firm believer that movies should always be seen on the big screen. There is something special about going to a show on opening night. 

This past summer, I watched James Gunn’s Superman opening night in IMAX. Every single person in that theater—man, woman, and child—was wearing a Superman shirt. 

At the end of the film, “Punk Rocker” by The Teddybears ft. Iggy Pop played, and the theater exploded with applause. 

I hadn’t felt that kind of excitement since Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Theaters are a way of celebrating films together. I couldn’t imagine watching WB’s next blockbuster at home, so I’ll gladly take a 45-day window over straight to streaming any day of the week. 

While this acquisition may appear to be a win for consumers, major mergers rarely benefit the art form. When one company gobbles up another, the predator often affects the prey. 

When Amazon purchased MGM, it immediately took control of beloved franchises and turned them into reality-themed shows. A perfect example is Prime Video’s 007: Road to a Million and their newly announced Fallout reality show competition. 

Will this new regime eventually decide to make a Game of Thrones reality show where the winner gets knighted, or will they make a White Lotus murder mystery show on par with Peacock’s The Traitors?

The bigger worry is creative control. 

Netflix original movies are mostly garbage. Yes, there are a few diamonds in the rough, but overall, I would rather watch golf than sit through something like Red Notice. 

A Netflix-led regime might stand in the way of the quality work HBO and WB are known for, replacing prestige with more Netflix slop. And if Netflix doesn’t follow through on its 45-day release promise and brings its ad-supported model to major WB films, things could get worse. 

Just imagine watching Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride or Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II at home, only to be hit with unskippable ads because you don’t subscribe to the highest-tier plan. 

This would be a total nightmare scenario. 

Ultimately, this massive merger could reshape entertainment for better or worse. Whether Netflix protects Warner Bros.’ legacy or buries it under a mountain of forgettable originals remains to be seen. 

For now, all we can do is wait and hope they choose quality over quantity.