The Warner Bros. Thread | Will NOT merge with Paramount...capitalism is still terrible

[MovieMan89]

Paramount has been on fumes for over a decade, again TGM was a massive anomaly. Not saying it’s “good” for another big corporate merger, but they have been living on borrowed time for years and years now, let’s be real 

[HowSway]

55 minutes ago, El Gato said:

I do t think they’d have a reason to stop this merger. WB/Paramount would still have a ton of competition and their value is less than Disney and Universal nevermind Netflix or Amazon. If anything these two need the merger 

Yeah the rise of Netflix and Amazon as studios has allowed this sort of consolidation. I do think if this does come to fruition it will be under much more scrutiny by the FTC. The current director made her name as an antitrust lawyer.

[Becker]

It all makes sense. I thought Tom Cruise was going to join Warner Bros. after his heavy praise for the divisive Flash movie starring Ezra Miller on the run. What I didn't expect was that Paramount jumping on the team Zazzy Warner wagon as well. 

[SpiderByte]

It sounds like in this situation Zaslav would be in charge still, at which point now he can damage the reputation of TWO legendary studios at once

[JimmyB]

If WB merges with Paramount....we'll get a ton of layoffs, Paramount+ probably rolled into Max, more cost cutting, etc we have seen this movie before 

[Becker]

4 minutes ago, JimmyB said:

If WB merges with Paramount....we'll get a ton of layoffs, Paramount+ probably rolled into Max, more cost cutting, etc we have seen this movie before 

Just look at what has happened to the FOX movie division after their merger with Disney. Gone and Dusted into the bin of eternity. I can't recall the last hit they had outside of Avatar: The Way of Water. 

[emoviefan]

18 minutes ago, Becker said:

Just look at what has happened to the FOX movie division after their merger with Disney. Gone and Dusted into the bin of eternity. I can't recall the last hit they had outside of Avatar: The Way of Water. 

Well that will change next year with DP 3 and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. 

[M37]

9 minutes ago, Becker said:

Just look at what has happened to the FOX movie division after their merger with Disney. Gone and Dusted into the bin of eternity. I can't recall the last hit they had outside of Avatar: The Way of Water. 

To be fair, they weren’t having many hits before the merger. Biggest franchise were X-Men/Deadpool (now being rolling into MCU), Planet of the Apes, and then family films. Plus occasional historical one-offs like Ford v Ferrari, Hidden Figures, BhoRap, and throw Revenent in there too, or 1 a year 

 

Paramount has Tom Cruise (MI & TG).and a bunch of fading franchises (Transformers, Terminator, TMNT, Trek), Plus Sonic, Quiet Place & Scream.
D&D and Lost City were the closest they came of late to an original hit, since basically Arrival in 2016 (>$200M WW)

[keysersoze123]

10 minutes ago, M37 said:

To be fair, they weren’t having many hits before the merger. Biggest franchise were X-Men/Deadpool (now being rolling into MCU), Planet of the Apes, and then family films. Plus occasional historical one-offs like Ford v Ferrari, Hidden Figures, BhoRap, and throw Revenent in there too, or 1 a year 

 

Paramount has Tom Cruise (MI & TG).and a bunch of fading franchises (Transformers, Terminator, TMNT, Trek), Plus Sonic, Quiet Place & Scream.
D&D and Lost City were the closest they came of late to an original hit, since basically Arrival in 2016 (>$200M WW)

One aspect that was definitely the result of the merger was shutting down of Blue Sky Animation. if it were a stand alone, It would have existed for sure. 

[WittyUsername]

12 minutes ago, M37 said:

To be fair, they weren’t having many hits before the merger. Biggest franchise were X-Men/Deadpool (now being rolling into MCU), Planet of the Apes, and then family films. Plus occasional historical one-offs like Ford v Ferrari, Hidden Figures, BhoRap, and throw Revenent in there too, or 1 a year 

 

Paramount has Tom Cruise (MI & TG).and a bunch of fading franchises (Transformers, Terminator, TMNT, Trek), Plus Sonic, Quiet Place & Scream.
D&D and Lost City were the closest they came of late to an original hit, since basically Arrival in 2016 (>$200M WW)

Smile was a pretty big hit. 

[dallas]

 

[M37]

1 hour ago, WittyUsername said:

Smile was a pretty big hit. 

Yep, I did forget about that one (and Numbers has it listed under Paramount Players rather than Studios, which is where I was pulling numbers)

Edited December 21, 2023 by M37

[Speedorito]

A potential new challenger:
 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-talks-nbcuniversal.html

 

Also describes the potential WBD/Paramount merger as “a partnership of necessity” for both companies.

[dallas]

5 minutes ago, Speedorito said:

A potential new challenger:
 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-talks-nbcuniversal.html

 

Also describes the potential WBD/Paramount merger as “a partnership of necessity” for both companies.

Wait, so if WB merged with Paramount and is bought by Universal, is it just gonna be Disney vs Universal at the box office? lol

[Speedorito]

4 minutes ago, dallas said:

Wait, so if WB merged with Paramount and is bought by Universal, is it just gonna be Disney vs Universal at the box office? lol

And Sony I suppose.

 

But yes this sounds…less believable.

[WorkingonaName]

This is payback for how they treated DR. 

[dallas]

2 minutes ago, WorkingonaName said:

This is payback for how they treated DR. 

What is DR?

[WorkingonaName]

8 minutes ago, dallas said:

What is DR?

Dead reckoning. 

[filmlover]

In the span of half a decade we will have gone from The Big 6 to The Big 4. Though Lionsgate has been as close to a rival worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as those studios out of anyone for quite a while.

 

It's become pretty easy to accept these acquisitions as we watch an industry in transition. Especially now that it's becoming apparent a solid portion of the moviegoing crowd has indeed been lost to streaming (thanks COVID!). We're living in the "Now What?" era.

[El Squibbonator]

6 hours ago, Becker said:

Just look at what has happened to the FOX movie division after their merger with Disney. Gone and Dusted into the bin of eternity. I can't recall the last hit they had outside of Avatar: The Way of Water. 

Speaking of movies called Avatar (in this case, the Nickelodeon one, not the Dances With Smurfs one), that's one of the projects I'm worried is going to get canned if this merger goes through.