Paramount Pictures Logo. Photo: Paramount.
Preview:
- Paramount has seemingly won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.
- Netflix had seemed to be in prime position but have backed out.
- The news sent shockwaves through the industry.
Though it looked in December as though streaming giant Netflix had been successful in its attempt to buy Warner Bros., in a surprise move, Paramount Skydance has swept in to snatch the deal from the company’s hands.
Paramount’s David Ellison and his team had been making overtures to the Warner board, and recently upped its bid to the point where the board decided to go with the new offer.
“Our lives are the sum of our choices.”
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Run Time: 2 hr 50 min
Budget: $400,000,000
Now the big question is whether one media giant –– especially one as similar to Warner Bros. as Paramount, can clear the regulatory hurdles such a deal would generate. But Ellison and his company’s faithfulness to the current administration would seem to be a help to them.
Related Article: Netflix Buying Warner Bros. After Triumphing over Paramount and Others
Netflix bosses talk the end of its bid for Warners
Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer at Netflix Ted Sarandos attends the World Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Red Notice/ at Regal LA Live. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Netflix.
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters released the following statement about the company’s decision to drop out of the bidding process:
“We’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match. This transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
What next for Paramount and Warners?
Matt Smith in ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2. Photograph by Theo Whitman/HBO.
Pending regulatory approval, Paramount will own not only Warner Bros. and HBO, but also many popular cable networks including CNN, TNT, TBS and Food Network. The deal would represent a major ground shift for the entertainment industry, which is trying to adapt to seismic shifts in audience habits and technology.
Will the giant merged legacy media company be able to overcome competition from Netflix, which has its own sphere of influence? Only time will tell…
(L to R) Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell in ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout, from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. ©2021 Paramount Pictures. All Right Reserved.
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