The potential merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount is generating a lot of talk in the industry. Understandably, one of the biggest topics attached to Hollywood mergers is the potential homogeneity of entertainment. A studio with mutliple properties under its mantle, for example, may be more inclined to release a crowd-pleasing blockbuster rather than a complex auteur-ish project. Having said that, there's another side to the possible downfalls of such a merger: Its effect on movie theaters.
As it turns out, the WBD-Paramount merger has created a big concern among theater owners because of it possibly resulting in less offerings from both studios. TheWrap spoke to several theatrical executives to discuss the potential effect of the impending merger on the entertainment industry. The executives were said to be gravely concerned—and even downright panicking—about Warner Bros. Discovery being potentially absorbed by another company, given the risk of the studio reducing its movie output.
The owner of an independent theater who spoke to the outlet revealed the industry is on high alert about this, and expressed the need for people to bring attention to the matter: "I'd say this is a red alert, and everyone in our industry should see it as such. It's a serious antitrust issue, and we all need to call it out as such if Paramount and Netflix are really serious about doing this."
The concern is such, that Cinema United (formerly known as the National Association of Theater Owners)—a trade organization that represents exhibitors worldwide—has reportedly been meeting with theater owners to decide what the best course of action against the potential merger could be.
A theater executive who spoke to TheWrap stated that, while they'd rather WBD not be sold, if the sale is inevitable, they'd much prefer the buyer to be Paramount as opposed to Netflix. This is because it's assumed that under Netflix, WBD would likely become a mostly streaming company:
"We'll at least get another Minecraft movie on our screens under Paramount. They know they'd get the most out of the IP they're buying through theaters. Netflix? That's probably all gone. DC, New Line horror, all of it. Netflix would be the worst-case scenario for me."
Under CEO David Ellison, Paramount Skydance is expected to dramatically increase its film output, planning to release 15 projects in 2026, 17 in 2027 and 18 in 2028. Furthermore, sources told TheWrap theatrical releases were at the forefront of Ellison's vision for Paramount. While this may abate fears about a smaller content output from WBD and Paramount if they merge, theater executives are not optimistic about such a future.
An executive from a major theater chain told TheWrap he is skeptical the studio will not cut back on releases, given the dramatically reduced output seen from 20th Century Fox following its merger with Disney: "Disney promised that they wouldn't cut back on the number of movies 20th Century was putting out, and then they did. And, yeah, we see that now, and there's a lot of frustration, but no one said anything at the time."
For context, TheWrap provided data showing the drastic decline in 20th Century Fox releases since Disney acquired the studio in 2019. Per the information provided, the company released 16 movies in 2017 and 15 in 2018, before dropping down to 2 in 2024, and 5 in 2025.
It's worth noting that in October, Bloomberg stated that, should a merger happen, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison plans on Paramount and WBD to have a combined output of 30 films a year (which he reportedly aims to help achieve with Artificial Intelligence).