By Mira Nayak
The date is September 2000, when a young Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph fly to Dallas in an attempt to sell their start-up to Blockbuster: a DVD-by-mail system called Netflix. Worth $3 billion at the time, Blockbuster infamously laughed in their faces, claiming it would never work. Now worth $379 billion, Netflix is purchasing the as old as cinema Warner Bros, in a business transaction that film nerds everywhere are calling “the end of cinema”.
It was Blockbuster’s missed opportunity first. In a world of Blockbuster, which made revenue by customers’ late fees, Netflix was revolutionary for eliminating said fees and for its at-home purchasing convenience. In the last 25 years, Netflix has cemented its presence as a the global streaming giant on everybody’s TV, producing successes like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Bridgerton. Regardless of the hidden gems, their content is mediocre, and the quality of those same productions declines as viewership grows. Meanwhile, in 2000, Warner Bros was purchasing Time Warner, its parent company. Warner Bros cranked out classics like Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, The Shining, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Looney Tunes, all defining moments in cinema. While Warner Bros values carrying out the artist’s authentic vision, Netflix values business and profit. Yet, artistic vision didn’t work very well for Warner Bros. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 17, 2025, and Netflix announced its bid the same year, on December 5.
Now, what does the unification of these two polar services mean? For film fanatics, it means the end of the world. For casual cinema goers, the end of theaters; for Netflix fans, Stranger Things forever. There are three possible outcomes of the deal. In one world, we’re given cinema harmony. Netflix’s business, combined with Warner Bros’ artistry, means another 100 years of putting talented artists in studios. The second situation combines Netflix’s profit-based business and Warner Bros content library, which, accompanied by Netflix’s mediocre writing, acting, and production, results in the end of movie theaters.
As Netflix has built its program off of at-home streaming, it’s unlikely that they would keep their movies in theatres for very long. With the new deal, this business tactic means the same for movies under Warner Bros, completely obliterating their ideals, causing dismay amongst the industry. There has been speculation that Netflix will limit its theatrical release from the industry standard 45-day window to just 17 days, to which Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos responded, “If we’re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.” Will Netflix hold up their promise, or will they take the financial route and have viewers pay a subscription to watch at home? Following their current business plans, I’d say the latter.
This doesn’t mean the billion-dollar deal will go through. As of right now, everything is under review by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. In simple terms, if they decide that Netflix is defined as “Entertainment”, they are not at risk of being filed as a monopoly. However, if they are classified in a more narrow category, such as a streaming service only, the combination of Netflix and Warner Bros dominates 45% of said market, creating an unbeatable monopoly; the deal would die. Another force at hand is Paramount, Warner Bros’ other buyer. Warner Bros had taken Netflix’s offer of $82 billion in cash and stock, when Paramount’s much greater $108 billion in all cash was offered as well. Suspicion raised why Warner Bros didn’t take the grander deal, so as of today, Paramount is suing Warner Bros. for lack of information regarding the deal in their attempt at a hostile takeover bid. Paramount is aiming to purchase the entirety of Warner Bros., including HBO and CNN, whereas Netflix wants its streaming/studio assets like Harry Potter and DC (planning to spin off the cable networks as “Discovery Global”).
The future is uncertain, though likely that Netflix and Warner Bros will merge. Beyond the possible end of movie theatres, Netflix subscription prices would go up, many would lose their jobs, and there would be a significant loss of artistic individuality in the industry. All we can do right now is wait, maybe catch a movie while you’re at it.