Warner Brothers Merger Could Shake Up Hollywood and the US Economy

An upcoming Hollywood merger could have drastic consequences to the state and the entire country. The failing and indebted movie and entertainment giant Warner Brothers Discovery is on the bidding block, and both Netflix and Paramount have their eyes on it. Each company has drastically different plans and directions for the possible acquisition, which will undoubtedly shake up Hollywood but could also send ripple effects that disrupt the country as a whole.

The original Warner Brothers film studio produced and released some of the greatest, most notable, and most quotable films of all time—films such as Goodfellas, Casablanca, and A Clockwork Orange. It was one of the companies that defined Hollywood and ushered in the golden age of film. Unfortunately, those days seem long gone, and Warner Brothers has continued to fall further into what seems to be an insurmountable hole.

In the 1990s, Warner Brothers first merged with Time Inc., to become Time Warner. Then in the early 2000s, the company joined forces with first AOL and then AT&T. Both mergers were seen as colossal disasters because neither of these companies had experience in the film and entertainment industry. In 2022, as the company amassed over $50 billion in debt, it merged with Discovery to form what it is today, Warner Brothers Discovery.

The company is again looking for a shakeup, and this time Netflix and Paramount are very close to pulling the trigger. In fact, in December 2025, Netflix announced that it had entered into agreements to purchase WBD for the price tag of about $82.7 billion. The new merger is expected to close right after the separation of Discovery from Warner Brothers in October 2026.

In a statement put out by Netflix announcing the acquisition, Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix said, “This acquisition will improve our offering and accelerate our business for decades to come. Warner Bros. has helped define entertainment for more than a century and continues to do so with phenomenal creative executives and production capabilities. With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create—giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.”

However, major concerns have been raised over the potential merger, especially in the areas of antitrust and monopoly. At a Senate hearing earlier this month, it was established that a Netflix-Warner Brothers conglomerate would control half of the streaming market, which could lead to fewer choices and higher prices for consumers. Furthermore, not many have pointed out the negative effect this merger could have on the movie theatre business. Since Netflix is a direct-to-streaming service, any new movies produced by the new behemoth would never see a movie theatre, potentially significantly cutting the amount of films shown in theaters at all. The movie theatre industry may not be able to survive such a blow, causing countless numbers of Americans potentially to lose jobs wreaking havoc on the American economy.

It was also reported that Paramount offered $108.4 billion to acquire Warner Brothers, an offer substantially higher than Netflix’s. An understandably outraged head of Paramount David Ellison, wrote an open letter right after the Senate hearing. In the letter, he voiced his concern about the potential monopoly. “Just as important, we believe the creative community and audiences are best served by greater choice — not less — and by a marketplace that encourages the full spectrum of filmmaking, content creation and theatrical exhibition, not one that eliminates meaningful competition by creating a monopolistic or dominant entity,” wrote Ellison.

In the letter, Ellison also shared 5 commitments if Paramount were to win the acquisition of Warner Brothers. Two of these commitments speak directly to the idea of saving the movie theater industry. The company promises to release at least 30 “big” movies every year. It also guarantees that every movie would go to theaters for at least 45 days before it is available to stream and watch at home.

While the future of Warner Brothers is still not entirely clear, it is a foregone conclusion that Hollywood will be changed, and the audience will suffer. Both Netflix and Paramount have recently been known to produce shoddy and sometimes morally questionable material. They seem to value fast turnaround time and flashy attention-grabbing or controversial material. Compelling stories with riveting acting is a thing of the past. The sun has set on films like Paramount’s Sunset Boulevard. The beginning of a beautiful friendship in Warner Bother’s Casablanca has seen its end. The Golden Age of Hollywood is a remnant of the past that does not seem to have a chance at returning to its full glory.