Social media and film have both become staples in our current society, making the controversies within the industry extremely prevalent to us all. Recently, on Friday, December 5, 2025, it was announced to the public that Netflix will be acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, giving them access and rights to hundreds of cultural staple movies and an extensive catalog.
The reaction to this has been mixed, to say the least. Many worry that jobs within the film industry will become scarce, and even that the industry in its entirety will collapse due to Netflix having far too much power. With such an extensive catalog available, it isn’t unexpected for Netflix to charge much more for its service. The US government is already planning to investigate Netflix for antitrust and monopolistic concerns. There is another side to the argument as well. For example, legendary movie and series catalogs will become accessible on Netflix, bringing much more media to the comfort of people’s couches. As well as that, a merger like this could mean better original content for us to watch. With the huge budget Netflix has and the experience Warner Bros. Discovery has with making big-name movies, it’s possible that the shows and films they create together will be much higher quality than what they’re making separately.
People going to movie theaters and new movies releasing in theaters first is a main arguing point in this merger, since Netflix is known to not put their new productions in theaters. To address the mixed viewpoints on the issue, we spoke to our student body.
An immediate and overwhelming observation from polling 60 students revealed that over half were not even aware this merger is happening. This lack of awareness, coupled with the fact only 3.3% of the 60 students were looking to pursue a film career, suggests that this merger is not as impactful on many people’s lives as maybe first suggested.
To compile onto that, the film industry has been in decline long before this merger was ever even an idea. Almost half of students (48.3%) only go to the theater “a few times a year,” while only 1.7% go weekly. According to both students we interviewed, it is preferred to watch movies at home, with points being made about at-home movie nights being “cheaper and just easier.” Alongside that, there is greater comfort of being able to sit and watch wherever you want. Karen Ibrahim even noted that the constant stream of new content might make it hard to put the media down. She explained how big of a problem media oversaturation may become, saying, “I would probably never get off my phone” if everything was in one place.
To contrast that, Mr. Frey, who we interviewed, provided the point that watching movies at the theater is “just not the same at home.” As well as that, he explained his opinion that watching a movie with other people is a superior experience, even “a communal experience,” which “can make a movie special.” Mr. Frey also explained how the theater experience adds to a movie when he told us, “Weapons from last year is a really good example. The (well-deserved) hype around that movie was primarily from the crowd reactions to some of the wilder moments. Made the movie a lot more special.” There are pros and cons to theater movies, but the communal and human experience of watching a movie at the cinema cannot be denied.
On those same lines, the exclusivity of a movie only released in theaters often generates hype around a movie. On the terms of the merger deal, Netflix must release new Warner Bros. productions into only theaters first for seventeen days. This is much shorter than what Warner Bros. currently does, with them releasing new productions into theaters for forty-five days before they go to streaming. This merger and reduction in theater time could drastically hinder marketing efforts and new movie hype.
According to senior Aditya Bhakuni, “It’s preferable to have a release in theaters just because having it on streaming services kind of takes away the opportunity it has for marketing. It’s more exclusive.” Along with that, 10th grader Karen Ibrahim provided the input of most students when a new movie releases to the cinema, saying, “When something is hyped in the theater, lots of people are obviously hyped to go see it.” If theater time is cut, hype around new movies is likely to be cut down too. This is reflected in our data, as 63.3% of students admitted they would be less likely to see a movie in person if it arrived on streaming faster. It is not irrational to assume that most people will just wait for new releases to go to Netflix and then watch them instead of making an effort to go see a hyped movie in theaters when it first releases.
There are major concerns with the merger from the streaming service perspective as well, as Netflix is very likely to up its prices once it has access and jurisdiction over the Warner Bros. catalog. There are many conflicting viewpoints on if this is fair or not. Aditya Bhakuni presented his, saying, “I think so, yeah, logically,” in response to the question of the fairness of a greater monthly fee. Mr. Frey disagrees, however, as he provided his viewpoint saying, “I do not like the practices of streaming services in general. Especially the anti-consumer moves they’ve made by increasing prices while (frankly) having less to offer.” This highlights a concern that streaming platforms are prioritizing profit margins over value for their subscribers. “It feels like there’s a desire to squeeze every penny out of our pockets while offering as little as possible,” were the words of Mr. Frey on the matter.
To wrap up, there are many pros and cons to the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger and the impact on our lives. Some worry about greedy, monopolistic practices, while others are more concerned about the theater industry’s health and sustainability. Many, on the other hand, are just glad to have more movies and media available at the comfort of their own home. The ripple effect when this deal gets completed and sent through will no doubt be monumental on the media consumption world. Only time will tell if this merger creates a better era for movies or if it simply makes the “magic of the cinema” a thing of the past for the next generation of viewers.
