Amid the global panic of all Warner Bros. movies heading straight to streaming after Netflix won the bidding war, the streamer famous for series like Stranger Things and Bridgerton is trying to calm everybody down. Netflix made the largest bid to acquire Warner Bros., and after it went public, everyone started visualizing a future without the theatrical experience. This is not a coincidence, as Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has expressed his support for streaming, implying that people prefer to watch movies at home. Now that the company is on the verge of buying one of the most important film studios in history, Sarandos and co-CEO Greg Peters are trying to make things clear by saying the streamer is “deeply committed” to keeping the moviegoing experience alive. As reported by Deadline, the Netflix heads are trying to calm the widespread fears about all Warner Bros. movies getting sent to streaming without a theatrical release. In their statement, they say, “In this transaction, we pick up three businesses we’re not currently in, so we have no redundancies currently. One of them is a motion picture studio with a theatrical distribution machine. All three of these new businesses, we want to keep operating largely as they are.” The corporate duo continued, saying that in the future, fans will still be able to see Warner Bros. productions on the big screen:
“We’re deeply committed to releasing those movies exactly the way they would release those movies today. The theatrical business — we talked a lot about in the past about wanting to do it, because we’ve never been in that business. When this deal closes, we are in that business. And we’re going to do it.
“If we did this deal 24 months ago, all those movies we saw this year do so well for Warner Bros would have been released in the same way in theaters. I’m talking about Minecraft, I’m talking about Superman, I’m talking about Weapons, I’m talking about Sinners. These movies will be released on Netflix through theaters the way Warner Bros did it before, but with the Warner Bros operating entity.”

It’s really important the way they create, and the way they drive value. We didn’t buy this company to destroy that value.

The Tug-of-War Regarding Warner Bros. Isn’t Over

While it seems that Netflix is on the right track to acquire Warner Bros., the buyout war is not over. The transaction will have to be approved by the respective government organization, and all that’s happened so far is that Netflix has offered the highest amount Paramount-Skydance, the other potential buyer, is not going down without a fight. Netflix offered a reported $82.7 billion, but Paramount has reportedly gone higher, with an additional $18 billion to close the deal. Netflix’s offer only includes the streaming and studio businesses, leaving out the TV networks division. Paramount’s offer includes the entirety of the company. Warner Bros. Discovery is likely still evaluating both offers from the studios, and what the winner can do for the future of the media conglomerate that owns some of the most profitable properties in the entertainment business. Stay tuned for future updates.