Ted Sarandos Calls Out James Cameron Over Warner Bros. Discovery Deal
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos fired back at James Cameron’s attack on the streamer’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, telling lawmakers the director is misrepresenting the plan and accusing him of amplifying a Paramount-driven disinformation campaign.
Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and now we have James Cameron and Ted Sarandos sparring in public about what that would mean for movie theaters. Cameron wrote to lawmakers. Sarandos went on cable to clap back. Subtle, this is not.
What Cameron said
Cameron sent a letter to Sen. Mike Lee warning that the deal could undercut theatrical releases and the jobs tied to them. He framed Netflix as fundamentally out of step with what keeps theaters alive.
"The business model of Netflix is directly at odds with the theatrical film production and exhibition business, which employs hundreds of thousands of Americans."
Sarandos fires back
Netflix's co-CEO hit Fox Business Network's 'The Claman Countdown' and said Cameron got bad intel. He also suggested the director is echoing a rival studio's talking points, which is quite a thing to say on live TV.
"I’m particularly surprised and disappointed that James chose to be part of the Paramount disinformation campaign that’s been going on for months about this deal."
The 17-day rumor
One of the hot-button claims floating around: that Netflix would slash theatrical runs to 17 days. Sarandos shot that down hard.
"I have never even uttered the words '17-day window.' So I don’t know where it came from or why he would be part of that machine."
So what is the plan for theaters?
Sarandos said Warner Bros. movies would keep a 45-day exclusive theatrical window before heading to streaming, and he emphasized the deal depends on maintaining that setup. He then followed his TV appearance with a letter to Sen. Lee arguing that Cameron misrepresented Netflix's stance and its commitment to releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters.
Where this leaves things
We now have: a massive potential merger, a blockbuster filmmaker lobbying against it on theatrical grounds, and Netflix's boss publicly accusing him of parroting a competitor while promising 45 days in theaters. Translation: the fight over this deal is already spilling well beyond boardrooms.