Richard Crouse: If Netflix squashes Paramount’s hostile bid, Warner Bros. classics could sit next to streaming flops

In April 2025 Time magazine Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs began a Q&A with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the Time100 Summit with a simple but direct question: “Have you destroyed Hollywood?”

According to a Variety report, Sarandos smiled and said, “No, we’re saving Hollywood.”

His answer has been echoing in my head since news broke that Netflix would acquire Warner Bros. in one of the biggest media deals of the decade.

It’s not hard to understand why the streamer would set its sights on the 102-year-old studio. In the past year alone, Warner’s made bank with mega-hits like “A Minecraft Movie,” scored big box office with risky, nonfranchise projects like “Sinners,” Weapons” and “One Battle After Another,” re-booted “Superman” and acted as distributor for the Apple movie “F1.” Plus, they sit on a vast catalogue of some of the most iconic movies to come out of Hollywood.

Doesn’t sound to me like Warner’s, the studio who ushered “Barbie” to a US$1.445 billion gross, needs saving. Nonetheless, Netflix has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) film and television studios, along with its streaming division (including HBO and HBO Max) for an eye-watering $72 billion.

Warner classics could sit next to Netflix flops

That means in future, if the deal leaps over the regulatory battles that will inevitably arise, and Netflix squashes Paramount’s subsequent hostile all-cash tender offer for the studio, Warner’s classics like “Casablanca” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” will sit on the shelf next to Netflix fare like “The Ridiculous 6” and “The Last Days of American Crime,” which both sit at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I know that’s a cheap shot.

Netflix have made some good movies like “Marriage Story,” “Hit Man” and “Roma” and handed over scads of cash to filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Bong Joon-ho among many others. They even own and operate three beautiful theatres, the Paris Theater in New York City, the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles and the Bay Theater in Santa Monica.

Trouble is, despite all of that, they don’t respect the very heart and soul of film-watching, and that is the theatrical experience. In fact, Sarandos calls going to the movies “an outdated concept.”

It’s no secret that movie going has taken a hit in recent years. Admissions are down, and movies no longer sit at the very center of popular culture. During the pandemic we got used to watching movies at home or on our phones, but no matter what set-up you have in your living room, the thing missing is the ancient practice of sharing entertainment with a large group of strangers. It’s not just the lure of the popcorn or the Twizzlers. It’s an age-old ritual.

Netflix isn’t entirely to blame for the dip in the theatrical business. The internet splintered our attentions, dissipating the monoculture that once existed, a time when we’d would all go see the same movies.

But it’s also true that when you devalue the theatrical experience, you erode interest in going to the movies. Once upon a time the “window” between a movie appearing in theatres and when it would come out on TV, video or DVD, was months long. These days Netflix has whittled that down to a week or two. The convenience of watching a film on your home TV or device makes it less special to go to the theatre, even if the experience isn’t as good.

Netflix could prioritize on-demand viewing

So, Netflix won’t save Hollywood by gobbling up Warner Bros. In fact, it could likely reshape it for the worse by prioritizing on-demand viewing over theatrical releases. That means fewer movies in theatres which could lead to closures and loss of jobs; a situation Cinema United called an “unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”

I’m concerned that a transaction of this scale may result in decreased market competition, potentially leading to increased prices, additional advertising tiers, and a spate of formulaic, algorithm-driven content.

Saving Hollywood doesn’t mean squeezing theatres out of the equation in favour of streaming. The two can co-exist, benefiting one another in a symbiotic relationship that allows both to survive and thrive but that won’t happen if one company is allowed a market share that overshadows everyone else.

Whatever happens, whether it’s Netflix or rival Paramount, whose big offer includes $18 billion more in cash to shareholders than the Netflix deal, and commits to theatrical releases, job protection, and enhanced competition against streaming giants, one thing is for sure, at the end of the day, it’s all about the movies.

No matter how large your TV or how comfortable your sofa, streaming misses the magical element of community. And these days we need as much of that as we can get. In the theatre you’re getting the sound and the picture the director intended, but more than that, the experience brings people together, inspires conversation, respect and triggers actual physical interaction with others. Try that as you stream a Netflix movie on your iPhone.