Cinema United

Cinema United is a trade association representing more than 30,000 movie screens in the U.S. and tens of thousands more internationally. It advocates for theatrical exhibition and opposes policies seen as undermining cinema economics. - Leading organized opposition from global theater owners

On December 5, 2025, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced a definitive deal for Netflix to acquire Warner Bros.' film and television studios plus its premium and streaming businesses, including HBO and HBO Max, in a transaction valued at roughly $72 billion in equity and $82.7 billion including debt. On January 20, 2026, the parties amended the agreement to an all-cash structure at the same $27.75 per share price, accelerating the timeline for a shareholder vote now expected by April 2026. The deal follows WBD's June 2025 decision to split into two public companies—Warner Bros. (studios and streaming) and Discovery Global (cable networks)—and caps a months-long auction in which Netflix outbid Paramount Skydance and Comcast. In the weeks following the announcement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos met personally with President Donald Trump at the White House, while rival Paramount Skydance launched a $108 billion hostile tender offer that WBD's board has repeatedly rejected.

Updated Jan 24

Cinema United is the world’s largest movie theater trade association, representing more than 30,000 screens in the U.S. and tens of thousands more internationally. - Leading exhibitor group opposing the deal

After Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery announced their $72 billion equity-value agreement on December 5, the transaction quickly became a live bidding contest and a regulatory test case. On December 8, Paramount Skydance launched an unsolicited all-cash tender offer for all of WBD at $30 per share, seeking to derail the Netflix deal and keep the company intact (including the networks slated for the Discovery Global spin-off). Within days, Netflix began a coordinated shareholder push backing its signed merger agreement and emphasizing regulatory execution, while WBD prepared formal filings to respond to the tender offer.

Updated Dec 11, 2025