![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2202964650.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hollywood writers, producers, directors and theater owners voiced skepticism over Netflix Inc.\u2019s proposed $82.7 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.\u2019s studio and streaming businesses, saying it threatens to undermine their interests.<\/p>\n
The Writers Guild of America, which announced in October it would oppose any sale of Warner Bros., reiterated that view on Friday, saying the purchase by Netflix \u201cmust be blocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world\u2019s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,\u201d the guild said in an emailed statement. \u201cThe outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The worries raised by the movie and TV industry\u2019s biggest trade groups come against the backdrop of falling movie and TV production, slack ticket sales and steep\u00a0job cuts\u00a0in Hollywood. Another legacy studio, Paramount, was sold earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Warner Bros. accounts for about a fourth of North American ticket sales \u2014 roughly $2 billion \u2014 and is being acquired by a company that has long shunned theatrical releases for its feature films. As part of the deal, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has promised Warner Bros. will continue to release moves in theaters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business,\u201d Michael O\u2019Leary, chief executive officer of the theatrical trade group Cinema United, said in en emailed statement Friday. \u201cThe negative impact of this acquisition will impact theaters from the biggest circuits to one-screen independents.\u201d<\/p>\n
The buyout of Warner Bros. by Netflix \u201cwould be a disaster,\u201d James Cameron, the director of some of Hollywood\u2019s highest-grossing films in history including\u00a0Titanic<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Avatar<\/em>, said in late November on\u00a0The Town<\/em>, an industry-focused\u00a0podcast. \u201cSorry Ted, but jeez. Sarandos has gone on record saying theatrical films are dead.\u201d<\/p>\n On a conference call with investors Friday, Sarandos said that his company\u2019s resistance to releasing films in cinemas was mostly tied to \u201cthe long exclusive windows, which we don\u2019t really think are that consumer friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u00a0said\u00a0Friday it would \u201cmaintain Warner Bros.\u2019 current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.\u201d<\/p>\n On the call, Sarandos reiterated that view, saying that, \u201cright now, you should count on everything that is planned on going to the theater through Warner Bros. will continue to go to the theaters through Warner Bros.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Competition from online outfits like YouTube and Netflix has forced a reckoning in Hollywood, opening the door for takeovers like the Warner Bros. deal announced Friday. Media giants including Comcast Corp., parent of NBCUniversal, are unloading cable-TV networks like MS Now and USA, and steering resources into streaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an emailed note to Warner Bros. employees on Friday, Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav said the board\u2019s decision to sell the company \u201creflects the realities of an industry undergoing generational change in how stories are financed, produced, distributed, and discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n The Producers Guild of America said Friday its members are \u201crightfully concerned about Netflix\u2019s intended acquisition of one of our industry\u2019s most storied and meaningful studios,\u201d while a spokesperson for the Directors Guild of America raised concerns about future pay at Warner Bros.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be meeting with Netflix to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company,\u201d the Directors Guild said.<\/p>\n In September, the DGA appointed director Christopher Nolan as its president. Nolan has previously criticized Netflix\u2019s model of releasing films exclusively online, or simultaneously in a small number of cinemas, and has\u00a0said\u00a0he won\u2019t make movies for the company.<\/p>\n The Screen Actors Guild said Friday that the transaction \u201craises many serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry, and especially the human creative talent whose livelihoods and careers depend on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Oscar winner Jane Fonda spoke out on Thursday before the deal was announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cConsolidation at this scale would be catastrophic for an industry built on free expression, for the creative workers who power it, and for consumers who depend on a free, independent media ecosystem to understand the world,\u201d the star of the Netflix series\u00a0Grace and Frankie\u00a0<\/em>wrote\u00a0on the Ankler industry news website.<\/p>\n Netflix and Warner Bros. obviously don\u2019t see it that way. In his statement to employees, Zaslav said \u201cthe proposed combination of Warner Bros. and Netflix reflects complementary strengths, more choice and value for consumers, a stronger entertainment industry, increased opportunity for creative talent, and long-term value creation for shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Hollywood #writers #Warner #takeover #blocked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hollywood writers, producers, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[831,834,723,576,461,833,457,577,832],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}