What is Hollywood without a dramatic twist ending, eh? Scarcely two months ago we brought you news that Netflix had confirmed its acquisition of Warner Bros. in a deal believed to be worth an eye-watering $82 billion. We all got the email from Ted Sarandos’ streamer confirming all the juicy new content bound for the big red N, all did our post-mortems on the future (or lack thereof) of cinema, and it was front and centre as Empire’s biggest movie news of 2025. But now, following weeks of renewed bids and deal-sweetening manoeuvres from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, Netflix has given WB the ol’ “That’s all folks” and backed out of its deal to buy the iconic movie studio, paving the way for Paramount to buy instead.
News of Netflix’s bailing on their Warner Bros. purchase came via a joint statement from the company’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters this evening. “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” the duo said, adding further on, “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
While Warner Bros. represented a ‘nice to have’ for Sarandos and co however, Netflix’s opponent in arguably the biggest — and potentially most consequential — bidding war this industry has ever seen definitely ended up opting for the ‘must have’ approach in the end. At this point in proceedings, Netflix’s original $28 per share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery has been beaten healthily by Ellison and Paramount’s $31 per share price and assorted additional cash benefits. For WBD head honcho David Zaslav, Paramount buying his company is a win for Warner Bros. — and for its shareholders. “Once our Board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders. We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.”
Paramount CEO David Ellison — whose company stands to gain DC Comics, Harry Potter, Hanna-Barbera, Game Of Thrones, HBO (and HBO Max), New Line, and much, much more besides — is also, of course, very happy with this latest turn in the Warner Bros. sale saga. ““We are pleased WBD’s Board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing,” said Ellison in a statement shortly before Netflix backed out of its original deal.
What all of this will eventually come to mean for us, the cinemagoers and film and TV lovers, is unclear at this precise moment. And as we’ve already seen, even when the ink has dried that doesn’t necessarily mean a deal is truly done. Suffice it to say however that the times they are a-changing in Hollywood, and this certainly won’t be the last you hear about this deal and its potential ramifications in the weeks and months ahead. As ever though, we’ll bring you everything you need to know as this story continues to develop.
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