{"id":329800,"date":"2025-12-07T06:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/329800\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T06:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:47:18","slug":"what-happens-to-the-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/329800\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens to the Art?"},"content":{"rendered":"

True story: Thursday night was IndieWire Honors<\/a>. As Kristen Stewart<\/a> was delivering her blistering acceptance speech<\/a> for her IndieWire Maverick Award (\u201cThis sheer cliff of tired and lame expectation that people on the margins face when it comes to considering their own desire, fuck off and fuck you\u201d), my phone vibrated with the news of the Netflix<\/a>\u2013Warner Bros<\/a>. merger.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the kicker: I was sitting on the Netflix couch reserved for Jacob Elordi<\/a> and his makeup artist Mike Hill, who received the Wavelength Award earlier that evening for their work on \u201cFrankenstein.\u201d<\/p>\n

All ironies aside, here\u2019s the easy predictions of what this merger will mean: Fewer jobs. (The floor on anticipated initial savings is $2 billion-$3 billion.) Fewer films in theaters. And, fewer good films and shows unless you believe that HBO<\/a> and Warners\u2019 auteur-nurturing sensibilities can survive the buzzsaw of an algorithmic culture unscathed.<\/p>\n

\"'The<\/a> \"Chloe<\/a> <\/p>\n

That was the question circulating in IndieWire\u2019s Slacks: If Netflix and Warner Bros. merge, what happens to the art? While it will be months before we can know if this deal sticks, we wanted to capture the anxieties that have nothing to do with spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

Whether it is the safety of the Warner Archive or the jarring corporate jargon that nearly equated \u201cCitizen Kane\u201d with \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d here is a collection of our specific concerns (and upsides, however limited) regarding the industry\u2019s latest seismic shift.<\/p>\n

\"Pulse.Willa Fitzgerald as Danny and Colin Woodell as Phillips in \u201cPulse\u201dJEFF NEUMANN\/NETFLIX \u00a9 2024<\/p>\n

\u201cNetflix made \u2018Pulse\u2019 instead\u201d<\/p>\n

Pin this deal to a board, throw a dart, and you\u2019ll hit 10 things to be worried about. Netflix and HBO make very different original series, which could be seen as a good thing. Maybe Ted Sarandos wants to keep HBO relatively intact so all the programming can appeal to as many people as possible across multiple brands.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelatively\u201d does a lot of heavy lifting there. Netflix isn\u2019t in the business of developing\u00a0good\u00a0television; it develops lots of television. HBO is a boutique brand that\u2019s repeatedly proven it can develop outstanding\u00a0TV<\/a> shows and support them as they grow into something even better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Would Netflix have invested the time and resources needed to make \u201cThe Pitt\u201d not just another medical drama, but an Emmy-winning, paradigm-shifting medical drama? No, and I can say that with a certain level of confidence because Netflix made \u201cPulse\u201d instead. \u2013 Ben Travers<\/p>\n

\u201cFickle and finite\u201d<\/p>\n

Repertory theatergoing can survive this, which may be the only thing that can. I have concerns for what this means about the Warner Archive physical media collection, which boasts gorgeous 4Ks of classics and obscurities from the Warners library. If Ted Sarandos discontinues these, we\u2019re left with streaming versions of lesser quality \u2014 and we all know streaming shelf life is fickle and finite. \u2013 Ryan Lattanzio<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cCasablanca\u201d<\/p>\n

Allergies<\/p>\n

I\u2019m allergic to phrases like \u201cintellectual property\u201d and \u201ccontent,\u201d especially when used frequently and back-to-back. That turned Friday morning\u2019s official Netflix press release into a real jump-scare.<\/p>\n

And then there was Ted Sarandos\u2019 introduction to his vision of this great hereafter, combining WBD\u2019s \u201ctimeless classics like \u2018Casablanca\u2019 and \u2018Citizen Kane\u2019 to modern favorites like \u2018Harry Potter\u2019 and \u2018Friends\u2019 \u2014 with our culture-defining titles like \u2018Stranger Things,\u2019 \u2018KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 and \u2018Squid Game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission has always been to entertain the world,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be able to do that even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If moving from \u201cCasablanca\u201d to \u201cSquid Game\u201d in a single clause didn\u2019t inspire vertigo, this might: The release preferred to call all of them \u201cintellectual properties\u201d and \u201ccontent.\u201d To quote the great Tim Robinson (fittingly, from a Netflix show): \u201cI don\u2019t know what any of this\u00a0shit is, and I\u2019m fucking scared!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0-Kate Erbland<\/p>\n

Sex and the Squid Game<\/p>\n

A merger this big comes with a bottomless pit of potentially disastrous IP experiments. Audiences should anticipate and\/or dread the content we\u2019ll have to endure if Netflix ever chooses to mix its original characters with the storied Warner Bros. catalog. <\/p>\n

The wacky nonsense viewers could see coming out of Sarandos\u2019 brave new world aren\u2019t an existential threat to the industry, and all those beloved stories could even result in some genuinely cool projects. But the fear of Frankensteining ranks high among the theoretical consequences of this deal serious film<\/a> and TV lovers will find annoying. \u201cSex and the Squid Game,\u201d anyone?\u00a0\u2013 Alison Foreman<\/p>\n

\u201cLike RFK Jr. buying Pfizer\u201d<\/p>\n

My first thought was that \u2014 despite what Ted Sarandos has deluded himself into believing \u2014 this move directly contradicts what consumers want.<\/p>\n

People do not prefer to watch movies at home. What people \u2014 especially\u00a0young\u00a0people who came of age in tandem with Netflix\u2019s rise to power \u2014 prefer is a real and meaningful pop culture. Tangible experiences they carry with them and share with friends.<\/p>\n

Has a single movie that Netflix developed in house ever made a meaningful impression on the culture? You might grasp for a few exceptions that might prove the rule, or you can reflect on why it\u2019s so hard to think of them in the first place.<\/p>\n

People want movie theaters to be more affordable, better managed, and conveniently located. They\u00a0do not want movie theaters to become insignificant; even the people who\u00a0think\u00a0they\u2019re fine with that are wrong.<\/p>\n

Since Netflix\u2019s business model has long been contingent on destroying the theatrical ecosystem, this deal is basically what it would be like if RFK Jr. bought Pfizer. It\u2019s queasy enough that the rich will get richer while making the world worse for the rest of us. To borrow the title of a typically hollow and forgettable piece of Netflix content: Nobody wants this.\u00a0 \u2013 David Ehrlich<\/p>\n

\"BenTCM hostsTurner Classic Movies<\/p>\n

Algorithm vs. curation<\/p>\n

Turner Classic Movies will survive in some form; the linear TCM channel, maybe not. Sure, if Netflix moved into the FAST space, but that would compete with its own ad-based subscription model. Could Netflix look beyond the algorithm and recognize the value of TCM\u2019s curation? Also unlikely, although a combination of curated programming and near-infinite on-demand titles would be a dream.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, the Netflix acquisition would save us from asking questions like, \u201cWhat will CNN be like when run by Bari Weiss?\u201d Let the tears flow for the second CNN direct-to-consumer streaming service that just launched and will likely be shuttered. \u2013 Christian Blauvelt<\/p>\n

Further dilution of HBO<\/p>\n

The company that completely changed the TV landscape will now own the medium\u2019s most prestigious name.\u00a0Even if HBO stays on the air, or HBO Max remains discrete (neither assured), it\u2019s further dilution of that brand.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the question of how a Netflix-controlled HBO Max would release shows. There\u2019s a handful of weekly-release models at Netflix like \u201cThe Great British Baking Show\u201d and \u201cEverybody\u2019s Live with John Mulaney,\u201d but they\u2019re the outliers. Sometimes, as with the last season of \u201cStranger Things,\u201d it splits seasons into \u201cvolumes\u201d released a month or two apart.<\/p>\n

HBO was built on weekly appointment television that grows anticipation. Hard to imagine that Netflix would embrace the 15 weekly episodes that we\u2019ll watch in Season 2 of \u201cThe Pitt\u201d; more likely that it would release an eight-episode season in two parts. \u2013 Wilson Chapman<\/p>\n

\"TedNetflix Co-CEO Ted SarandosVariety via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see what he can do.<\/p>\n

Losing another studio is bad, but I can\u2019t help wanting to see what Ted Sarandos has in mind. Hollywood is already under threat on many fronts. What if some of the smartest minds in the business figured out how to save it?<\/p>\n

Studios have played to Wall Street and quarterly reports for too long, delaying necessary business shifts and overpaying executives as they play out incoming revenues for as long as they last. They haven\u2019t invested in the future.<\/p>\n

Sarandos has long criticized how legacy studios do business \u2014 so what can he do? My fantasy is he\u2019d allow Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy to continue their extraordinary run at the box office under the Warner Bros. label (\u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cWeapons\u201d), leaving Bela Bajaria in charge of Netflix content with Dan Lin on the film side. DeLuca and Abdy have a rare gift that Netflix does not: How to make a theatrical movie that draws reluctant moviegoers into theaters.<\/p>\n

Netflix is expected to adopt a two-week theatrical window not unlike Universal\u2019s current 17-day window for films unless they gross more than $50 million (or, are directed by Christopher Nolan). Finally, theater chains like AMC would have to book Netflix films. Sarandos has long expressed his disdain for brick-and-mortar theater exhibition, but he\u2019d be able to lure the top talent with theaters in his pocket.<\/p>\n

Of course, if he\u2019s not happy with it, he can ditch it. \u2013 Anne Thompson<\/p>\n