Khaberni - Hollywood unions and cinema owners consider Netflix's acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery for $72 billion will lead to a decrease and reduction in movie releases in theaters if it passes regulatory review, warning that the deal represents an "unprecedented threat to the industry".
The deal would place the giant streaming company's brands such as HBO under the umbrella of Netflix, and it would also hand over control of the historic Warner Brothers studio to the streaming platform, which has already turned Hollywood upside down by accelerating the shift from watching movies in theaters to watching them on the platform.
The deal might also grant Netflix, producer of famous works like "Stranger Things" and "Squid Game", control over Warner Brother's prominent titles such as "Batman" and "Casablanca".
The Writers Guild of America stated in a release, "This merger must be stopped... The world's largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is precisely what antitrust laws were designed to prevent".
The deal is facing antitrust reviews in the United States and Europe, and American politicians have already expressed their doubts.
The guild represents writers in the fields of motion pictures, television, cable, radio and broadcast news, podcasts, and online media, and pointed out concerns regarding job cuts, wage reductions, rising consumer prices, and deteriorating conditions for entertainment industry workers.
Netflix expects to cut annual costs by between two and three billion dollars at least by the third year after the deal is finalized.
Cinema United, a trade organization representing 30,000 movie screens in the United States and 26,000 worldwide, also warned that the deal could eliminate 25 percent of local cinema businesses.
Netflix releases some movies in theaters before making them available to subscribers on the platform, and the company stated it will maintain the release of Warner Brother's films in cinemas and support Hollywood creatives, yet Michael O'Leary, head of Cinema United, described the merger as an "unprecedented threat" and questioned whether Netflix would maintain the current level of distribution.
The Directors Guild of America expressed significant concerns it intends to discuss with Netflix.
They added, "We will meet with Netflix to clarify our concerns and better understand their vision for the company's future. While we are conducting this due diligence, we will not issue further comments".
