Warner Bros. Discovery has been wanting to sell much of itself for a bit now. Skydance/Paramount had expressed a lot of interest and had been repeatedly rebuffed. Others were rumored to be wanting a piece as well. However, it has been declared that WBD wants to sell to Netflix. Yes, "Overnight, Netflix announced it had entered a, 'definitive agreement,' to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television studios, including Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, for $83 billion," with it also mentioned that if the deal falls through, Netflix will still throw five billion Warner Bros. way for their trouble. Another report says 76 billion is the total amount we're dealing with, so the exact number seems to be in flux, but it is a lot of zeroes. Regardless of the full amount, imagine being such a big company that you're cool with tossing away five billion if a deal doesn't work out. I mean, if my chips don't fall out of the vending machine that I put two dollars in, you know I'm not going to just walk away empty-handed for two single bills, never mind five billion.
For those of you into DC comics and their films, this does mean Netflix would now own that film division as well as being in charge of the comic-books, leading multiple sites to ask what happens to DC's movies and especially the comics if this sale goes through? We, obviously, can't know for sure, but based on how the latest DC projects are performing it would seem James Gunn and Peter Safran might be left to their own devices with DC's films/shows. Others and I would wager the comic-books will remain a comparatively inexpensive afterthought out of everything else in the Warner Brothers Discovery catalog that are treated as a source for ideas, but hopefully left mostly alone. I mean, Netflix is after the film/television content and probably shrugged with vague amusement at how a comic-book company comes along with all that, too. Don't get me wrong, ya'll know I love comics, but I also am aware that they are far from the focus of this 83 billion dollar deal.
One comic-book creator who stands to benefit from this deal immensely could be Mark Millar. He has worked closely with Netflix for years and now could very well find himself in a position of power with DC's flicks, shows, and comics. What that would mean for DC, only time could tell. For now, there is a lot of regulatory paperwork to get done, so who knows when this deal will truly be done or if it will get held up by those who (rightfully) see this as the formation of more monopolies/oligopolies. Again, we'll see what the next chunk of months (possibly years) holds. One thing is for sure, however. Theater owners are pissed based upon how Netflix has treated them in the past. That will only get uglier as this possible sale continues. The new Hollywood is buying out the old Hollywood; how could it be anything but messy?
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