Hollywood Rewritten: Netflix, Warner Bros - Part 1

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If 2025 proved anything, it’s that the creative industries aren’t playing by the old rules anymore. What once felt solid now feels shaky, and long-standing business models are being rewritten in real time. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Hollywood, an industry still trying to recover, reinvent itself, and figure out what relevance looks like in a post-pandemic world. And despite years of attempted comebacks, the theatrical movie business is still under pressure. Studios are struggling to get audiences back into theaters and keep the big-screen experience alive. According to Variety, “2025 is running neck-and-neck with the middling 2024 box office and will fall far short of the $9 billion in domestic ticket sales that most analysts expected the theatrical movie business to easily eclipse. Prior to the pandemic, North American revenues would regularly hit between $10 billion and $11 billion.”

And yet, amid that struggle, there has been one notable exception. While most studios have failed to return to pre-COVID success, Walt Disney Studios surpassed $6 billion at the global box office in 2025, the first company to reach that milestone since 2019. That success, however, only highlights how rare theatrical dominance has become and how dramatically audience habits have shifted.

As movie theater attendance declined, audiences turned to one place for entertainment: streaming. Watching new releases, comfort shows, and original content from home has become the norm, not the alternative. And when it comes to streaming, one company has consistently set the pace: Netflix. With its global reach, data-driven strategy, and aggressive content investments, Netflix has positioned itself as a dominant force in the modern entertainment landscape.

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That dominance is exactly why Netflix’s hypothetical acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has sparked major conversations across the creative economy. A move of this scale wouldn’t just be another corporate deal; it would signal a major shift in who controls content, distribution, and creative labor. While monopolies are technically illegal in the United States, media consolidation has increasingly become the norm rather than the exception.

Netflix’s reported willingness to spend $82.7 billion [per Netflix] on the acquisition speaks volumes. It raises questions about what this kind of consolidation means for filmmakers, writers, and creatives, and whether fewer companies controlling more content ultimately helps or harms the industry.

So before diving into what this acquisition could mean for the future, it’s worth taking a step back. Who exactly is Warner Bros. Discovery, and why does it matter if Netflix were to absorb it?

For over a century, Warner Bros. has been telling the stories that define Hollywood. From black-and-white classics to billion-dollar franchises, the studio has had its fingerprints on nearly every era of entertainment. It all started back in 1923, when four brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, took a chance on a still-new industry and ended up building one of the most powerful studios in the world. At the time, Hollywood was still finding its footing, and Warner Bros. quickly set itself apart, becoming one of the first major players in film production and distribution.

During Hollywood’s Golden Age, Warner Bros. didn’t just release movies, it helped define what movies were. Films like Casablanca became cultural touchstones, stories that lived far beyond the screen and shaped how audiences understood cinema, per Boston Brand Research & Media. The studio also played a major role in creating the idea of the celebrity, long before that culture was fueled by social media and streaming algorithms.

As entertainment evolved, Warner Bros. evolved with it. The studio expanded into television, dominated primetime, and later helped usher in the modern blockbuster era by bringing DC Comics superheroes to life. Whether you were waiting in line for a midnight Harry Potter premiere or arguing about the latest Game of Thrones episode on Twitter, there’s a good chance Warner Bros. was behind the moment.

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The studios catalog reads like a highlight reel of pop culture: Harry Potter, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Succession, and countless others that sparked global fandoms. These stories didn’t just stay on screens, they expanded into theme parks, merchandise, and licensing deals, turning fictional worlds into billion-dollar empires.

But the studio didn’t stop there. As streaming became the new battleground, Warner Bros. adapted again. Through mergers and corporate reshuffling, it became Warner Bros. Discovery and launched HBO Max, stepping into the crowded streaming wars alongside Netflix, Disney, and others.

For decades, Warner Brothers was one of the tent poles of Hollywood. But even giants aren’t immune to change. As audience habits shift and the rules of entertainment get rewritten, the studio now finds itself in unfamiliar territory. And for a company that has defined eras, this might be its most uncertain chapter yet.

And, as it turns out, uncertainty can lead to drastic decisions. In October 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery officially put itself up for sale, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The move didn’t come out of nowhere. For months, the company had been struggling to keep pace in an increasingly competitive media landscape.

The financial warning signs were impossible to ignore. Variety reported that Warner Bros. Discovery posted $11.5 billion in losses in 2024, building on an already turbulent 2023. With streaming costs skyrocketing and traditional cable continuing to decline, the company found itself caught between two collapsing business models and neither was delivering the stability it needed.

In an effort to stop the bleeding, Warner Bros. Discovery made a bold move: splitting into two separate companies. One entity, Warner Bros., retained the studio’s most valuable assets — HBO Max and blockbuster franchises like Harry Potter. The other, Discovery Global, took on the company’s traditional cable networks, including CNN and other legacy channels.

But the split did more than reorganize the company, it put one of Hollywood’s most valuable content libraries up for grabs. Almost immediately, the move sparked a full-blown media bidding war. Industry giants like Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix all jumped in, each hoping to control decades of iconic film and television IP.

For a while, it was anyone’s game. But in the end, only one company walked away with the prize.

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Netflix ultimately emerged as the victor, narrowly beating out competitors, most notably Paramount. Paramount’s bid initially appeared ambitious. According to Reuters, the company offered $108 billion to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety, or roughly $30 per share in cash. “Reuters further reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Paramount had raised its offer to $30 per share on Thursday, a move that immediately raised concerns within the Warner Bros. Discovery board about the deal’s financing.”

What initially seemed like a power move quickly unraveled. As CNN reported, “The WBD board called Paramount’s hostile takeover offer ‘inadequate’ and overly risky.” Reinforcing that stance, CNBC noted that the “Warner Bros. Discovery board once again unanimously recommended shareholders reject Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid, stating that it remained “inferior” to a previously announced $72 billion deal with Netflix to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming business.”

However, this wasn’t a total takeover. Netflix acquired Warner Bros.’ most valuable assets, including HBO Max and its iconic franchise library, while the future of Discovery Global, home to cable networks like CNN, remains uncertain. Even with both companies agreeing to the terms, the deal isn’t finalized. It still requires government approval, and given the scale of the merger, regulators are already scrutinizing the move for its impact on media consolidation.

So what does all of this mean, not just for Netflix or Warner Bros., but for audiences, creatives, and the future of entertainment? And that’s a wrap on part one of our story. We’ve taken a closer look at Warner Bros.’ history, explored how the industry has evolved, and examined the ups and downs of theatrical releases all to give some context for a deal of this size. Understanding the past and present of Hollywood helps make sense of why a move like this matters so much, not just for studios, but for audiences and creatives alike. In part two of this story, we'll explore the future of the creative industries could look like, and what might be at risk if this deal passes through Congress. From creative labor to content control and the streaming landscape, the stakes are high and the implications could touch everyone who loves movies, shows, or storytelling in any form. Trust us, you won’t want to miss it.