Paramount’s $108.4 Billion Play for Warner Bros: Why Netflix’s Bid Comes Up Short
Netflix circling Warner Bros. has Hollywood on edge and theatrical windows on the line. After three failed bids, Paramount Skydance is preparing a hostile push to derail the merger, setting up a blockbuster corporate showdown.
So here is the latest twist in studio chess: Netflix is trying to grab a big chunk of Warner Bros., and David Ellison is charging in with a bigger, louder offer to knock that off course. It is bold, it is messy, and yes, it could mess with theatrical windows if the streamer wins.
The two competing plays, side by side
- Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. movie and streaming operations for $82.7 billion including debt (via Variety). That is not the entire Warner Bros. Discovery empire, just the filmed entertainment and streaming pieces.
- Ellison’s camp — the Paramount/Skydance-aligned group — is going after all of Warner Bros. Discovery, TV included, with an all-cash offer valuing the company at $108.4 billion (enterprise value). Ellison says his bid is superior on every front (via Variety).
Paramount/Skydance has already taken three runs at this and struck out. Now they are going hostile — straight to WBD shareholders — which means this is very much alive even if management is not on board.
Paramount says the process is rigged
After reports that Netflix and WBD were moving forward, Paramount sent a letter to WBD CEO David Zaslav accusing the sales process of being compromised by management conflicts and tilted toward one favored bidder (via Variety). The studio’s complaint is not subtle:
"It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise, that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder."
Translation: Paramount thinks WBD picked a winner early and is just going through the motions. Whether WBD will even entertain Ellison’s bigger all-cash number is unclear. Either way, a deal this size is going to need Department of Justice sign-off because of antitrust rules.
Trump weighed in, because of course he did
The former president — and yes, the guy with the cameo in Home Alone 2 — has been rumored to have ties with some Paramount leadership, which kicked up speculation that he might try to swat down a Netflix-WB matchup. At the Kennedy Center Honors, he said the merger "could be a problem" given Netflix’s market share. At the same time, he was complimentary about Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who visited him before the bid: Trump called Sarandos "fantastic" and said he would be involved in the process, adding, "Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens. It’s Netflix and great company and they’ve done a phenomenal job" (via Bloomberg).
What this means for theaters
This is the part that has traditional studios sweating: if Netflix takes control of WB’s film pipeline, theatrical windows could get squeezed even more. Netflix has pushed streaming-first for years; WBD has been zig-zagging but still relies on box office in a big way. A Netflix-owned WB changes that math fast.
Big picture: none of this is locked. Ellison’s group is waving a higher, all-cash offer at the whole company. Netflix is targeting the crown jewels. Regulators will have their say. And fans? Not exactly a feel-good arc yet, especially since WB just had one of its strongest 2025 slates in theaters. If Netflix does prevail, here is hoping the big-screen experience does not become collateral damage.