The potential merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount is generating a lot of talk in the industry. Understandably, one of the biggest topics attached to Hollywood mergers\u00a0is the potential homogeneity of entertainment. A\u00a0studio with mutliple properties under its mantle, for example, may be more inclined to release a crowd-pleasing blockbuster\u00a0rather than a\u00a0complex auteur-ish project. Having said that,\u00a0there’s another side to the possible downfalls of such a\u00a0merger:\u00a0Its effect on movie\u00a0theaters.<\/p>\n
As it turns out, the WBD-Paramount merger has created a big concern among\u00a0theater owners because of it possibly resulting in less offerings from both studios.\u00a0TheWrap<\/a> spoke to several theatrical executives to discuss\u00a0the potential effect of the impending merger on the entertainment industry. The executives were said to be gravely concerned\u2014and even downright panicking\u2014about Warner Bros. Discovery being potentially absorbed by another company, given the risk of the studio reducing its movie output.<\/p>\n The owner of an independent theater who spoke to the outlet revealed\u00a0the industry is on high alert about this, and expressed the need for\u00a0people to bring attention to the matter:\u00a0“I’d say this is a red alert, and everyone in our industry should see it as such. It’s a serious antitrust issue, and we all need to call it out as such if Paramount and Netflix are really serious about doing this.”<\/p>\n The concern is such, that Cinema United (formerly known as the National Association of Theater Owners)\u2014a trade organization that represents exhibitors worldwide\u2014has reportedly been meeting with theater owners to decide what the best course of action against the potential merger could be.<\/p>\n A theater executive who spoke to TheWrap stated that, while they’d rather WBD not be sold, if the sale is inevitable, they’d much prefer\u00a0the buyer to be Paramount as opposed to Netflix. This is because it’s assumed that\u00a0under Netflix, WBD would likely become a mostly\u00a0streaming company:<\/p>\n “We’ll at least get another Minecraft\u00a0movie on our screens under Paramount. They know they’d get the most out of the IP they’re buying through theaters. Netflix? That’s probably all gone. DC, New Line horror, all of it. Netflix would be the worst-case scenario for me.”<\/p>\n