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| 'A nightmare' - The battle over Warner Bros is turning Hollywood upside down ( Image: Getty Image) |
Disaster, catastrophe and nightmare. That's how Hollywood's creative workers describe the fall of the once mighty Warner Bros, as Netflix and Paramount battle to buy the historic studio and tinsel town braces for more upheaval and job losses.
In Hollywood, where a historic production slump has already ravaged the entertainment industry, Warner's decline and impending sale, whether to Paramount Skydance as a whole or to Netflix in parts, are being mourned. The studio, which has produced iconic films like Casablanca, Goodfellas, Batman, and Harry Potter, will no longer exist, which will likely result in additional job cuts and one less buyer of film and television projects. According to interviews conducted by the BBC with dozens of actors, producers, and camera crews, the industry is trying to decide which option is better: control by a tech giant that is accused of killing movie theaters (Netflix) or billionaires who are seen as being too amiable with President Trump (Paramount). A camera assistant described David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance and the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder and close ally of Trump, as "a right-wing billionaire Trumper." "Netflix is much more historically inclined to not micromanage production."
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If Netflix gets the deal they want, they will buy Warner Bros' crown jewels – the 102-year-old studio, HBO, and its vast archive of films and TV shows – leaving Warners's legacy TV networks, like CNN, TNT Sports and Discovery, for another buyer.
Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance's $108bn(£81bn) hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros includes backing from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and a fund started by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
It has raised concerns regarding the possibility of government overreach and censorship. President Trump added fuel to the fire when he said "it's imperative that CNN be sold".
The Warner Bros deal is the latest in a long line of major shake-ups in Hollywood since the pandemic.
During simultaneous strikes by actors and writers in 2023, film and television productions were halted. In 2022, studios and streaming services went into overdrive with creativity as a result of Covid shutdowns, making it appear as though everyone in Hollywood was working. However, the production boom never returned after the strikes ended. Numerous media companies have been forced to close their doors or merge as a result of the aftermath. Earlier this summer, David Ellison's Skydance Media acquired another storied Hollywood studio, Paramount, which resulted in the layoff of thousands of employees. When Warner Bros put up a for-sale sign, Paramount launched an eager campaign to buy the company. However, the studio ended up announcing a tentative agreement with Netflix. A spurned Paramount then went direct to Warner Bros Discovery shareholders with a hostile takeover offer that they say is "superior" to the Netflix deal.
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| Hollywood is being turned upside down by the conflict over Warner Bros(Image: Getty Image) |
The one thing that everyone in Hollywood seems to agree on is this story's villain: Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who made $51.9 million last year while Warner Bros lost more than $11 billion and the stock of the company fell nearly 7%. An actor who lost his home after his work stopped says, "I watched Warner Bros struggle since David Zaslav became the CEO and ran it into the ground." He didn't want to be named because he still wants to work for Paramount and Netflix. Mr. Zaslav has been compared to Gordon Gekko, a fictional character from the 1987 film Wall Street, who says, "greed is good." Mr. Zaslav took over in 2022 during a massive merger of Discovery, Inc., which he had led, with AT&T's WarnerMedia, which resulted in the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery. The consolidation saw several thousand jobs cut - and lavish pay packages for Mr Zaslav.
"Zaslav is just Gordon Gekko – he came in, broke it and sold it all," says a producer who was working on the Warner Bros lot. "He said I will make all shareholders rich, and it doesn't matter what this place's history is," Warner Bros objected to that characterisation.
"Under the leadership of David and the talented team at WBD over the past three and a half years, the studio has regained its leadership position with a unique slate of films led by original content," Warner's head of communications Robert Gibbs said in a statement to the BBC. "The studio has seen the relaunch of the DC Universe under a single unified leadership team with a ten year plan and the streaming service has launched globally and become profitable for the first time ever."
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For many film workers, whoever buys Warner Bros has felt almost irrelevant. Instead, they've been thinking about how to reinvent themselves in a market that is getting smaller because of consolidation and the growing use of AI in entertainment. "Every morning, no matter how much I tell myself to stay positive, I wake up feeling like I've failed in every direction," says an actor who is now homeless with his wife and two children, relying on the kindness of friends and food banks while he works odd jobs. He requested anonymity out of concern that this would have an effect on his subsequent work. He says, "I would rather see Netflix buy Warner Bros. than foreign money." Others are less certain. The tech giant has arguably been the industry's greatest disrupter since Warner Bros pioneered "the talkies" in 1927.
"I think it's a disaster," says a film exhibitor who did not want to be identified because they work with Netflix. "This is a company that declares with openness and pride that theaters are no longer required. That is alarming. It's a nightmare."
Many theatres in the US refuse to screen Netflix movies because of their streaming-first strategy.
"At least with Paramount, we know movies will make it to the big screen. A producer who has worked for all three companies asserted, "They didn't kill movie theaters." Netflix has sought to alleviate those fears, saying they expect "to maintain Warner Bros' current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films."
Many in Hollywood want to believe them.
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| Image: Getty Images/BBC |
John Evans, an actor, producer, and sound technician, cites Netflix's loving restoration of The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard as evidence of their good faith. The Egyptian, a classic 1922 theatre, was the site of the world's first movie premiere – Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks – and had fallen into disrepair before Netflix bought the property in 2020 and gave it a $70m makeover.
Mr. Evans stated, "I think it's a good sign," noting that, like the rest of the world, many film workers consume television and movies via streaming. Tourists take selfies in front of the Friends set of the Central Perk cafe on the Warner Bros. backlot and pass facades of buildings that resemble New York or Los Angeles. It's business as usual for those who are still working in the writers' rooms and offices. While developing a new show, a Warner Bros. lot producer admitted, "I've gone through seven mergers," stating that it was regrettable to lose a studio because it would make it even more difficult to produce shows and sell them with one less customer. "However, good stuff is good stuff if you make it." The producer spoke on the condition of anonymity on the day that Paramount Skydance announced their hostile takeover bid. They claimed that because they were trying to get a show on the air, they were too busy to worry about the sale. They wouldn't be surprised if another billionaire or trillionaire made an additional offer for the studio by the end of this. They remarked about the Tesla and X owner, "I joke about Elon walking in and doing this, but he could." "There are no rules when you have people worth a trillion dollars."
Source: BBC News.
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