Warner Bros: it’s almost over

Bad title. The hillbillies don't know what 'calamity' means- let alone how to spell it.

They fucked

Both closet cases

—Next inevitable DL comment

This has “bomb” written all over it. No one is rushing to the box office to see a mismatched-buddy-cop comedy from the directors of “The Lost City”. What are they thinking?

Even if it’s moderately successful, it will still be a money loser for WB because the budget is going to be so bloated with above-the-line fees to the stars, producers, writers/directors, etc., before you even get to other production costs and P&A.

Zaslav really doesn’t know what he’s doing.

The Lost City was an awful movie. Tatum proved himself a horrible actor. There was a couple of minutes with Bullock and Pitt that showed a bit of promise, then Pitt was killed off and it sucked again. How did the directors get another chance?

TL;DR

Money-laundering. They'll all make out fabulou$ly. We'll get nothing

OP, Warner Bros. is not going away. It’ll be bought. It’ll still exist.

The only thing that shocks me of all this is that Chaning Tatum is still considered a "box-office star".

R8 Disney is very clearly phasing out 20th Century. It’s not guaranteed.

No one will want to see this movie starring two well known tortured closet cases.

The facelift on Channing! He’s going to look like Sly before long.

R10, link.

Who would buy it?

How long do you think WB has left before it’s sold?

I think some Nazi billionaires will buy it and crank out right wing content. They’ll lose money at the speed of sound and then shutter it. Just a theory.

R15 April.

WB had a billion dollar movie this year, Barbie, so I don't see how they're almost over. Plus Batman and Superman IP. They did fuck up with HBO, though.

I’d watch a porn with these two.

It's going to be Universal.

turner classic movies used this shot in their annual in memoriam.

tcm will not be purchased by Comcast and will shut down.

The only way the WB name will survive is if Universal does what Disney did, which was rebrand most of their television production divisions as 20th Century Television. Given that WB's television studio's legacy far exceeds that of Universal's own, I can see the combined TV division being branded as Warner Bros. But all movies will be released as Universal Pictures, because they need the public to associate Universal Pictures with Universal Studios theme parks. The conglomerate name may also be changed from NBCUniversal to Universal-Warner or something, given the international scope of WB as opposed to fading broadcaster NBC.

This has "big-budget flop" written all over it.

They're further fucked with James "Pedo" Gunn and the mess he's making out of DC. (And we thought Zack Snyder was bad!).

Jack Warner is suffering even more in Hell right now... and Judy Garland is cackling like The Wicked Witch of The West.

This is Bette Davis’ fault, no doubt.

Tatum and Reynolds are both past their sell by date.

Channing still puts butts in seats that for sure.

Jesus Christ I'm good

This will never happen though; it's absolutely fake news. The justice department would never allow it. The Universal deal is sealed or Universal would have never bought that land in England. The fact that this is coming the day AFTER that story leaked is probably why this was leaked to Axios; subterfuge. This is exactly like when Walt Disney was buying up swampland around a small town called Orlando using shell corporations with stupid names like M.T. Lott Corporation. Once the story leaked, everyone went crazy and land valuations went through the roof.

The only way a deal with Paramount could happen is if a hedge fund arranged for both companies to be dismembered and would cobble together the studios and streaming into one company, HBO into another company, CBS, CNN and the linear channels into another, etc. etc. Nobody in Hollywood believes this for a second.

Everything at Warner Bros. Discovery has ALREADY BEEN SOLD. Comcast is buying the movie studio, and someone else (probably Apple, maybe Netflix) is buying HBO. David Zaslav is only interested in one thing: making himself a fortune. Cobbling together two struggling conglomerates would never do that. Selling Time Warner in pieces would.

Hey Warner Bros, get rid of Chalamet.

Oh and from now until the April, the amount of dread and anxiety in Hollywood is going to be through the roof. Even though it's generally agreed right now that David Zaslav is the worst thing to happen to Warner Bros. in its history (technically it's not, it's the AT&T purchase which led to this), and it's genuinely believed that Universal, the oldest studio in Hollywood and one that has always been focused on its own history and myth making, will be a good caretaker of its longtime Burbank neighbor, the psychological effect of losing Warner Bros. would be akin to Oakland losing the Athletics and Raiders. And not just from a sentimental perspective; this is eliminating a buyer for movie and tv projects. Less movies and television will be made.

Couple of things you want to watch out for:

In addition to the shutdown of Superman Legacy which I have another thread about, start paying attention to the awards campaign for Oppenheimer. Watch how prominently Donna Langley inserts herself into it (and she has, I follow her Instagram account.) Why? The Academy Awards are in March; the deal will be announced in April. Oppenheimer will likely get upwards of twelve Oscar nominations (I think it could get a record 15) and 10 or 11 wins (11 if Lily Gladstone gets put into Lead; then Supporting will go to Emily Blunt.) The Academy Awards are going to be Donna Langley's coronation event.

Oh and in addition to that, expect the announcement that Universal will be producing Christopher Nolan's next film to come right after the Oscar nominations. Nolan does not have an overall deal so he can take his business anywhere; but obviously being the most favored filmmaker at the biggest studio in Hollywood is incentive to stay put. Additionally, he and Donna are both British and probably will work well together.

see the very first comment on deadline knows this story is bullshit:

"Can someone please explain to me why a company with overly burdensome debt would merge with another company with overly burdensome debt? Is it a negative and a negative make a positive?"

[quote] Channing still puts butts in seats that for sure.

I have a seat where Channing can put his butt. But he was never a box office star, he's had spectacular bombs (Jupiter Ascending).

[quote] Less movies and television will be made.

True.

From this clip, it sounds like Universal's Donna Langley is moving everything to the UK. They just finished building a new studio outside London, which is where Wicked is filming, and now they're building an amusement park there. What Langley is doing with the Wicked films is amazing.

No Universal doesn't currently own a production studio in the UK.

They will soon though!

R36, Universal owns the new state-of-the-art Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire, which just opened last year. Wicked is the first movie to be shot there.

My mistake r37, yes they do indeed own it.

Well, they'll have two now.

Don't forget the $100,000,000 Warner Brothers shelled out on that PINK DOG SHIT BARBIE movie.

Never in history has a studio paid that much to shill a crappy. brain-dead, useless piece of garbage like BARBIE.

I hope it was worth it, Warner Brothers.

Enjoy going out of business!

r39 = twit

On the contrary, Universal's acquisition of Warner Bros. means a life size Barbieland is probably coming to a Universal Studios near you. Universal is changing their parks to feature immersive, closed-off environments which they've already done with success with Harry Potter and Mario.

[quote] Universal's acquisition of Warner Bros. means a life size Barbieland is probably coming to a Universal Studios near you

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

R39 your father beat you severely when he found you playing with dolls, didn’t he?

The acquisition will be announced on or after April 8. Anything acquisition or sale before that time would be subject to massive tax penalties.

Channing Tatum's success is such a mystery to me. He's OK looking, but they make it out that he's so extraordinarily handsome.

He is not.

And he can't act either.

For Pete’s sake this thread is not about Channing Tatum. I’m sure you just were desperate to let everyone know how superior you feel over him though, r45.

R39 = gigantic twit. What Barbie’s box office take, right now?

Warner Bros. has signed 61 year old Tom Cruise.

This is remarkable (not Warner Bros. desperation, but that Cruise would shirk Paramount like that)

Channing was so foxy back in the day…what happened?

My name Jeff

I'd watch it if Channing reprised his role from This Is the End.

“Warner Bros. is being sold.”

“Who cares? Channing Tatum got OLDER, like normal people!”

Here’s the kicker:

[quote]Note, this isn’t an exclusive deal, as Cruise will continue to work with Paramount, where he’s shooting Mission: Impossible 8, and Universal, where he’s making the $200M shot-in-space movie directed by Doug Liman. Overall, Cruise doesn’t have exclusive deals at any studio. No projects at this point in time are in the works or greenlit, as it’s still early.

He signs a deal to… do what exactly if he’ll be unavailable for two years?

Remember when Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner took over United Artists? Did they release anything other than the bomb Lions for Lambs?

Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie.

Barbie's $150,000,000 advertising budget is what killed Warner Brothers.

Hope it was worth it.

I see someone’s daddy beat them when they found him playing with dolls.

When did Reynolds begin morphing into Yul Brunner, btw?

Mission Impossible EIGHT??? Movies deserve to die off.

Barbie made $1.44 billion to date with more possible. That $150 million on advertising was well spent! Plus Barbieland is a genius idea and will make more millions if it happens.

Kaufman and Hart predicted this almost 100 years ago.

Very interesting R30 & 31. I’ll be paying attentionto see if you are right.

WB had the end of the year hit Wonka which has grossed $465M worldwide

Oh God not Wonkaland coming to Universal parks with costumed Timothées greeting you

Good, Hollywood sucks, your people suck, your movies suck. Tear 70% of that shit down and replant the orange groves. Fuck cgi and the bullshit self congratulatory awards shows, all of it. You sicken me!!

Then why are you posting on a site with 75% celebrity gossip?

Surprise! Tom Cruise’s deal with Warner Bros. turned out to be a bargaining tactic with Paramount who were probably waffling on some points for the no-brainer sequel to Top Gun Maverick.

Tom Cruise had no intention of making a film with Warner Bros. because there will not be a Warner Bros.

Ryan and Channing are all about backend deals

This is what I'm talking about when I say the psychological effect. This is Jacob Elordi the other day getting gas.

This is what you're going to be seeing slowly over the next couple of weeks.

The psychological effect will probably even eclipse the loss of MGM in the 1970s which resulted in the nostalgia-fueled "That's Entertainment". If you have been to LA and driven to Burbank you will know how the golden water tower just rises up from the horizon in the sunlight.

And for Pete's sake R67 read the title of the thread.

That's Entertainment filmed on the MGM backlot as it was being demolished.

Many actors who come to Hollywood say you do not actually "enter" Hollywood until you go through the Paramount gates or go onto the Warner Bros. lot for the first time (Henry Cavill said this at the talk he gave the other year as one of his best memories). Elordi who is from Australia would probably also feel like this; for actors from other continents, it is not a very realistic dream to go to Hollywood (Penelope Cruz's Oscar speech) and going to the Warner Bros. lot meant fulfilling a fantasy.

All of the artistically beautiful films are coming from other countries. Hollywood is making shit.

Oh great, Woody Allen has joined the thread.