Movie Theaters Still Against a Paramount-Warner Bros Merger

Exhibitors weren’t in favor of a Netflix and Warner Bros marriage, and a Paramount-Warner Bros union isn’t going to change their minds.

Theater owners trade org Cinema United President and CEO Michael O’Leary emphasized again Friday following this week’s Paramount-WB news that “We have been clear from the outset about our concerns around consolidation, and nothing that has occurred within the past 36 hours has changed that. Studio consolidation historically leads to fewer movies being made, and at this juncture, there is no reason to believe the outcome here will be any different. We continue to urge regulators to heed the lessons of the past.”

O’Leary’s official comment on the Paramount-Warner Bros merger was made as the former confirmed details of the proposed $110 billion deal this afternoon.

“We will invest in expanding the creative engines at the core of both WBD and Paramount. We will maintain both studios while prioritizing the attraction and retention of world-class creative talent, strengthening our ability to deliver a broad pipeline of high-quality content, including 15 theatrical feature films per year per studio, for our combined platforms and third-party distribution partners,” read a Paramount press release about the merger.

While there was agita over Netflix potentially crushing the theatrical window despite the streamer co-CEO Ted Sarandos promising a 45-day exclusive theatrical window (despite his actions in handling theatrical films in the past), the worry now is that Paramount won’t be able to keep its promise for 30 movies a year.

The math doesn’t math out for many in the industry: How do you appease filmmakers and explain that their tentpole is following another tentpole on the calendar? There’s also the situation that 30 slots may not be available.

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Cinema United was expected to go before a Senate antitrust hearing next week concerning Netflix’s then planned union with Warner Bros. That hearing was canceled this morning.

With U.S. production already slowed as more movies shoot abroad due to better tax incentives, there is concern that even fewer projects will get made under Paramount-Warner Bros. The one saving grace for some in a Netflix-Warner Bros marriage was that they would produce more movies; it was just the possible shrinking of the window that made stomachs turn.