Edmilson 7,384 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Heavily in-debt, Warner Bros may be sold to Comcast and combined with NBCUniversal, according to The Hollywood Reporter Quote Given the company’s daunting challenges, it has become accepted wisdom at the highest levels of the industry that another deal waits in the wings for Warner Bros. Discovery. For reasons related to the complicated structure of that merger, no negotiations can happen until April 2024. But at that point, many industry observers believe that Comcast’s Brian Roberts will make a long-awaited move, looking to combine NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. That deal would face some interesting antitrust issues but would give his company scale and a viable streaming service. “Obviously Peacock sucks,” says one exec with knowledge of both companies. “There are some good synergies. I’m sure [Roberts] is licking his chops because the [WBD] stock is so low. And I think that’s Zaslav’s endgame. Get the place sold.” (Roberts and NBCU CEO Jeff Shell met with Zaslav and board member John Malone during the Allen & Co. gathering in Sun Valley last July, but given the rules against plotting any combination, that was no doubt just a friendly get-together.) A WBD spokesperson responds: “We are building Warner Bros. Discovery for the long term.” Many top industry execs are so convinced a deal will happen that some are pre-mourning an event that may never happen. “People feel like it’s Comcast for sure,” says the head of one company. “It’s going to be so depressing to lose another major studio [after Disney bought Fox]. And Warners was the Tiffany studio.” Of course an obituary is premature. Maybe Warners will do a deal with Comcast, maybe not. Meanwhile, Zaslav continues his quest to find a DC superhero, but it seems possible that, eventually, De Luca and Pam Abdy — now acting heads of the division — will end up running the thing by default. De Luca was a comic book collector as a kid, and years ago, at New Line, he made Blade and even had an Iron Man movie in development. (A source says Bob Shaye, the New Line chief at the time, let the option lapse, arguing that it didn’t make sense because Iron Man was too heavy to fly.) “Mike was championing and scratching at the surface of this comic book universe long before it became the only thing that anybody is interested in seeing,” says one longtime associate. Given the importance of DC, it appears the top filmmakers operating in that world — Matt Reeves, Phillips and Andy Muschietti — will be shielded from that sharp Wiedenfels knife. One agent with business at the studio says De Luca and Abdy are talent-friendly, decisive and a vast improvement from when the studio sat under AT&T and Jason Kilar. “From where I sit,” he says, “it is night and fucking day from before.” Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/warner-bros-discovery-has-bigger-problems-than-its-dc-search-1235221804/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew 590 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Good job, Zaslav. By 2030, there will only be 2 film studios that own everything. bollemanneke and TSMefford 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bryant Burnette 654 Posted September 17, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2022 HBO PeaMaxCockDiscovery Drew, Jay, Matt C and 4 others 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,792 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 32 minutes ago, Bryant Burnette said: HBO PeaMaxCockDiscovery HBO Tumescent Edition? bollemanneke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 30 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said: HBO Tumescent Edition? TUBEmescent Edition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bollemanneke 3,337 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Is WB Discovery related to WB Pictures at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew 590 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 WB Discovery is the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMefford 1,509 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 5 hours ago, bollemanneke said: Is WB Discovery related to WB Pictures at all? WB Discovery is WB Pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bollemanneke 3,337 Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 Huh, what happened to their finances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,384 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 HBO Max Removes 256 ‘Looney Tunes’ Shorts, Three Seasons of ‘The Flintstones’ Yavar Moradi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,625 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Does that mean 256 Looney Tunes cartoons and 3 seasons of the flintstones are now considered "racist"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mstrox 6,643 Posted January 5, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 5, 2023 No mark read the article enderdrag64, Koray Savas, Yavar Moradi and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,331 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 3 minutes ago, King Mark said: Does that mean 256 Looney Tunes cartoons and 3 seasons of the flintstones are now considered "racist"? No, license expired essentially Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,384 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 In the end, it's just another cost-cutting measure by Zaslav that have been plaguing Warner Bros since it was sold to Discovery. After all, he needs to save money to invest in all of those James Gunn DC movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I don't understand with Looney Tunes. HBO Max and WB are both owned by the same company, so isn't paying a license fee just moving assets around slightly??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew 590 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Zaslav is currently considering selling the copyrights Warner's entire music library................. https://www.ft.com/content/74fc28b8-0499-406e-95d1-a7b99f5e52e9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Holko 9,499 Posted January 13, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2023 Should we pitch in together and buy them? Specialty labels can do their releases for free if they use producers and artists we approve of. michael_grig, enderdrag64 and Raiders of the SoundtrArk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 4,890 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 We have any billionaires on this board? michael_grig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,384 Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share Posted January 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said: We have any billionaires on this board? I am. I mean, once I invent the first ever time machine, I'll have a lot of money! BTW, does anyone know how to build a time machine? Manakin Skywalker and michael_grig 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,281 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Just a reminder that Warner Music Group separated out of WB back in 2004 and was never a part of Warner Discovery; This would be a sale of the music rights that WB has themselves, so basically albums that came out on WaterTower Records enderdrag64 and Yavar Moradi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, Jay said: Just a reminder that Warner Music Group separated out of WB back in 2004 and was never a part of Warner Discovery; This would be a sale of the music rights that WB has themselves, so basically albums that came out on WaterTower Records Yes, that's the part most relevant to film music enthusiasts, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bespin 8,475 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 So, no impact on John Williams's catalog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,281 Posted January 13, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2023 It would affect None But The Brave and that's it as far as Williams is concerned (plus Daddy's Gone A-Hunting I guess if WB truly inherited it from National Geographic Pictuers, which was never clear) enderdrag64, Edmilson and Bespin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enderdrag64 624 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 2 hours ago, Jay said: Just a reminder that Warner Music Group separated out of WB back in 2004 and was never a part of Warner Discovery; This would be a sale of the music rights that WB has themselves, so basically albums that came out on WaterTower Records So in other words, this could either result in no change, or more expansions, since WB/WaterTower doesn't have a great track record of allowing them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 It'd be nice to read the article about this but I ain't gonna subscribe to the Financial Times and I don't see any other outlet reporting this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,281 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 I dunno, the actual elements would still be in WB picture's vaults, so I dunno how it would work with licensing. Like now if LLL wants to do an expansion of a score from a WB film that had an OST album owned by WMG, they'd be 3 parties in the contract, LLL, WMG, and WBPictures. If some 4th entity owns the music rights, but WBPictures owns the music, how would it all work? I have no idea. Drew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew 590 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 21 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: It'd be nice to read the article about this but I ain't gonna subscribe to the Financial Times and I don't see any other outlet reporting this? There is more reporting on it as of this morning. Didn’t realize there was a paywall. The article loaded fine for me when I got the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,281 Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Warner Bros. Discovery May Not Combine HBO Max With Discovery Plus After All Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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