Leonardo DiCaprio shares major concerns ahead of Netflix's $82.7 billion Warner Bros. deal
The future of cinema could be very different
When Oscar-winning actors start sharing their concerns about the future of our moviegoing experience, it could be time to listen up.
While Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed for his roles in everything from The Wolf of Wall Street to The Departed, he eventually landed himself an Academy Award for The Revenant and has continued his trajectory as one of Hollywood's best-known stars.
Tinsel Town is in a state of flux right now, and alongside the introduction of AI actor Tilly Norwood poised to replace the likes of Scarlett Johansson, strikes have ground the industry to a halt, and a slew of corporate shuffles have led to major movies and TV shows being canned.
Even away from fears that artificial intelligence will take over and we'll be drowned in a flood of algorithm-created content and AI slop, there are complaints that we're going to become one giant conglomerate where the world is run by a handful of companies.
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The entertainment world is no stranger to massive acquisitions thanks to Microsoft snapping up Activision Blizzard King in 2023 and Disney gobbling Fox in 2019, but the next one on the horizon could be the biggest yet.
Rumors that Warner Bros. Discovery was going up for sale were on the money, and with it, the new owners will have the keys to IPs including DC Comics' characters, Middle-earth, the Wizarding World, and more.
When you realize that would also include HBO Max and Hanna-Barbera catalogs, everything from Game of Thrones to Scooby-Doo could soon find a new home.
President Donald Trump has already spoken out about potential complications surrounding market dominance, and now, DiCaprio has seemingly shared his own reservations about the proposed $82.7 billion deal that would see WBD fall under Netflix.
It'll take more than Nicole Kidman's AMC advert to get butts back on cinema seats if Dune: Part Three is reduced to a Netflix rollout, and speaking to The Times, DiCaprio agreed.
Saying he's noticed how quickly streaming has affected things, the Titanic star explained: "It’s changing at a lightning speed. We’re looking at a huge transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas.
“Now, dramas only get finite time and people wait to see it on streamers. I don’t know. Do people still have the appetite? Or will cinemas become silos — like jazz bars?"
DiCaprio's musings seem to come after Deadline reported that Netflix wants movies to play in theaters for just 17 days before landing on streaming.
While Netflix says it remains committed to the current plan of theatrical releases for upcoming Warner Bros. movies, the fact that it's a largely at-home streaming service has led to outrage that billion-dollar blockbusters could soon be stripped from the already limping cinema scene.
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has pointed to the likes of the Stranger Things finale to reiterate the streaming giant isn't completely against some things playing on the big screen, but it's not enough to convince loyal cinemagoers or critics like DiCaprio.
Theaters are still struggling to get back to their pre-pandemic levels of revenue, and after DiCaprio's acclaimed One Battle After Another failed to break even, he has his own sorry conclusion about where things are heading: "I just hope enough people, who are real visionaries, get opportunities to do unique things in the future that are seen in the cinema."