#hollywood-consolidation

#hollywood-consolidation

Simply put, it was no longer "financially attractive," the company said. In December, Netflix had reached a deal to acquire some of Warner Bros. Discovery's assets: Their library, movie studio and HBO. Almost immediately Paramount, who months earlier had expressed interest in purchasing Warner Bros., initiated a hostile takeover bid for the whole company, which culminated in a $31 per share offer this week.

Two of Hollywood's oldest studios may be consolidating into one. In a shocking twist after a monthslong bidding war, Paramount has emerged as the apparent victor in the fight to acquire Warner Bros. Netflix, who backed away from the deal Thursday, had hoped to win the movie studio and its vast film library.

Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a deal worth $110 billion, Reuters and Deadline reported, citing remarks by Warner Bros. executive. Bruce Campbell, Warner Bros' chief revenue and strategy officer, made the announcement at a morning town hall, according to Reuters.

The bell tolling the end of Hollywood may well be the pending sale of Warner Discovery to either the streaming behemoth Netflix, which refuses to firmly commit to a theatrical release model going forward, or to rival studio Paramount, whose parent company has demonstrated more fealty to the ruling regime than to creative, journalistic, or political independence. Maybe "The Movies" have had their run, as

"We should not be reducing theatrical windows, we should be expanding. This is how the filmmaker wants you to see his film, and everybody else can wait for it. I don't care what happens. When you're going directly to streaming, it diminishes the importance of a film. The theatrical experience elevates the importance. The way you present it to the world is a very important thing."