Pop culture imbibers in Hollywood and the world beyond have been feeling some kind of way in reaction to the bombshell shift in Warner Bros.’ acquisition. Paramount’s updated bid won out over the highly scrutinized deal that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had pretty much set in stone. Alas, Paramount boss David Ellison couldn’t seem to let it be, and now a revised swath of speculative conversations has risen up, focusing both on Paramount’s WB plans and Netflix’s future without the legacy studio.
Ever the businessman, Sarandos has been expectedly disappointed but measured and future-geared when addressing the rather quick and unexpected conclusion to this whole ordeal. He agrees with other experts expecting a massive exodus via layoffs, especially given Paramount only recently laid off between 1,000-2,000 employees in Q4 2025, and he expects both Paramount and Warner Bros. will suffer a severe downtick in productions to balance the money being spent. Does that mean Serandos hopes to offset that by filling theaters with Netflix movies? Not exactly.
Speaking with Bloomberg after Netflix's deal imploded, Sarandos was asked if he still planned to stick to his plans to get more Netflix movies into theaters despite the deal not going through, to which he replied:
Everything I talked about would require us buying that theatrical distribution entity. But one thing that’s been great about it is getting to know and have open dialogue with the theater owners. I really didn’t have much reason to before.
Not a great sign, but an understandable one. As a studio whose projects have for years been crafted with the binge-viewing model in mind, Netflix hasn't ever set up the proper deals and infrastructures that would allow for a regular flow of the company's films to enjoy theatrical windows ahead of streaming debuts. That certainly would have changed with Warner Bros. on board, considering that studio's been in the theater business for a full century. But without that progress-making step in the process, Netflix is back at ground zero, though with a better grasp of how that model works.
That said, Sarandos did speak about the strategic wins that Netflix did have on the theatrical side in 2025, and seemed to imply that success will help to fuel more crossover releases as times goes by. Still thoguh, he stopped short of ever saying, "We'll definintely put movies on the big screen," and two of the experimental examples he brought up are for episodic TV series.
We’ve figured out some really creative things to do together like you saw with Stranger Things and KPop Demon Hunters. We have One Piece in theaters next week in the US and Japan. I think we’re gonna find a bunch of cool things to do together going forward. I could see us doing things that we haven’t done before.
It's almost surprising that Ted Sarandos doesn't have a bigger lineup of projects he thinks could be theater-ready, considering KPop Demon Hunters managed to win the box office with a lyrics-filled singalong release, while Stranger Things' finale also drew massive audiences for a viewing experience that they could have just stayed home to have. Granted, those were both global phenomenons before the non-streaming screenings were worked out, which helps justify why One Piece Season 2 is the next project being tested out.
At this point, Sarandos is off the hook from theater chain owners seeking answers about WB's release future, all while Paramount's David Ellison has revealed Paramount+ and HBO Max will be merging to form a single streaming entity. During the same investors call, Ellison committed to releasing 15 Warner Bros. movies and 15 Paramount Pictures movies into theaters a year, for a combined total of "at least 30 films annually," via Variety. Anyone worried about Netflix's output would hopefully be soothed by Ellison's update.
Fans looking to get an early peek at One Piece's revealing premiere and follow-up episode can find both playing in theaters on Tuesday, March 10, with tickets currently available.
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