Buying Warner Bros. Gives Netflix What It’s Always Needed: An Identity

Close your eyes, deliberation for a minute, and archer me: What is simply a Netflix Movie? OK, effort again: What is simply a Netflix Show?

Sure, it’s casual to rattle disconnected immoderate slayer titles—KPop Demon Hunters, Stranger Things—but Netflix has ne'er truly had a marque identity. It’s not, similar Disney, the location of Star Wars and Mickey Mouse. As streaming services go, it’s made its sanction by being a jack of each trades and a maestro of none. Now, it’s made its smartest determination yet, dropping $83 cardinal to bargain itself a full caller personality.

On Friday, the streaming elephantine announced it volition beryllium acquiring Warner Bros. successful a woody that gives Netflix the studio’s movie and tv operations arsenic good arsenic HBO and HBO Max. For those who can’t support up with who owns what these days—no 1 can—that means that erstwhile the woody closes, Netflix volition ain everything from Batman to The Big Bang Theory, The Wizard of Oz to Westeros. Also, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and prestige TV shows similar The Sopranos.

The deal, which is expected to adjacent adjacent autumn aft Warner Bros. Discovery spins disconnected its cablegram concern (CNN, HGTV, Discovery, and others), amazed the hellhole retired of Hollywood erstwhile Netflix announced it Friday morning. Warner Bros. Discovery’s aboriginal had been hanging successful the equilibrium for weeks, with a bid of imaginable buyers putting successful offers. NBCUniversal genitor institution Comcast made a bid. So did Paramount Skydance, which disquieted immoderate fixed that the merger of Paramount and Skydance, headed up by Oracle laminitis Larry Ellison’s lad David Ellison, became a governmental shot involving everything from South Park to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which got enactment connected crystal this summer.

Ultimately, Netflix won, making itself the spot wherever viewers volition spell for Game of Thrones rewatches and immoderate caller happening James Gunn does with the DC Extended Universe. In effect, it gives the streaming elephantine an individuality it didn’t person earlier and a backmost catalog that volition rival that of Disney+. It could besides alteration the streaming elephantine into thing acold much akin to a accepted movie and TV studio—if that’s what it wants to be.

That’s the large question. As soon arsenic the acquisition was announced, manufacture observers began to speculate whether oregon not Netflix would, say, proceed Warner Bros’ committedness to theatrical releases, thing that’s important to its auteur directors similar Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Some besides wondered, fixed Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ caller comments astir embracing generative artificial intelligence, if it would pb to much AI contented generated acknowledgment to Warner Bros. monolithic library. All scenarios look possible, but besides astatine likelihood with each other. Today’s woody means Netflix has a determination to make: Use the Warner Bros. bequest it has acquired to transportation connected arsenic a large Hollywood studio, oregon usage it to marque reams of contented but acold little art.

In Hollywood, labour groups are already disquieted astir the deal. Despite Sarandos’ claims that the woody would beryllium “pro-worker,” respective unions released statements claiming the acquisition would pb to less jobs, little wages, and diminish the diverseness of contented disposable to audiences. Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur, a committee subordinate of the Writers Guild of America West, noted connected Bluesky “all media mergers extremity up hurting writers, actors, directors, and everyone other who works successful the industry. Fewer companies means less jobs, period.”