{"id":393596,"date":"2026-01-07T18:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/393596\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:33:10","slug":"movie-theaters-go-public-with-new-effort-to-stop-warner-bros-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/393596\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Theaters Go Public With New Effort to Stop Warner Bros. Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMovie theater chains are bringing their opposition to any sale of Warner Bros.<\/a> to Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are deeply concerned that this acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix<\/a> will have a direct and irreversible negative impact on movie theaters around the world,\u201d Cinema United<\/a>, the largest trade organization representing exhibitors, said in written remarks sent on Wednesday to the\u00a0House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust\u00a0as it is set to hold a hearing on the potential acquisition of\u00a0Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSuch an acquisition will further consolidate control over production and distribution of motion pictures in the hands of a single, dominant, global streaming platform in a market that is already highly concentrated,\u201d the group, led by CEO Michael O\u2019Leary, added.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Paramount<\/a> and Netflix continue a heated battle for WBD largely over the price tag and deal terms, the movie theater owners told Congress that Netflix\u2019s business model does not include theatrical exhibition and Paramount acquiring Warner Bros. would dramatically increase market consolidation after earlier rounds of mergers and acquisitions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf Paramount or another major studio ends up displacing Netflix as the buyer, our concerns are no less serious. A combination of Paramount and Warner Bros., for instance, would consolidate as much as 40 percent of each year\u2019s domestic box office in the hands of a single dominant studio,\u201d the trade organization wrote to Washington D.C. politicians.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe threat to the exhibition industry should Netflix or Paramount prevail in acquiring Warner Bros. would be reduced film output from Hollywood and consumer choice at the multiplex. \u201cAmid this backdrop of significant M&A activity, Netflix is now seeking to acquire Warner Bros., a streaming competitor that controls a significant library of shows and movies. If Netflix\u2019s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. is not challenged, the threat to our members is grave \u2014 and possibly even existential \u2014 given its hostility toward exhibition,\u201d Cinema United stated.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the latest twist around the heated contest for Warner Bros., the WBD board <\/a>on Wednesday released a letter rejecting the new offer from Paramount and sticking with its signed agreement with Netflix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Movie theater chains are bringing their opposition to any sale of Warner Bros. to Capitol Hill. \u201cWe are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[190666,88,217,4208,5251],"class_list":{"0":"post-393596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cinema-united","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-netflix","11":"tag-paramount","12":"tag-warner-bros"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}