Warner Bros. is the latest company under threat of a takeover, with Netflix and Paramount both trying to become the next owner of Batman and game of Thrones. At first, it seemed like Netflix would easily land another addition to its (mostly) anti-theatrical stable, but Paramount (which merged with Skydance just last year) wouldn’t have it. Current CEO David Ellison has complained, crying foul, and recently filed a lawsuit as a means to block a deal that WB shareholders have already approved. At the time of writing, a judge ruled that transformer The studio has not “recognized” [or suffered] The upcoming deal will cause any cognizable, irreparable harm and hence the said suit cannot be fast tracked as WB continues to finalize its deal with Netflix. However, he is not giving up, as he is now trying to garner European support to continue his efforts.
For those not keeping track at home, Ellison has tried to convince Warner Bros. at least a dozen times so far (again, at the time of writing). Shareholders should let Paramount take it over. And each time, those shareholders have told them in no uncertain terms that they have their eye on Netflix and that their offers are no good. Is this the real reason or some remnant of last year’s war South Park Acquiring the streaming rights, WB has become the white whale for Ellison, his hill to die for in hopes of gaining almost complete control over Middle America on an entertainment and news level.
Ellison is clearly not above using his family connections and manipulating federal interest to get the deals he wants – this is already cause for concern given how Paramount is run; It’s understandable that there are some corners of Hollywood that fear the same thing is happening to WB, given their frustration. More than unrestricted access to hundreds of IPs, new and old, he wants CNN to show itself as beholden to US President Trump and see another legacy news outlet as a vehicle for ego boosts and appeasement.
In a fairer, better world, Warner Bros. would look at the successful performance of its films in 2025 and declare itself not actually for sale. After five years of being buffeted by different parent companies and rebranding itself 80 times, it could certainly use the back half of 2020 to use that momentum to get back to what it does best. There’s no legitimate reason for Paramount or Netflix to own it; Monopolies are bad, corporate interference is worse, and like many studios, WB does its best when it gets out of its own way.
Instead, we are all forced to watch a man who has more money than he needs and who owns one of the biggest studios in Hollywood fail to replicate his “success.” This is a lot of things all at once: It’s predictable (and scary) that Ellison wants to make his mark on the world by buying up as much of the entertainment industry as possible, in the same way that it’s extremely ridiculous that he’s managed to promote CBS News and 60 Minutes, but couldn’t seal the deal here. Was this a recurring joke in TV seasons studio Or 30 rock, It might be entertaining to watch him get slapped every time he goes to WB’s shareholders.
But this isn’t any TV show; This is real life, and it’s absolutely stupid that all this is happening. Corporate acquisitions have always been messy, and since the Disney-Fox merger, they have become a spectacle unto themselves, from the announcement of discussions to the eye-rolling celebratory videos upon completion of the deal. So far, we know there’s no real “magic” to getting out of these, just layoffs and exhaustion. Whoever ultimately acquires Warner Bros., Paramount’s stubbornness for the studio makes this all more exhausting than usual – and unfortunately, it’s likely to inspire the other corps to not take too many “no” for an answer.
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