James Cameron thinks Netflix buying Warner Bros. Discovery would be a “disaster” for Hollywood.
The 71-year-old filmmaker behind The Terminator, Titanic and Avatar is a longtime defender of the theatrical cinematic experience.
Warner Bros. Discovery recently put itself up for sale, valued at around $50 billion. The entertainment conglomerate owns a host of well-known brands, including CNN, HBO, DC Studios and the flagship Warner Bros. movie studio.
Netflix, led by CEO Ted Sarandos, is one of the companies reportedly trying to buy WBD, along with Paramount Skydance and Comcast.
Speaking in a new interview with Puck, Cameron criticized Netflix’s release model, saying: “Netflix would be a disaster. Sorry, Ted, but jeez. Sarandos has gone on record saying theatrical films are dead. It’s sucker bait. ‘We’ll put the movie out for a week. We’ll put it out for 10 days. We’ll qualify for Academy Awards consideration.’ I think that’s fundamentally rotten at the core.”
Cameron continued: “A movie should be made for theatrical, and the Academy Awards to me mean nothing if they don’t mean theatrical. I think they’ve been co-opted, and I think it’s horrific.”
Speaking more broadly about the power of streaming services in Hollywood, Cameron added: “Streaming got its foothold with the artistic base that they did by throwing crazy money at it and attracting the A-list talent, and then pulling the carpet out from underneath that, right?
“So now budgets are half or a third of what they were. The [bigger-budget] movies like Dune, Wicked, Avatar, or whatever, they’re not getting greenlit for streaming. And they’re also not getting greenlit by the theatrical side of the existing majors. It’s fallen through the middle.”
In September, shares in Warner Bros. Discovery soared by nearly 30 percent following reports that Paramount, fresh off its merger with Skydance Media, was preparing a majority cash bid to acquire the media conglomerate.
The Warner Bros. Discovery stock price increased by a further 11 percent when news of the sale was announced, with the company then valued at $50 billion.
In a statement to the press, David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO, said: "We continue to make important strides to position our business to succeed in today's evolving media landscape by advancing our strategic initiatives, returning our studios to industry leadership, and scaling HBO Max globally.
“We took the bold step of preparing to separate the Company into two distinct, leading media companies, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, because we strongly believed this was the best path forward.”
He continued: “It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets.”
After receiving initial bids from Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery has set a deadline of December 1 for improved second-round offers.
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