Hollywood has been in consolidation mode for the last few years, but with Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount and, more recently, Netflix’s attempt to acquire Warner Bros., the studio landscape is shrinking faster than ever. One group that isn’t happy about it is movie theater owners, and, per Deadline, in its testimony to the Senate antitrust committee, the nation’s exhibitors condemn Netflix’s attempts to acquire WB, calling them “economically and culturally catastrophic.” The testimony was part of the hearing where Ted Sarandos had to listen to Republicans complain that one of the loudest amplifiers for transphobic thought in America was producing “the wokest content in the history of the world.” But the more apt criticism came from exhibitors, who said the merger would mean “fewer theatres, shorter windows, less revenue, fewer jobs across the national and global entertainment industry, and fewer movies for consumers to see in theatres.”
The comments came from Cinema United, the trade organization formerly known as the National Association for Theatre Owners, in a six-page written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy & Consumer Rights. Netflix had attempted to get out ahead of these critiques, with Sarandos conceding that no one in rural areas goes to movie theaters and that he would give 45-day theatrical windows to WB releases for urban elites. But as Deadline notes, there’s still a lot of murkiness regarding the window. When distributors talk about 45-day windows, they mean 45 days in theaters before going to PVOD, not 45 days and then it’s on Netflix or HBO Max, which would give people a reason to wait until it’s on the service “for free.” Citing concerns that consolidation of production and distribution will land in the “hands of a single, dominant, global streaming platform in a market that is already highly concentrated,” Cinema United believes the acquisition will harm theatre owners, as well as “movie fans and surrounding businesses in communities of all sizes.”
They’re not much happier with the idea of Paramount purchasing WB either, which they say will “consolidate as much as 40% of each year’s domestic box office in the hands of a single dominant studio.”
“The key to a successful industry overall is having a diverse, robust, and consistent product pipeline that responds to consumer demand. The number of films being produced for theatrical exhibition is slowly returning to pre-2019 levels. However, that growth is threatened by further consolidation. At best, an acquisition of Warner Bros. will stall the growth we have seen in the last four years. More realistically, however, it will result in a significant reduction of theatrical releases.”
Keep scrolling for more great stories.