Netflix has struck a deal to buy the film and streaming arms of Warner Bros Discovery for $72bn (£54bn), a move that redraws the map of global entertainment and sets up one of the most audacious power grabs Hollywood has seen in decades.
After months of behind-the-scenes sparring, the streamer beat out rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance for control of a studio that owns two of the most durable franchises in modern culture: Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. The agreement also hands Netflix the keys to HBO Max — long regarded as the industry’s prestige benchmark.
The takeover still faces an obstacle course of regulatory approvals, but Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos insisted the company was “highly confident” regulators would give the green light, adding that the streamer was moving “full speed” towards completion.
Sarandos framed the deal as a chance to fuse Warner Bros’ century-long legacy with Netflix’s global streaming reach. “Warner Bros defined the last century of entertainment,” he said. “Together, we can define the next one.”
Greg Peters, the company’s other co-chief executive, said it was “too early” to spell out how the HBO brand would sit within Netflix’s ecosystem, but stressed that its identity mattered to viewers — a signal that the company is weighing how far to fold its crown jewel into the Netflix experience.
Netflix expects to save between $2bn and $3bn, largely by cutting duplicated tech and support functions. It pledged that Warner Bros films will retain their cinema releases and that the television studio will continue producing content for other networks, even as Netflix keeps its own slate exclusive.
Warner Bros chief executive David Zaslav called it a union of “two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world,” arguing that the deal would preserve the reach of the studio’s best-loved stories “for generations to come.”
The cash-and-stock offer values Warner Bros at an enterprise worth roughly $82.7bn once debts are counted, with shareholders receiving $27.75 per share. Both companies’ boards agreed unanimously.
Fallout begins
Reactions from the industry were immediate — and wary. Michael O’Leary of Cinema United said the merger poses “an unprecedented threat” to cinemas of every size, warning that consolidation on this scale could squeeze the theatrical business already under immense pressure.
The deal arrives as Warner Bros prepares to hive off its cable networks — including CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery channels in Europe — into a separate company called Discovery Global. TNT Sports International, however, will transfer with the studio and streaming division now headed to Netflix.
For analysts, the scale of the move is hard to overstate. Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight called it a “huge statement of intent,” arguing that it cements Netflix’s ambitions to become the dominant global entertainment player. But he warned that integrating a studio as sprawling as Warner Bros would be “a headache,” even for a company accustomed to rapid expansion.
Tom Harrington of Enders Analysis said the potential impact on the wider industry could be seismic: fewer shows, fewer films, and likely pushback from unions and Hollywood’s guilds. If the deal clears antitrust scrutiny, he said, “it would reorient Hollywood.”
Consumers, he added, should brace for higher subscription costs. Netflix’s larger market share combined with the collapse of HBO Max as a standalone service could give the company even greater pricing power.
Danni Hewson of AJ Bell said Netflix had offered “an olive branch” to the film industry by promising cinematic releases for Warner Bros titles, but warned that regulators will heavily scrutinise how much of the expected cost savings are passed on to audiences — and how much will fuel Netflix’s continued rise.
The deal, if approved, would mark the largest reshaping of Hollywood since the streaming revolution began — a marriage of old-guard studio prestige and Silicon Valley-style global scale. Whether it becomes the industry’s new centre of gravity depends now on regulators, and on whether Netflix can steer a behemoth without losing what made both companies formidable in the first place.
