{"id":356096,"date":"2026-09-24T21:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356096\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T21:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:42:10","slug":"a24-sony-or-the-new-york-times-may-soon-swallow-letterboxd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356096\/","title":{"rendered":"A24, Sony, or The New York Times May Soon Swallow Letterboxd"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cinephile social media network and film review site Letterboxd may soon be the subject of a bidding war, with interested potential owners including A24, Sony Pictures, and The New York Times Company, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/24\/business\/media\/letterboxd-sale-sony-a24-nyt.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the paper reported<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>A Canadian company called Tiny bought 60% of Letterboxd in 2023 in a deal that valued the social network at more than $50 million, and according to <a href=\"https:\/\/puck.news\/newsletter_content\/what-im-hearing-ridley-in-the-dog-house-letterboxd-valuation-math\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">multiple<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/04\/26\/2026\/whats-next-for-letterboxd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">news<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/digital\/news\/letterboxd-sales-talks-netflix-sony-paramount-1236806379\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sources<\/a>, has been exploring selling its controlling stake. The Times noted that Letterboxd\u2019s appeal includes a highly active user base that regularly participates in film-themed challenges, celebrity users like Francis Ford Coppola and Rian Johnson, a $19-$49 per year subscription model, and preexisting advertiser draw.<\/p>\n<p>Bids are expected to reach at least $300 million, three sources told the Times, which is about 20 years of Letterboxd\u2019s projected 2026 revenue of $15 million. That aggressive multiplier suggests that the new owners will plan to expand the site and its earning potential significantly, and do it fast.<\/p>\n<p>While Tiny doesn\u2019t say how many users pay, media analyst Ken Doctor told the Times these factors add up to \u201cthe gold standard of the internet. If you can find that, you can build a big business around it.\u201d An enthusiastic cinephile community is also valuable in an era where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/attendance-at-movie-theaters-still-well-below-pre-pandemic-numbers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">theaters are struggling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Think a more focused version of pre-IPO Reddit, complete with the <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6835612\/reddit-users-ipo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">potential skepticism<\/a> from users that a new owner will ruin what was previously a beloved internet destination by ruthlessly monetizing it.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/digital\/new-york-times-a24-circle-letterboxd-deal-1236709571\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> noted, the Times might be the most agreeable option for users, as it\u2019s folded in numerous brands like Wirecutter and The Athletic without alienating fans. However, that comes with obvious potential conflicts of interest in its film coverage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldofreel.com\/blog\/2026\/9\/24\/letterboxd-is-up-for-sale-and-a24-sony-and-the-new-york-times-bidding\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World of Reel<\/a> suggested A24 buying Letterboxd would be \u201cthe most on-brand acquisition imaginable,\u201d though it and Sony Pictures have an obvious conflict of interest. A new owner could use Letterboxd to sway the needle on their own film releases.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the march toward endless consolidation goes on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cinephile social media network and film review site Letterboxd may soon be the subject of a bidding war,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-356096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}