In 2010, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes infamously hit Netflix beneath the belt, mocking the then-upstart streaming platform/business disruptor as, “It is a bit of bit like, is the Albanian military going to take over the world? I do not assume so.” Little greater than a decade and a half later, properly, that small band of rebels is successfully on the precipice of creating an empire of their very own. When the information broke late final evening that Netflix had emerged because the main contender to amass Warner Bros. Discovery, the moment response throughout Hollywood was one in all confusion; primarily, confusion relating to what this may imply for our already-broken studio system and the declining theatrical business. What’s good for Netflix, in any case, cannot probably be good for these of us who treasure the moviegoing expertise and particularly those that rely upon it for his or her livelihoods, proper?
For his or her half, Netflix has already tried to get forward of the narrative. In a gaudy new press launch, the streamer introduced its intentions to amass one of many oldest and most prestigious studios on the planet. A deep dive into the shareholder-friendly screed is sort of revealing, nonetheless. Regardless of loads of area dedicated to PowerPoint presentation superlatives, like how this merger will “provide extra alternative, extra alternatives, extra worth” and “enhance our providing and speed up our enterprise for many years to come back,” a grand whole of 1 (1) sentence deigns to make clear Netflix’s theatrical ambitions transferring ahead:
“Netflix expects to keep up Warner Bros.’ present operations and construct on its strengths, together with theatrical releases for movies.”
What precisely does that imply for theaters at giant? Which movies and what number of will Netflix really trouble releasing on the massive display? And, most significantly, can we even take the corporate at its phrase? Let’s dive in.
Netflix claims it will launch WB motion pictures in theaters, however is that the entire story?
Do you belief the faceless, multibillion-dollar company to do proper by moviegoing audiences all over the world, purely out of the goodness of its coronary heart? That is the (maybe cynical) query of the day, although it is solely additional muddied by Netflix’s claims. Regardless of spending upwards of $80 billion on a hostile takeover of one of many few remaining movie studios, we’re meant to imagine that the newly-merged Netflix/Warner Bros. entity would proceed as if it have been enterprise as standard. What’s extra, this could fly within the face of Netflix’s total streaming mannequin, which is constructed on delivering “content material” straight to subscribers at residence.
Regardless of Netflix’s current strikes on the contrary, there are lots of causes to stay skeptical. Throughout a convention name to buyers this morning (as reported by Selection), Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos sought to pour chilly water on the extraordinarily well-founded notion that the streaming big is the enemy of theaters. As he defined:
“It is not like we’ve got this opposition to motion pictures into theaters. My pushback has been largely within the reality of the lengthy unique [theatrical] home windows, which we do not actually assume are that client pleasant, however once we discuss conserving HBO working, largely as it’s, that additionally contains their output film cope with Warner Bros., which features a life cycle that begins within the movie show, which we will proceed to assist.”
Whereas this sounds promising, Sarandos offers away the sport a bit of in a while. In response to the CEO, “I feel, over time, the home windows will evolve to be way more consumer-friendly, to have the ability to meet the viewers the place they’re faster.” In different phrases, the following “Superman” film may get two weeks solely in theaters — at finest.
If the Netflix/Warner Bros. deal goes by means of, theaters as we all know it might by no means be the identical once more
Somebody please get Christopher Nolan, Savior of the Theatrical Expertise and newly-elected President of the Administrators Guild, on the telephone. At this charge, the whole lot of film theaters worldwide could also be in for a impolite awakening by the point the mud settles on Netflix’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (which, it ought to be famous, just isn’t even near being a finished deal). However will we acknowledge no matter emerges on the opposite facet?
Once more, all of it has to do with the pesky downside of theatrical home windows for motion pictures. With solely uncommon exceptions, main theater chains corresponding to AMC have resisted taking part in Netflix originals (such because the current “Wake Up Lifeless Man”) in theaters as a result of streamer’s unwillingness to supply home windows longer than just a few weeks. However with Warner Bros. and its huge library of movies off the desk completely, which means a dramatic lower in product on a year-to-year foundation. In 2025, for example, WB launched a complete of 15 motion pictures in theaters. With field workplace income already exhausting to come back by, eradicating dependable hits like all of the DC Universe, auteur-driven phenomena corresponding to “Sinners” or “Weapons,” and even franchise performs like “A Minecraft Film” or “The Conjuring” could be devastating to theater homeowners in every single place.
Worse but, there’s the troubling matter of whether or not theatrical exhibition as a complete may even survive in a panorama like this. Very like Disney conditioning Marvel or Pixar followers to skip motion pictures in theaters in favor of an impending Disney+ launch, what may transpire if even the following “The Lord of the Rings” theatrical occasion turns into simply one other Netflix streaming choice just a few weeks later? We ought to be awfully nervous to seek out out.
