Insiders Weigh in on Potential Buyers for Warner Bros. Discovery: Paramount, Netflix, or Comcast? | Vanity Fair

“I feel so sad,” says one studio executive. They’re not alone: All of Hollywood is currently bracing to hear which of three media corporations will change the landscape of movies and television forever. On Thursday, November 20, Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast each submitted a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery—the company that owns the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO, and cable networks CNN, TNT, and Discovery, among others.

Each of the three companies comes into the potential deal with different ambitions. Paramount Skydance, which was created from an $8 billion merger by David Ellison earlier this year, wants to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets, while streaming giant Netflix and Comcast—NBCUniversal’s corporate parent—have bid only for the company’s studio and streaming business.

The swallowing up of another legacy Hollywood studio, just a few years after Disney bought the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in a $71.3 billion deal, feels like yet another seismic shift for an industry that has recently faced setback after setback. “It’s not just Warner Bros. theatrical, which is a mainstream studio and all the IP that goes with it, but it’s also HBO—they’re both these storied homes,” the exec says. “I don’t see a path where those things [still] exist with any of these buyers, because I think they just get folded into the existing structures, even if that isn’t the intention going in.”

Employees working under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella—who are still recovering from WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, which happened less than four years ago—are battling anxiety about more upheaval and jobs that will likely be eliminated. “There’s a lot of tenured employees at Warner Bros. that have been there for 20 and 30 years,” a Warner Bros. insider says. “This is not their first rodeo. But I think, ultimately, everyone recognizes that this is different—that consolidation is happening, and it’s a little scary.”

Insiders beyond those employed by Warner are also concerned about what the sale will mean for the industry’s greater infrastructure—and as of right now, there are more questions than answers. “Warner Bros. has been at the red-hot center as this constant target, and I just wonder, when has a Warner Bros. merger gone well?” says one top movie producer. “It’s hard to even know who’s the best. It feels like it shouldn’t be happening.”

Many believe the best buyer would be the one that keeps Warner Bros.’ theatrical output most intact, though it’s not clear which of the three bidders fits that bill. “We just don’t know yet,” one top manager says. “It all depends on what [they] are going to allow output-wise.” In August, Warner Bros. Discovery stated that its goal was to have 12–14 theatrical releases per year. If the new buyer were to cut that output by half or more, it would be devastating for the market. “[Warner] is on a generational run this year”—thanks to hits like Sinners, Weapons, and One Battle After Another—“and you don’t want to lose that,” the manager says. “You don’t [want to] lose the leaders there that are willing to take shots on directors and stars that want to go after original thought.”

If history repeats itself, though, that theatrical output will sink. Before the 2019 acquisition by Disney, Fox would typically release between 12 and 17 films per year. In its new form, 20th Century has so far released just three theatrical films in 2025, including Predator: Badlands and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere; two more are on the way in December.

After the Disney-Fox deal, some of Fox’s brands continued to exist under Disney’s oversight, like FX—whose adult fare stands in stark contrast to the material that Disney’s TV division creates—and Searchlight Pictures, Fox’s adult-specialty-film label. But at least one unit that Disney had initially signaled would remain intact was eventually cut. “Anytime somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re going to keep these units stand-alone,’ you suddenly see things like six months later. Fox 2000 is gone,” the producer says.

The insiders agree that Netflix and Comcast are more known entities at this point. The biggest question mark is Paramount, which has been crafting a new identity since the Ellison takeover. “There’s something about Paramount buying Warner that just feels more interesting, maybe because no one’s really been able to see what they’re going to do,” an agent says. “David is a film guy. There’s something about a studio being run by somebody who loves movies, and has built their own career from movies, that makes you feel like there’s potentially a good outcome there.”

Ellison also has the deep pockets of his billionaire father, Larry Ellison, backing his venture, which some view as a plus. “The thing about them, for me, is I know they’re going to spend money to make something work,” the manager says.

But Larry Ellison’s friendship with President Donald Trump—which could grease the wheels of a theoretical Paramount takeover of Warner Bros., making a deal happen more smoothly and quickly than it would for the other buyers—also gives many in the liberal town of Hollywood pause. “The Trump affiliations, I think, make everyone really nervous,” the Warner Bros. insider says.

All three bidders would gain Warner Bros.’ massive IP library, which includes popular franchises like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, as well as DC superheroes like Batman and Superman. Netflix is a streaming giant that has shaken up the industry in numerous ways—but the acquisition of Warner Bros. would allow the company to gain the sort of legacy IP it’s never had before.

“If Netflix ends up with that much IP, I think it’s devastating,” the studio executive says, noting their belief that the repercussions could go far beyond just the DC franchise. “What does it do to Marvel if DC’s on Netflix?”

It’s been reported that Netflix’s bid includes an assurance that the company would continue to release Warner Bros. movies theatrically. That could be the best outcome for Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who recently renewed their deal at the studio—allowing them to keep their jobs, and to keep the studio intact as Netflix’s new theatrical arm. “If it was Netflix saying, ‘We were wrong, we’re going to do theatrical,’ that would probably be my favorite [choice], because at least they’re acquiring something that they don’t have,” the producer says.

But it’s hard to believe that Netflix, a company that has built its entire model on being a disruptor—and has long refused to do traditional theatrical releases—would suddenly change its tune. “That’s like streaming kind of having a hostile takeover of the theatrical business, and I don’t buy it when they say, ‘We’re still going to release movies theatrically,’” the agent says. He adds that Netflix’s purchase of the studio would mark a much more significant shift for the Hollywood ecosystem than would the merger of two legacy media companies. “I think it would be the biggest change in our business since I don’t know when—maybe when the conglomerates took over the studios, versus when they were privately owned.”

The potential Comcast takeover seems like the deal that would be most similar to the one reached when Disney bought Fox’s entertainment business. Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery already have some crossover business, like the Harry Potter rides at Universal Studios, as well as the Olympics, whose broadcast rights are shared by NBC and Warner Bros. Warner’s 128 million global streaming subscribers would likely give stagnant Comcast streaming service Peacock an instant boost—but “on the film-studio side, it still feels detrimental,” the Warner Bros. insider says. “It still makes people nervous, because it feels like a lot of people, certainly on the studio side, would be gone.”

“Nervous” is an understatement. For the filmmakers, producers, and agents who both make movies and attempt to sell them, the loss of another major buyer in the theatrical space only has downsides. “It’s already so hard to sell a movie—harder than it’s ever been,” another agent says. “With one less buyer on the market, there will be far fewer stories able to reach audiences.”

Perhaps, though, there’s a silver lining to all of this. The exec suggests that the shrinking of legacy studios may mean more opportunity for other players, like Black Bear or Mubi, to step up and try to release more commercial films. A24 has already been attempting a similar trick, with recent releases like Warfare and Materialists.

Whatever the outcome, it might arrive quickly. Yesterday it was reported that Warner Bros. has asked the bidders to submit improved offers by December 1. Sources say that Warner Bros. Discovery hopes to announce the winner of its multibillion-dollar bake-off as soon as mid-December.

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