The Lesser of Two Evils: The Fight For Warner Bros Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) financial struggles have been well-documented over the past few years. Struggling to find box office success as well as success on the small screen due to several blunders, found them burying completed projects, such as ‘Batgirl’ and the, soon to be release, ‘Acme vs Coyote’. 2025, however, brought a burst of income riding on the backs of films such as ‘Sinners’ and ‘Weapons as well as TV shows such as ‘It: Welcome to Derry’.

WBD, all of a sudden, was marketable and a hot commodity.

Looking to capitalize on current successes and to strike while the iron was hot, WBD CEO David Zaslav announced that he was beginning the process of the sale of WBD this past fall, taking first bids starting on November 20th.

Chaos has ensued since.

Let the Sweepstakes Begin!

The winner of the WBD sweepstakes was seemingly Netflix. That was until Paramount Skydance, upset with the way in which the process had not worked out for them, made a hostile bid directly to the shareholders, offering cash for the brand. The bidding war created by Zaslav and the sale of WBD now has more far-reaching consequences, not only to the film industry, but to other aspects of our lives that most have not thought of. Indeed, if either of the deals goes through, it would put moviegoers as well as the film industry into uncharted waters that absolutely involves the potential for years of court battles.

So…

What is ACTUALLY happening, and what could be the potential outcome?

I’m going to break down the process that’s happened thus far, as well as give the pros and cons for each deal and the potential far-reaching consequences of both. Buckle up, Buckaroos, this ride’s got twists AND turns.

The Netflix Deal: Sarandos and the Death of the Theater

After just a few weeks of opening bids, Netflix emerged seemingly victorious. WBD had agreed to the offer from Netflix, going as far as sending out a middle-of-the-night email (we’ll come back to this email) to subscribers announcing the acquisition. Costing them $72 billion, Netflix now had the entirety of the catalog of WBD in the bag, creating a firestorm of internet activity.

Met with outrage, many did not know what this acquisition would mean for the theatrical release of WBD films moving forward. Netflix has historically been hostile to theaters, putting films in just long enough for them to qualify for the awards show. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos is on record stating the theater model was “outdated” and that most people can’t walk to a movie theater, as if cars and other modes of transportation were not a thing. Sarandos went as far as claiming Netflix was “saving movies” and telling The New York Times that “There’s no reason to believe that the movie itself is better on any size of screen for all people. My son’s an editor, he watched ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ on his phone.”

Not only is this shortsighted, but it hasn’t exactly filled moviegoers and theater lovers with the warm and fuzzies. That is not to say there haven’t been people who support Sarandos’ views on theaters, citing the price of admission, concession, and rude moviegoers as reasons for their support of this sale. It still throws a cloud over a time-honored institution.

The mood was not tempered by a middle-of-the-night email sent to subscribers that refers to the classic, untouchable (ask Madonna), ‘Casablanca’ as a franchise. It came off as sneaky and not done with upstanding intentions. Yet again, moviegoers were left with a massive amount of concern.

Since the blowback has hit, Sarandos has made a concerted effort to bring the temperature down, stating that Netflix “didn’t buy WBD “to destroy that value.” Still, the deal is far from done. Even if Paramount had not made the hostile bid that they did, Netflix has an uphill battle against anti-trust groups and government entities that regulate things like monopolies. This deal would absolutely give Netflix a large share of the industry and a share that could drastically change how we view and consume films forever.

The Paramount Deal: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kushner

Before the ink could dry, Paramount, which itself was bought by David Ellison’s Skydance in another questionable deal, entered a hostile bid to upend the deal that Netflix had in place. Offering 18 billion dollars in cash straight to shareholders with a promise to increase their return on investment. Paramount, on its face, looks like a better deal than Netflix. The company has a history of supporting theaters by putting their films into the theaters for a decent run, and the films they make do quite well at the box office as well as at awards shows.

The real question, “Where is this money coming from?” was answered quite quickly. Ellison was able to make the offer to WBD that he did due to backing from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jared Kushner’s investment group, Affinity Partners, NONE of which were mentioned in the press release that Paramount put out about the move.

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, made this move a day after his father-in-law stated that he would get involved with the deal being made. Kushner, who has a long relationship with Saudi Arabia, has a history of making shady business deals that get passed through due to his proximity to the White House in the United States. This has taken a business deal and made it wildly political.

Ellison, whose father is a billionaire supporter of Trump, in a visit to the White House in recent days told Trump officials that he will make drastic changes to CNN if Paramount were able to win the battle for WBD. From a 1st amendment perspective, this would be catastrophic. The direct pipeline to the White House would undoubtedly erode viewer confidence in CNN while creating another state media arm for the current administration. Simply put, misinformation would be uncontrolled and rampant.

Read More: ‘Zootopia 2’: Disney’s Not So Subtle Takedown of Gentrification

This is, of course, all before we’ve even discussed the human rights violations that are Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia, which famously murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi and is linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, limits the rights of women within their country, imprisons anyone who speaks against their regime, and criminalizes homosexuality. This has all been well-litigated this year due to the significant backlash to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announcing that Wrestlemania will be held in Saudi Arabia, as well as a comedy special, featuring Pete Davidson, whose father was killed on 9/11, which was largely panned by the comedy community and fans alike.

Qatar is no better than the Saudis when it comes to human rights. The 2022 World Cup was held in Qatar, which used slave labor to build the stadiums in which the games would be played. This led to the deaths of thousands of migrants due to the extreme heat and harsh conditions of working in Qatar’s climate.

The deal, at this juncture, has yet to be approved. WBD put out a statement stating that they would review the Paramount offer and release a statement in 10 days, 9 now since the countdown officially started yesterday. That, however, is irrelevant if courts step in and stop the purchase, which is still, and arguably more so than Netflix, a huge possibility. The political nature of this takeover has the huge potential to be overturned by the judicial system in the US. There is evidence of Skydance, the company that bought Paramount, already making political moves when it came to their purchase of Paramount and subsequently cancelling Stephen Colbert at the direction of the President of the United States. Paramount certainly has an uphill battle.

While the prospects of either company purchasing WBD seem unlikely, there are upsides that are viewed in both cases. With Paramount, the theatrical will remain intact. With Netflix, viewers may see the release of films WBD shelved for a tax break, such as ‘Batgirl’.

The overarching consensus, however, is that both deals positives do NOT outweigh their massive negatives, leaving moviegoers nervous about what happens next and debating the lesser of two evils. As it stands, this battle looks to be headed for a year-long courtroom battle that will most certainly not start in the coming weeks. Netflix has already received a lawsuit filed this morning by consumers concerned about the potential consequences of the acquisition.

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