It’s a deal so staggering that it’s hard to wrap your head around it: Netflix is set to buy Warner Bros., in a deal that includes everything from Game of Thrones and Harry Potter to Superman and Citizen Kane.
Also included in the deal is a little streamer called HBO Max, which just capped a year of massive changes with one of the biggest earthquakes in streaming history.
At this point, Netflix’s agreement to purchase Warner Bros for $82.7 billion is just that—an agreement. It’s still subject to regularly approvals, not to mention the whims of President Trump, and it’s also contingent on Warner Bros completing the spinoff of Discovery and its various TV properties.
Still, if the deal does go through, the implications for both the traditional movie studios and the streaming world are massive. Yes, we’ve seen streamers gobble up movie houses before—remember, Amazon bought MGM, including the James Bond franchise, roughly four years ago—but nothing on this scale.
The deal also raises all sorts of questions, including a biggie: What happens to HBO Max?
The answer, at least for now, is murky. According to Variety, Netflix has “signaled” that it will keep HBO Max as a “discrete service,” but in a press release announcing the deal, it also talked about “adding the deep film and TV libraries” of Warners, HBO, and HBO Max to Netflix’s catalog.
Of course, no matter what Netflix says now, plans can change. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine a scenario like we’re seeing with Disney+ and Hulu, where one service slowly but surely gobbles up the other. Disney still hasn’t said for sure whether standalone Hulu is going away, but that seems to be the direction where things are headed.
So it could well be that we end up with a Netflix that, like Disney+, has an HBO Max section, where Game of Thrones, Sex in the City, and other HBO properties live. HBO Max may continue to exist as a standalone service for awhile, but just like what’s happening with Hulu, HBO Max on its own will likely fade away.
That would leave us with a monstrously large Netflix, and with HBO Max eliminated as a competitor, higher prices. Can you imagine Netflix for $30, maybe $40 a month? Feels like cable again, doesn’t it?
It’s worth saying again that this is not a done deal yet. Netflix faces serious headwinds in its quest to purchase Warner Bros., particularly when it comes to Donald Trump, who is said to have favored the bid from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance.
And Hollywood, fearful that Netflix will pull the plug on full theatrical releases for Warner Bros.’s upcoming slate, will furiously lobby Congress against the acquisition. (Netflix has reportedly committed to keeping Warners movies in theaters.)
But if you asked me to guess right now if the Netflix/Warner Bros. deal will go through, my answer would be yeah, probably.
And what will that mean for HBO Max? A slow fade-out, I’d wager.