Really hoping this deal doesnt get approved. Hopefully Trump can use his corrupt 'government influence peddling for sale' for some good and keep Netflix far far away from any of the studios. They have no respect for the theatrical experience at all and Sarandos has already made his hatred of selling physical media clear. I dont want to live in his world where everything is rented and I never have the choice to save anything I watch for later viewing unless I subscribe to their curated library which may or may not decide its time to remove titles randomly.

Neve realized how good we had it just 20 years ago when DVD was in its prime and nearly everything every created was getting released in box sets and movies were getting 4 disk special editions with commentary tracks from the director to the costume designer.

There are many auteur directors who will simply choose not to work with them thank God but for new talent that has no clout its a huge loss for the film making community. The future looks bleak.

So, what does Netflix’s purchase do for HBO Max? Will there still be separate streaming services? If we have the cable subscription, do we still get it for free?

Wasn't Superman in theaters for a mere month? How much smaller a window would Netflix want? Just one week in theaters per movie?

How would anyone know? This was announced yesterday

I saw a splashy headline that said something like Could this mean the end of HBO's linear channel?

I mean anything is possible. I assume a good portion of you guys here don't watch anything live as scheduled on linear TB anymore right? When the prestige HBO shows air, I assume most of you just go to HBO Max?

Yesterday I got an email from "Netflix" talking about WB acquisition. I didn't even open it, figuring it was some phishing scam.

i did as well.

"Hi Scott, We recently announced that Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO. This unites our leading entertainment service with Warner Bros.’ iconic stories, bringing some of the world’s most beloved franchises like Harry Potter, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Casablanca, Game of Thrones and the DC Universe together with Stranger Things, Wednesday, Squid Game, Bridgerton and KPop Demon Hunters. What’s changing? Nothing is changing today. Both streaming services will continue to operate separately. We have more steps to complete before the deal is closed, including regulatory and shareholder approvals. You’ll hear from us when we have more to share. In the meantime, we hope you’ll continue to enjoy watching as much as you want, whenever you want - all on your current membership plan. We know you might have questions. Check out our Help Center for more information or contact us at any time. Thank you for choosing Netflix. We’re committed to bringing you more great TV shows, movies, games and live programming. The Netflix team."

Yeah, I got the email as well. Was about to post it here since it addresses OldBoy's question. The key sentence in the their message being "Nothing is changing today."

i.e. get the Astroglide ready

Really dumb meme. Blockbuster obviously should have bought Netflix for a few million when they could have, but to infer that Netflix wouldn't have bought WB as an end result if they had is completely baseless.

Very true. But inferring that Blockbuster buying Netflix wouldn’t have prevented Netflix from buying WB/HBO is ALSO completely baseless.



It’s just a meme pointing out the chain of events with the benefit of hindsight.

The Butterfly Effect

WB isn't even for sale (yet) if not for Ellison...

Consumer being the operative word.

I'll continue the old man grumbling, as I hate the modern state of entertainment is "The Content Era." I prefer my entertainment to be a special experience, whether that is on a large projection screen in a movie theater, scrambling across town to make sure I would get a limited release slip cover for a new DVD with the extra disc of special features, or wandering the aisles of my local community video store (even if it was a mega corp). Two common elements there: a communal experience and getting my fat ass off my couch and out the door.

Now, we live in . . . well . . . this:




Even "special" entertainment is no longer special. It is content. Hog slop produced at the lowest possible price with the least costly possible ingredients to give us a facsimi-like entertainment experience to boost stock prices and lure investors. I'm not saying none of it is entertaining, I'm saying it has no magic left in it. It has no heart. It has no soul. It has no authenticity. It has no humanity. It has no community.

It is computer-generated imagery (which can be impressive, but lacks the elegant craftsmanship of practical filmmaking) force fed to us by a shitty user interface driven by a "AI-powered algorithm" that doesn't give you things you like, but the the things they want you to have. Every fucking streaming service claims they are "serving the customer" and "suggesting entertainment based on your preferences" . . . but they are just shoveling the same damned 10-12 things they want to shovel at you.

It would be like hopping in a time machine and going back to a video store that had it's new release wall filled with Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

New releases not your thing? No problem, on this endcap are our employee picks: Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

Looking for something different? Next endcap is our "Action on a Cold Night" section: Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

More of an independent film buff? Over in that section we have our "Big Stars, Indy Darlings" picks: Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

Need a date night movie? No problem! The next aisle over is our "Romance Rescues" section with: Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

Already watched those movies? Check out these "since you liked those" recommendations: Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Fur10us: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition).

Nevermind, I will go look for my own picks. As you do that, the clerk continues to stand in front of everything you are trying to look at, thrusting copies of Jurassic Park: Enshiification, John Wick 6/7, Fast and Furious: Go More Faster, Titanic 2: Never Go Down, and Jack Black and Kevin Hart are In a Movie Again (Sing Along Edition) at you.

SO . . . Fuck you. I'm not a consumer. I'm a customer. I'm a connoisseur. I'm a cinephile. I don't want content. I want art. I don't want to digest, regurgitate, defecate, repeat. I want to experience life through art. I want my movies to transport me to magical fantasy lands. I don't want binges and 8 more parts dropped in batches. I want to overpay for cheap snacks and realize I am the only sick mother fucker laughing at this (or wonder why I am the lone grouch not laughing). I want to be so engrossed in that giant screen that I freak the fuck out when I think my friend is a dilophosaur. I want to enter that black box that transports us out of the real world for a few hours of respite from a rough patch in life. I want the experience of going into a movie not knowing anything, and having my concept of reality rocked to the core. I want to sit in the dark with strangers, pretending none of us are crying.

"The consumer experience" needs to DIE. It is not art from the soul or entertainment designed for a society, it is high fructose corn syrup, made for the financial benefactor, not the patron.

Terrible, horrific news for everybody who loves movie theaters and physical media. Netflix was by far the worst outcome for owning WB. It's a bad omen for Hollywood as we know it in general.

Netflix will pull out of movie theaters and media the minute WB's existing contracts expire. I believe they'll give assurances to the government and play nice for the sake of regulatory approval, but that will go all up in smoke once they have full control.

Buy any WB movie you'd like now because there is no guarantee it will be available in 4 years. Strongly believe that Netflix will pull WB out of Movies Anywhere. They want consumers on the hook for $50-60 a month and paywall all Warner content. I don't think they'd pull WB digital movies you already own from MA so I guess there is a small silver lining.

I just think we have to wait and see (not like we have a choice, we're in the era of no regulations).

I do think it's one thing for them to make their own content and paywall it, and another to take what has traditionally been a media company and do the same to all the popular properties and franchises, it would be a gigantic mistake, they'd be leaving money on the table and they would anger all kinds of prospective customers. Buying WB gives them an enormous amount of pull with theaters that they didn't already have. And I was actually surprised but they 'played nice" with theaters in terms of profit share on the Stranger Things finale showings so it's not like they just hate the business or anything.

I'm pretty sure that theatrical releases aren't in danger, the windows are getting shorter, but that's not a Netflix exclusive. Paramount, Disney and Warner have already started that process and that is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm sure the WB library will be part of Netflix, a huge library is the one thing Disney+, Paramount+ and Prime Video can offer Netflix can't. I suppose that might even lead to the possibility of fewer big budget Netflix movies, since they can push those projects towards Warner, but physical media is in real danger. I guess the lobby for physical media just isn't big enough anymore.

The lobby may not be there, but my personal frustration is that NONE of the industries died, they were murdered.

I'm still waiting for somebody smarter than me to explain how there is more money to be made with a $15/month subscription than there was in theatrical ticket sales, home video rental windows, home media sales, licensing for cable, and licensing for broadcast.

PREACH!!!



The same reason why so many crappy things are so profitable now. People are lazy and addicted. Lazier than we've ever been before. They don't want to go to the movie for an experience. They want that hog slop content. People aren't even exclusively watching what's on TV now!! And some creatives are actually caving and realizing that most of their content will be consumed either on the small tiny screen while doing something else like running or chores or taxes. Or it will be on the small screen while the tiny screen is busy scrolling on Tik Tok. Even in my own house hold I cannot get my wife to sit down for a movie night. Either she'll be dead asleep within 5 minutes or she'll be scrolling on her phone. It drives me absolutely batty. But I've given up. What can I do? She's like 90% of people watching stuff nowadays. Its not important to them. Just something to consume.

So yeah the $15/month subscription works because people are lazy and just want content and want to belly up to an all you can eat buffet of slop rather than go make a reservation, get dressed up, and drive to a nice restaurant where people actually care about creating food.

But, wouldn't it make sense to cater to every audience? A lot of people like the theater, others streaming or tv, and some will still buy physical media. I'd say there are many of us that do all of that. One of the things that sucks about streaming is they'll just get rid of their own shows. Hulu has done this a lot of with their original shows.

Universal, Disney, Paramount and Warner still cater to every audience, but the focus has changed. Don't forget that the same companies fought the change of the music industry every step of the way, by clambering to a dying business model and Apple stepped in. Now those companies are steering the change of the movie industry, but only after the success of Netflix.
Sony is the one exception, since they are still licensing their content.

You're correct...in the short term. Hollywood revenue was bigger when all those avenues were peaking.

But the subscription model assumes down the road (correctly I believe) everyone, and I mean everyone, will be hooked into a subscription through their smartphone. The studio then doesn't have to share any profit from their content with the movie theater or cable companies. The streaming model for Hollywood is about eliminating those industries which have been built off the back of Hollywood's content. It also undercuts pay for Hollywood talent, which is a neat little bonus for the MBA types who actually manage these studios.

I think we'll end up with only 3 Hollywood conglomerates left standing once the streaming wars settle out.

I've always suspected the death of movie theaters by providing a service that let's you watch movies Day 1 at home. Instead of $15/month, it'll be $50+ or more (for 4K, no commercials, etc,).

I actually still wait for them on DVD. HBO has always been the best at putting out physical media copies of their shows.

Netflix has been among the worst, putting out 1 or 2 seasons and then stopping and in some cases not offering the missing season for viewing any longer. So annoyed that I have no way to watch the last season of Grace and Frankie.

I suppose this will just lead to more bootlegging and piracy and peer to peer file sharing. Someone always comes up with a workaround. When someone figures out how to 'rip' the digital download streams so that I can burn them or save them onto my own hard drive I'll be first in line. No 'renting' for me thanks!