Hollywood Hates Netflix's Plan to Buy Warner Bros.

Make no mistake: It's a blockbuster. The deal announced Friday in which Netflix plans to buy the Warner Bros. Discovery film and TV studios has the potential to "transform Hollywood," as the Los Angeles Times puts it. And not everybody—particularly cinema owners—is happy about that. Coverage:

• A piece at USA Today hits some of the bigger questions, starting with whether Netflix would still allow Warner Bros. movies to have long runs in theaters. The official answer from Netflix is that the company "expects to maintain Warner Bros.' current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films." The squishy key word there is "expects," writes Kelly Lawler.
• "Even if Netflix keeps releasing Warner films in theaters, the schedule may not be exactly the same way it is now," adds Lawler. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told reporters, "I think the windows will evolve to be much more consumer-friendly, to be able to meet the audience where they are, quicker," which didn't exactly ease the worries of cinema owners.

• As Andrew Pulver at the Guardian writes, "it doesn't take much reading of the runes to realize that will mean any film will be yanked out of cinemas on to streaming platforms as soon as it has served its purpose." (Meaning, qualifying for awards.) Cinema United, a trade group representing owners of more than 50,000 movie screens, agrees.
• The deal poses "an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business," the group said in a statement. It would hurt theaters "from the biggest circuits to one-screen independents in small towns in the United States and around the world," said Cinema United President Michael O'Leary.
• And it's not just cinema owners worried: An anonymous group of "top industry players" wrote a letter to Congress opposing the deal, reports Variety. Group members who identified themselves only as "concerned feature film producers" say they are worried that Netflix would "effectively hold a noose around the theatrical marketplace." Elsewhere, Titanic filmmaker James Cameron said on a podcast that a Netflix takeover would be a "disaster" because of the effect on theatrical releases, per IndieWire.
• A deal of this magnitude would likely take more than a year to come to fruition, and the New York Times reports that it's no sure thing. Expect Paramount in particular to aggressively lobby the Trump administration to reject it.