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

[eddyxx]

4 hours ago, filmlover said:

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.

Demolition Man got it all wrong. In the movie there was fast food wars and Taco Bell was left as the last one standing. In real life, it’s the streaming wars and only Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and whatever the new company is named that the big 6 studios merged into.

[Alexander]

7 hours ago, filmlover said:

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.

And... do we still count Columbia? They make only few movies per year, their blockbusters cost just 100-120M max, don't have their own streaming service and very few IPs, if Sony sells then they lose Spider-Man rights and probably Playstation rights, I would guess. Their only worth is basically buildings plus what? Ghostbusters and some Adam Sandler comedies from 20 years ago?

[JWR]

I hate everything about this news, even if it doesn't come to fruition. We've already seen how much chaos the Discovery merger caused.

[Hatebox]

It’ll make the industry worse but, from the streaming platform side, I see the brutal logic. Their content combined might actually be competitive, and god knows shitty D+ needs more competition. 

[MightyDargon]

2 hours ago, Alexander said:

And... do we still count Columbia? They make only few movies per year, their blockbusters cost just 100-120M max, don't have their own streaming service and very few IPs, if Sony sells then they lose Spider-Man rights and probably Playstation rights, I would guess. Their only worth is basically buildings plus what? Ghostbusters and some Adam Sandler comedies from 20 years ago?

Yeah, I'm sure Sony is really chomping at the bit to sell superhero rights that actually still make them boatloads of cash and give them Playstation exclusives.

[Alexander]

1 hour ago, MightyDargon said:

Yeah, I'm sure Sony is really chomping at the bit to sell superhero rights that actually still make them boatloads of cash and give them Playstation exclusives.

Well, if Sony sell Columbia then they automatically lose those Spidey film rights.

[Spidey Freak]

10 hours ago, El Squibbonator said:

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.

 

Depends on how Netflix ATLA live action remake does I guess.

 

As a whole, Cartoon Network may get the short end of the stick as opposed to Nick in this scenario.

[redfirebird2008]

16 hours 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)

It is sad that Hollywood has become so obsessed with franchises and brands. As recently as the 1990’s you could be a profitable studio with “one off” movies instead of franchises. 

[Mojoguy]

1 minute ago, redfirebird2008 said:

It is sad that Hollywood has become so obsessed with franchises and brands. As recently as the 1990’s you could be a profitable studio with “one off” movies instead of franchises. 

I miss the days when random action movie like True Lies becomes the 3rd biggest movie of the year.

 

CBMs have taken over the last decade too much. But looks like big cracks are finally starting to appear on the genre. A CBM won't even in the top 3 this year, just like last year!

[Maggie]

7 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

But looks like big cracks are finally starting to appear on the genre. A CBM won't even in the top 3 this year, just like last year!

2024 will have JOker and Deadpool in Top 2 grosses

[WittyUsername]

Paramount and WB merging would be terrible. Them merging and then getting bought by Comcast would be catastrophic.   To think this all happening because Hollywood became obsessed with streaming. 

[TheDude391]

Allowing the Disney Fox merger will go down as one of the most catastrophic decisions in history (in regards to the industry).

[Warmaster506]

Disney won't like this

[keysersoze123]

27 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

I miss the days when random action movie like True Lies becomes the 3rd biggest movie of the year.

 

CBMs have taken over the last decade too much. But looks like big cracks are finally starting to appear on the genre. A CBM won't even in the top 3 this year, just like last year!

That was collab between the King C and Arnie coming after a uber blockbuster like T2. So its definitely not random :-)

[redfirebird2008]

8 hours ago, Mojoguy said:

I miss the days when random action movie like True Lies becomes the 3rd biggest movie of the year.

 

CBMs have taken over the last decade too much. But looks like big cracks are finally starting to appear on the genre. A CBM won't even in the top 3 this year, just like last year!

If it’s not superhero franchise movies, it is another form of franchise movies dominating Hollywood in the 2000’s and beyond. Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Star Wars, Transformers, LOTR/Hobbit, Disney animated remakes, etc. 

 

You gave a great example with True Lies. Paramount had some big time success in the 1990’s with several one-off movies: Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and Titanic. Big success at the box office, big success at the Oscars. It’s sad how everything has played out in more recent years. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by redfirebird2008

[eddyxx]

1 hour ago, redfirebird2008 said:

If it’s not superhero franchise movies, it is another form of franchise movies dominating Hollywood in the 2000’s and beyond. Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Star Wars, Transformers, LOTR/Hobbit, Disney animated remakes, etc. 

 

You gave a great example with True Lies. Paramount had some big time success in the 1990’s with several one-off movies: Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and Titanic. Big success at the box office, big success at the Oscars. It’s sad how everything has played out in more recent years. 

the common thread between these 3 movies is star power.  There are no big stars in Hollywood anymore. That’s why we don’t have these big successful one offs where people went to see a movie just because TOM HANKS or MEL GIBSON was the name on the top of the theatrical one-sheet.

[El Squibbonator]

10 hours ago, Spidey Freak said:

As a whole, Cartoon Network may get the short end of the stick as opposed to Nick in this scenario.

 

Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon are both cable networks, and nowadays cable is rapidly fading in relevance compared to streaming. One thing Cartoon Network has going for it that Nickelodeon doesn't is Adult Swim, which actually gets higher viewership ratings than daytime Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. There's a reason for that-- children nowadays are more likely to watch their TV on streaming services, while Adult Swim's audience consists of young adults in their 20s and 30s who are more likely to still watch cable. According to Variety, Boomerang's and Cartoon Network's viewership combined is less than Adult Swim (386,000 versus 278,000). Plus, Adult Swim is a valuable IP in its own right, home to shows like Rick and Morty, Smiling Friends, and Primal.

 

In any case, since this is technically an acquisition rather than a true merger, it's more likely that Paramount is going to suffer the same fate as Fox did under Disney, with any projects that Warner Bros. deems un-viable being cancelled or given little promotion. Hence my fear regarding the Avatar: The Last Airbender movies. Paramount does have lots of big-ticked IP that Warner Bros. would probably love to get its hands on, like SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Trek, but anything else is probably in trouble.

[PlatnumRoyce]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:26 AM, Alexander said:

Well, if Sony sell Columbia then they automatically lose those Spidey film rights.

That's not true. They only lose rights if they sell to a non-“Major Studio” including some language in the early 2010s sm agreement about how new entries (i.e. modern tech companies) can qualify. Sony's not going to give up the right to assign spider-man rights.

[Speedorito]

As a last minute Xmas present, Logan Roy says “the guy running WBD” is not a serious person.

 

 

[belblazer]

To the surprise of no one, True Detective new season debuts with 100% on RT and 85 on MT.