Just a few years ago, the thought of Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. would have sounded absurd. But in today’s landscape — where streamers are king, traditional studios are struggling to stay afloat, and consolidation is an annual occurrence — it suddenly doesn’t feel impossible. The deal, valued at $82.7 billion, still has to go through several hoops, but if Netflix acquires the century-old studio that has given us Batman, Harry Potter, and HBO, would this be a win for the industry… or the beginning of the end?
For me, one of the biggest question marks is what happens to physical media. Warner Bros. has long been one of the last major studios still committed to restoring classics from its library. Some real treasures have been released through the studio’s Warner Archive Collection, which might not have been available otherwise. It also started releasing titles on 4K last year, beginning with a fantastic restoration of John Ford’s The Searchers. I’ve especially been enjoying Warner Bros.’ actor and genre-themed Blu-ray collections, a nice, cost-effective way to add four to six classics to your shelf in one shot. I picked up the Elizabeth Taylor set over the summer for just $35 on sale, which works out to less than nine bucks a film. That’s hard to beat.
Warner Bros. also regularly licenses its catalogue to boutique labels like Criterion, Arrow Video, and Shout! Factory, ensuring a wide range of titles are available, with some getting a luxury treatment they may not have received otherwise. I mean, hell, who would have thought that a movie like Demolition Man would get a pretty extravagantly packaged 4K release from Arrow, complete with both Taco Bell and Pizza Hut versions of the film.
Netflix, on the other hand, has essentially treated physical media like a relic from a bygone era. Outside of a small handful of titles, the company has shown little interest in releasing its originals on physical media. I know, Netflix is a streaming service, and at the end of the day, it wants subscribers to watch on the platform, not on discs.
So of course, the fear is that Warner Bros.’ physical media pipeline could be scaled back, gutted, or even phased out entirely. Boutique labels might lose access to the Warner Bros. library, restorations could slow to a crawl, and future major projects might never see disc at all. One longstanding critique I’ve had of Netflix is its near-total absence of classic cinema. If you’re in the mood for a film noir, a golden-age musical, or a sweeping historical epic from more than 50 years ago (and that’s being generous), you’re almost certainly out of luck. This acquisition would suddenly give the company a fantastic library of older titles, and while the optimist in me wants to believe that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Division will remain intact, the other part fears the possibility that a century of film history could become streaming-only.
Could Netflix Eliminate Theatrical Releases?
Warner Bros. has weathered its share of mergers, cost-cutting, and leadership shake-ups over the last decade, and Netflix could finally offer calmer waters. However, one of the biggest concerns among movie lovers is that the streaming service will swallow Warner Bros. into its algorithm and eliminate theatrical releases.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has denied that it will happen, although he has said he’d like to see the theatrical window “evolve,” which many have taken to mean that the theatrical runs of Warner Bros. movies will eventually shorten considerably. Netflix is the biggest streaming service on the planet, so it’s never been in the business of releasing its projects in theaters. Even some of its biggest movies from top directors, such as Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, were only given limited theatrical releases to qualify for awards. Acquiring Warner Bros. would finally give Netflix a platform for proper theatrical exhibition, assuming it is left alone. “We have not talked a lot about in the past about wanting to do theatrical, because we’ve never been in that business. When this deal closes, we be will in, and we’re going to do it,” Sarandos said. “We didn’t buy this company to destroy that value.“
Netflix Finally Gets the Franchises It’s Always Wanted
Over the last decade, Netflix has repeatedly attempted to launch its own tentpole franchises, but despite a few modest successes, nothing has yet achieved the level of success of Star Wars, the MCU, or the Wizarding World. With this acquisition, that changes overnight. In a single move, Netflix gains control of the DCU, Harry Potter, The Matrix, Game of Thrones, Looney Tunes, and a treasure trove of other iconic brands, as well as a film and television library spanning an entire century of Hollywood history.
What Netflix actually plans to do with these properties remains anyone’s guess, especially when it comes to the DCU. James Gunn’s rebooted universe is only just beginning, with Superman kicking off the new era this summer. Projects like Supergirl, Lanterns, Clayface, and Man of Tomorrow have already finished shooting or are in development, so scrapping everything and starting from scratch would be an odd and costly choice. That said, you can almost hear a particular corner of the internet salivating at the mere possibility of Netflix booting James Gunn and hitting the reset button. Some even see this as a chance to bring back the Snyderverse. But realistically, a complete teardown seems unlikely. The foundation is finally in place, and Netflix has every incentive to let it build.
It’s not a done deal yet, especially with Paramount launching a hostile takeover bid. Still, there’s a very good chance that one of Hollywood’s oldest studios will undergo significant changes, and the results could have a profound impact on the industry.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
