The fact they were dragging that husk around for as long as they did was actually admirable. Gone to the grave with Machinima, CollegeHumor, Epic Meal Time, and FunnyorDie.
I’m fascinated by the idea that Netflix’s US only deal with Sony stops movies from being flops. Films get licensed to TV channels and streamers globally all the time. I don’t think whatever Sony has with Netflix is so lucrative it can be pulled out like a consolation prize whenever one of their films flop (unlike the CW’s old Netflix deal which effectively funded their slate).
Most movies now are either a flop or not making as much money as they could’ve. Studios are also going out of there way to minimise the coverage a flop receives for being a flop (remember that movie where J-Law ‘brought back the R-Rated comedy?’).
TMNT gets a sequel because Paramount thinks there’s room for the series to grow. Dune 2 might lose money. So be it. The market flipped over night. Movies are being given a lot more grace than they used to get when it comes to BO nowadays.
So this has never been true btw.
The whole thing rests upon a really old racist notion that Japanese people are entirely alien to behaviours or practices the rest of the world wouldn't bat an eye at, and that they take simple slights or inconveniences as an act of dishonor like something out of an old Samurai movie. If Sony didn't know how to work with or compensate for westerners than they wouldn't even attempt to do business in the West.
Sony rebooted their biggest movie franchise. They didn't reboot it because actor was late to a meeting or whatever.
Had the same thing with SpiderVerse 2. Turns out the cinema I went to were legally forced to lower the sound at nighttime to not bother the neighbours.
So much of this movie looks like pretty boys posing to me. Like it's very obvious I'm watching theatre kids performing their impression of what they think tough people are like.
They both demonstrated their intent to sell themselves. That's all it was. There was a reason why you didn't see 2 dozen articles clog up the trade sites with speculation about this "potential" merger.