Netflix has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's film and television studios, along with its HBO Max streaming service, in a $72 billion equity deal valued at $82.7 billion including debt. The transaction, announced on December 5, 2025, follows a competitive bidding war with Paramount Skydance and Comcast, and is subject to regulatory approval and the completion of Warner Bros. Discovery's planned spinoff of its Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a separate publicly traded company, now expected in the third quarter of 2026.
The deal values Warner Bros. Discovery at $27.75 per share, with shareholders receiving $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix stock per share.
Netflix expects to generate $2–3 billion in annual cost savings by the third year after closing and anticipates the transaction will be accretive to earnings per share by year two.
The acquisition will bring iconic franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC Comics (including Batman and Superman), The Wizard of Oz, and The Sopranos under Netflix’s ownership.
Netflix has committed to maintaining current operations, including theatrical releases for Warner Bros. films, and plans to expand global production capacity and investment in original content.
The transaction is expected to close within 12–18 months, pending regulatory approvals and shareholder votes.
As of January 13, 2026, both Netflix’s and Warner Bros. Discovery’s boards have unanimously approved the deal, and the separation of Discovery Global is underway.
Speculation of whether this deal will actually happen with our current administration aside — what do people think are the potential implications of Netflix acquiring Warner Bros? Shorter theatrical windows? Warner Bros content — specifially what's on HBO Max — getting removed from streaming? A general enshittifcation of Warner Bros franchises? Just them having too large market share in general, making there be less competitive buyers from film and TV creators?
I can take some guesses as to the implications but don't work in the industry so they'd be fairly uneducated. What do you think will happen? What is your worst fear?
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I've seen the news online that Netflix has bought Warner Bros., and I was a bit confused by... a lot of things.
First of all, why did this acquisition happen? For as long as I can remember, Warner Bros. has always been one of the biggest studios in Hollywood, with so many iconic movies and franchises owned by it. I know they weren't doing so hot lately, but I thought they were at least able to keep themselves going without that much support from others. It's kinda weird to hear that it is now OWNED by someone.
Secondly, why does the news that Netflix might buy WB get such a bad reaction from people online? I know Netflix is notorious for canceling shows way too early and continuing shows people are really sick about, and they are also blamed for how many shows these days release their seasons every two years instead of a few months or 1 year. Are there more reasons why that acquisition is so controversial?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce91x2jm5pjo
It’s gonna take a long time till everything is finalized so my question is can new films start filming, get green light or everything is on pause? If u don’t know for a fact then just tell me “I think”