Deadline reports that after a day of high drama in which rival bidder Paramount recently took on the subject of politically charged acquisitions and mergers that have plagued Hollywood after the Trump administration approved its $8 billion acquisition by Skydance, Warner Bros. accused Discovery’s board of creating a sales process that was biased toward Netflix’s bid for the studio’s assets. Paramount had aggressively pursued Warner Bros.’ Interest in a sale, in the wake of the completion of its own merger and Warner Bros. Discovery’s prior decision to split into two separate companies just three years after its massive merger.
According to the trade, Netflix offered about $28 per share to buy Warner Bros.’ Paramount’s bid for the entire WBD was compared to the studio properties as well as its streaming platform HBO Max.
Such a deal would normally lead to a major federal backlash over antitrust concerns, given that Netflix, already a major player in streaming platforms, would not just gain access to Warner Bros.’ studios and their intellectual property stores (including, of course, the likes of DC Comics, game of Thronesand much more) but also has direct ownership of one of its rival platforms in the streaming space in the form of HBO Max. But given the Trump administration’s recent wavering on antitrust issues — while Netflix may lack Paramount owner David Ellison’s personal ties to the U.S. president, Netflix executives like Ted Sarandos have been trying to woo Trump since his election victory late last year — the typical hurdles of such a deal may not be as insurmountable as they once were.
If Netflix successfully acquires Warner Bros., the deal would make the streamer one of the most powerful forces in Hollywood. Long seen as an outsider to the theatrical world — both in terms of theatrical reach and awards season recognition, given its lack of effort in trying to give its output equal recognition to that of other Hollywood studios — Netflix-owned Warner Bros. will not only give the streamer an additional online platform and a bunch of new IP, but also an already well-established theatrical distribution outlet, not just for Warner projects but for future Netflix ones as well.
The streamer had previously indicated that, if it is successful in the bidding race for Warner Bros., it would commit to maintaining subsequent contracts for theatrical distribution rather than moving everything online. But things are still fluid, and plans may change – no matter what happens, Hollywood as we have known it for generations will never be the same.
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