On December 5th, 2025, it was announced that Netflix would be planning on buying the movie juggernaut Warner Bros. Discovery. You see, a while back, it was announced that Warner Bros. would be put up for sale. Many companies, like Apple and Universal, wanted to buy the studio, with the second-biggest bid coming from Paramount, which attempted to buy Warner Bros. three times during the sale this year. However, the closest deal that might actually happen, with a full article and announcement being published, was with streaming juggernaut Netflix.
According to Netflix, the deal will cost over 72 billion dollars (82.7 billion including debt). The deal includes a massive catalog of Warner Bros. movies and TV shows, with some records saying it is the largest library of movies in all of Hollywood, as well as HBO and HBO Max (the network shows and streaming services), DC and its characters, comics, movies, and TV shows. The deal does not include networks from Warner Bros. or Discovery, such as CNN, TNT, TBS, and more, with the plan being that most of these networks would be handled by Discovery.
Now, a lot of people are very concerned about this deal for various reasons, with many saying that this will be the end of movie theaters as we know them. This is because Netflix is a streaming service first and foremost and only releases movies in very limited or select theaters rather than proper theatrical releases, with this year’s Frankenstein movie being released in select theaters (a rumored 50–40, to be exact). In fact, some have said the reason why some Netflix movies hit select theaters is just for Oscar or award recognition and not for box office reasons.
Many people, such as the Directors Guild of America, whose president is famed director Christopher Nolan, will be having a meeting with Netflix, and even the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is planning on getting involved with the deal. However, on December 8th, Paramount is launching a full campaign, including a hostile bid towards Warner Bros. for 108 billion dollars and pledging that they would be willing to release over 30 movies between Warner Bros. and Paramount to theaters. David Ellison, the president of Skydance and Paramount, is also claiming that he will be making big changes to one of Warner Bros.’ divisions, CNN.
Paramount, even at that point, is not well-liked in this deal, as many are concerned with the recent mass layoffs after the Skydance and Paramount merger and the company leaning more toward commercial or existing IP rather than new IP. Right now, it is a bidding war between Paramount (and its parent company, Skydance Media) and Netflix, with many signs pointing to Netflix buying the Hollywood giant, as Warner Bros. is leaning more toward Netflix’s bid and offer.
According to Netflix, the deal between them and Warner Bros. will be finished in Q3 2026. In the meantime, I should also note that both Paramount and Netflix will be building studios in New Jersey, with Paramount being a tenant in Bayonne and Netflix having an entirely new studio in the Oceanport area, where Fort Monmouth used to be.
