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#41
Press Releases and Film News / Re: Netflix to purchase Warner...
Last post by Archivist - May 07, 2026, 09:08:06 PM
And as of now, Paramount are purportedly making a lot of headway into the merger/acquisition.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-warner-bros-buy-reaffirms-deal-close-timing-1236585033/

 Paramount reported year-over-year growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA as CEO David Ellison and his team seek to remake the company they acquired late last summer. At the same time, the company also says that it is "making great progress" on its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, with a late Q3 target close still on track.

Paramount reported its Q1 earnings Monday, with revenue of $7.35 billion, up 2 percent year-over-year, operating income of $616 million, an operating margin of 8.4 percent, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.16 billion, up 59 percent year-over-year.

Paramount+ was the big driver, with 17 percent growth year-over-year and subscribers growing by 700,000 even after accounting for a one million hit from the loss of a hard bundle. Overall DTC revenue was $2.4 billion.

Paramount, of course, is reporting earnings in a moment of transition.

Even though Ellison and his team only took over Paramount less than a year ago, they have a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and are telling the street that they expect to close this year, effectively turning them into an entertainment behemoth.

Of course, customary rules mean that Paramount executives are limited in engaging with WBD about future plans, so Paramount needs to continue with its strategy, even as it plans separately for a future combined with WBD.

"Zooming out to 30,000 feet. We really view our pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as a powerful accelerant to our strategy," Ellison said on the call, reiterating his plan to release 30 films per year in theaters. "It expands reach and enhances our ability to create the world's most compelling stories and experiences, and it positions us really well to build a next generation media and technology company."

Ellison also said that the company will also be focusing more of its efforts on premium, high-quality content

"A core thematic for us has always been quality is the best business plan, you know, really making sure you aim high and you don't stop working until you get there," he said. "And in the competitive landscape that we find ourselves in today, we think that's essential from a creative standpoint. That's a philosophy that we're going to continue to deploy across our film and television studios, as well as our streaming services."

He also reiterated plans to invest more in technology, including an overhaul of Pluto TV planned for later this year that will accompany a renewed push for that free streaming platform.
#42
Press Releases and Film News / Re: Netflix to purchase Warner...
Last post by Archivist - May 07, 2026, 08:56:23 PM
Netflix walked away from the deal this February after Paramount made a better counter offer. But it seems that Paramount wants everything!

https://apnews.com/article/warner-paramount-netflix-5ddba4049473903b35b65e62e37d66bf


By  WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
Updated 1:36 PM GMT+10, February 27, 2026
Leer en español

NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is walking away from its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival.

On Thursday, Warner's board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount's latest offer to buy the entire company for $31 per share was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix. Warner gave Netflix four business days to come up with a counteroffer — but Netflix instead responded less than two hours later, declining to raise its proposal. It said the new price it would have to pay made the deal "no longer financially attractive."

"We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.′ iconic brands," Netflix's co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement. "But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price."

A Paramount buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery would reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape. And unlike Netflix — which was only eyeing Warner's studio and streaming business — Paramount wants the entire company. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like "Harry Potter" and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof as Paramount's CBS, "Top Gun" and the Paramount+ streaming service.

The prospect of such a combination, which will still need the green light from both Warner shareholders and regulators, poses both antitrust concerns and questions of political influence.

Netflix's decision to walk away on Thursday marks the latest development in a monthslong, messy corporate battle over Warner's future. Sarandos and Peters thanked Warner's leadership despite the final outcome.

Warner had repeatedly backed the deal it struck with Netflix since December right up until Thursday evening, when its board continued to recommend Netflix even while calling Paramount's bid valued at about $111 billion including debt "superior." Netflix had previously put a $27.75 per share offer on the table for Warner's studio and streaming business, totaling nearly $83 billion including debt.

In a statement Thursday night, CEO David Zaslav said Netflix executives had been "extraordinary partners" and that he wished them "well in the future."

After months of a heated back and forth amid Paramount's hostile campaign to take over Warner without the board's blessing, Warner also changed its tune about the remaining prospective buyer.

Warner's board hasn't officially adopted Paramount's merger agreement yet, but once it does, Zaslav said it "will create tremendous value." He added that the company was "excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery."

Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. But CEO David Ellison earlier applauded Warner's board affirming "the superior value of our offer."

A Paramount-Warner combo would combine two of Hollywood's five legacy studios that remain today, in addition to their theatrical channels. Beyond "Harry Potter," Warner movies like "Superman," "Barbie," and "One Battle After Another" — as well as hit TV series like "The White Lotus" and "Succession" — would join Paramount's content library.

Paramount's lineup of titles include "Top Gun," "Titanic" and "The Godfather." And beyond CBS, it owns networks like MTV and Nickelodeon, as well as the Paramount+ streaming service.

A merger between the two companies would put CNN under the same roof as CBS, which has already seen significant editorial shifts under new Skydance ownership. Paramount took steps to appeal to more conservative viewers in its news operations, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. And if the company's takeover bid of Warner is successful, critics warn similar shifts could happen CNN, a network that has long attracted ire from Trump.

"Any concerns about Netflix owning Warner Bros. are only heightened by the prospect of Paramount owning all of WBD. But it might not even matter," Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, a market research company, said in an email. "Politics are playing an outsized role in this deal, and they've been on Paramount's side from the get‑go."

President Donald Trump has a close relationship with the billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount's CEO David Ellison who is heavily backing Paramount's bid to buy Warner. And Paramount's aggressive push to acquire Warner arrived just months after Skydance closed its own buyout of Paramount in a contentious merger approved just weeks after the company agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit over editing at Paramount's "60 Minutes" program on CBS.

Still, Trump has continued to publicly lash out at Paramount over editorial decisions at CBS' "60 Minutes." And while the president previously made unprecedented suggestions about his involvement in seeing a Warner deal through, he's since walked back those statements and maintained that regulatory approval will be up to the Justice Department.

Still, top Democratic lawmakers have sounded the alarm about the Republican president's ties to companies like Paramount and potential consequences of growing corporate power.

"A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime antitrust hawk, said in a statement Thursday night. She also called a potential Paramount-Warner combo an "antitrust disaster."

Executives at Paramount have argued that merging with Warner will allow it to compete with bigger rivals particularly in the streaming space, and bring larger content libraries for its customers. But Warren and other critics say such a merger threatens higher prices, and that a Warner takeover would only further consolidate power in an industry already run by just a few major players. Some trade groups also warn that could mean job losses and less diversity in filmmaking.

When Netflix was still in the running, one of its key arguments against a Warner-Paramount tie-up was that it would combine two very similar companies: two legacy studios, two theatrical channels and two major news networks. The streaming giant said that posed a higher risk for job losses and other competition concerns.

In contrast, executives from both Netflix and Warner argued at a Senate antitrust hearing earlier this month that Netflix doesn't have the same studios and film distribution that Warner does. That was "one of the reasons that the Netflix offer appeals to us so much," Bruce Campbell, Warner's chief revenue and strategy officer, told senators on Feb. 3 — noting that the company believed Netflix would not only keep Warner's operations intact, but "invest in continued production."

How regulators will respond to a Warner-Paramount deal remains to be seen. The U.S. Department of Justice has already initiated reviews, and other countries are expected to do so, too.

Warner shareholders will have to be convinced, too. Beyond a higher price, Paramount has also tried to entice them by pledging to move up a previously-promised "ticking fee." The company initially said it would pay 25 cents per share for every quarter the deal drags on past the end of the year. Now it's agreed to pay that amount if the deal doesn't go through by the end of September. It also agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion.

But Paramount is taking on billions of dollars in debt to finance its offer — something critics have warned could only increase to the likelihood of potential job losses and other restructuring down the road. Foreign sovereign wealth funds have also provided equity for the offer, drawing added scrutiny.
#43
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by FatFreddysCat - May 07, 2026, 07:35:13 PM
"Predator 2" (1990)
The alien big-game hunter returns to Earth, and this time he's visiting the urban jungle of 1997 Los Angeles. While the beast  declares open season on the city's drug gangs, a tough-as-nails LAPD detective (Danny Glover) makes it his personal mission to bring the creature down.
Lots of mayhem ensues in this action packed, underrated sequel with a great cast incl. Bill Paxton, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Morton Downey Jr. (!), and Gary Busey as a CIA spook. Just as much fun as the O.G. in my book.
#44
Good Movies / Re: 100 movies with FOOD in th...
Last post by HappyGilmore - May 07, 2026, 06:54:41 PM
89.) I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. (2006)
#45
Games / Re: Movie Title Chains
Last post by bob - May 07, 2026, 05:13:02 PM

#46
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by FatFreddysCat - May 07, 2026, 04:27:07 PM
"Osmosis Jones" (2001)

Inside the body of a slovenly zoo keeper (Bill Murray), a heroic white blood cell  cop (Chris Rock) and a cold tablet (David Hyde Pierce) team up to stop a virus (Laurence Fishburne) that has lethal plans.
This imaginative live action/animation hybrid bombed at the box office back in the day, but there's more than enough gross out humor to make it worth a watch.
#47
Bad Movies / Re: Descriptions of Bad Movies...
Last post by lester1/2jr - May 07, 2026, 04:21:27 PM
Jennifer Lawrence and Timothy Chalamet spend a weekend in Paris trying to rekindle their love for each other, which has been lost in the shuffle of their respective career advances. She is then kidnapped and forced to fight in underground Mexican cage matches.
#48
Good Movies / Re: 100 movies with FOOD in th...
Last post by zombie no.one - May 07, 2026, 04:03:21 PM
88. HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989)
#49
Good Movies / Re: 100 movies with FOOD in th...
Last post by zombie no.one - May 07, 2026, 04:01:11 PM
updated list... (I made a mistake on the last page and told bob his wrong numbered entry should've been #77, in fact it should've been #78)

1. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
2. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
3. MYSTIC PIZZA
4. CORNBREAD EARL AND ME
5. Honeydew
6. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
7. Meatballs
8. Hot Dog... The Movie
9. POPCORN
10. Spoonful of Sugar
11. 30 for 30 Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?
12. WATERMELON MAN
13. EATING RAOUL
14. Licorice Pizza
15. Bloody Oranges
16. WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?
17. RATATOUILLE
18. American Pie
19. Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
20. Strawberry Mansion
21. SEX LIVES OF THE POTATO MEN
22. A Raisin In The Sun
23. The Milagro Beanfield War
24. BIG MEAT EATER
25. ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES
26. The Devil's Honey
27. Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death
28. THE APPLE
29. The Peanut Butter Solution
30. CANDY
31. Space Milkshake
32. Monster Seafood Wars
33. BANANAS
34. CHICKEN RUN
35. Children of the Corn
36. The Grapes of Wrath
37. Pineapple Express
38. Ice Cream Man
39. Milk
40. WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
41. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
42. The Lemon Sisters
43. La soupe au choux (aka Cabbage Soup)
44. DUCK SOUP
45. The Peanut Butter Falcon
46. Night of the Lepus
47. CHERRY 2000
48. Frogs
49. Ham on Rye
50. Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
51. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
52. BABETTES FEAST
53. DINNER RUSH
54.  Jiro Dreams of Sushi
55. Salt
56. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
57. Beer
58. SHROOMS
59. Tangerine
60. Beer League
61. Hamburger: The Motion Picture
62. Beerfest
63. DEATH LAID AN EGG
64. Good Burger
65. Chocolat
66. Porridge
67. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
68. REVENGE OF THE KILLER TOMATOES
69. Midnight Meat Train
70. NUTS IN MAY
71. Attack of the Giant Moussaka
72. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
73. Fast Food
74.Babe: Pig in the City
75. COFFEE & CIGARETTES
76. Killer Tomatoes Eat France
77. HERBIE GOES BANANAS
78. Mixed Nuts
79. Blood & Chocolate
80. Like Water for Chocolate
81. Sausage Party
82. The Fortune Cookie
83. Wasabi Tuna
84. A FISH CALLED WANDA
85. Food of the Gods
86. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
87. Butter
#50
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Random Statements About So...
Last post by Alex - May 07, 2026, 09:25:49 AM
I asked the same question on what turned out to be a much more political discussion. I just want to say RIP to his family and FU to those who put politics ahead of paying respects.