With nearly 150 million subscribers around the world, Netflix has a commanding lead in the streaming wars. But it’s also facing heavy competition from deep-pocketed conglomerates like Disney, Apple, and AT&T, and an ongoing wave of narrow, targeted streaming sites like CBS All Access and DC Universe, which can draw on popular existing franchises for original content. As fewer companies are willing to license out their films and shows to other streaming sites, Netflix is pouring billions of dollars annually into its own original content. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Netflix’s new films and shows, its evolving strategies against new entrants in the market, and how it’s leveraging its technological and marketing lead.
The third movie in the whodunit series is now streaming on Netflix. You can also check out my review of Wake Up Dead Man (it’s good!) and an interview with director Rian Johnson about why he doesn’t plan in advance and why the movies are always rooted in the present.
Netflix may be the frontrunner now, but the war for Warner Bros. could end in a number of different ways.
The new teaser for season 2 of Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series is full of iffy-looking action, but it gives us a very promising look at Miya Cech’s take on Toph.
Rian Johnson’s latest mystery trades crowd-pleasing spectacle for something that pushes the series in a new direction.
Since Netflix announced that it was the frontrunner to buy Warner Bros., David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has been getting more hostile in its bids to own the legacy studio. But Semafor reports that Paramount’s tactics have raised eyes in Washington, where some think Ellison is banking on favoritism from Trump’s Justice Department.
After launching a hostile bid for the entertainment giant, Paramount’s Ellison told CNBC that Netflix’s deal to buy part of WBD would create a company with “unprecedented market power:”
When you combine the number one streamer with the number three streamer, that creates a company that has unprecedented market power, north of 400 million subscribers. The next largest competitor is Disney, with just under 200 million. That’s bad for Hollywood, that’s bad for the creative community, that’s bad for consumers.
Warner Bros. has a long history of bad buyouts and mergers, but maybe Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has been watching a little too much Arrested Development on his own platform.
Bebopper:
Arrested Development but it might work for us .gif
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Despite Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ efforts to woo the president last month, Trump said on Sunday that plans to combine the streamer with Warner Bros. “could be a problem.” Trump said that Netflix already has a “very big market share,” which will “go up by a lot” if the $83 billion buyout goes ahead.
WB has a checkered history of acquisitions, but joining forces with Netflix would elevate it to a new level of prominence.
Warner Bros. mergers have a not-so-great history, but with this deal, co-CEO Greg Peters said on an analyst call that, as transcribed by Deadline:
We understand these assets that we’re buying, the things that are critical in Warner Bros. are key businesses that we operate in, and we understand. A lot of times, the acquiring company, it was a legacy non-growth business that was looking for sort of a lifeline. That doesn’t apply to us.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, from an investor call:
This deal is pro consumer, pro innovation, pro worker, it’s pro creator, it’s pro growth. And our plans here are to work really closely with all the appropriate governments and regulators, but really confident that we’re going to get all the necessary approvals that we need.
From its website:
The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent. The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.
From its press release:
Netflix expects to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.
“Expects” is doing a lot of work there. But responding to an investor question about theatrical plans, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said:
I wouldn’t look at this as a change in approach for Netflix movies or for Warner movies for that matter.
WBD’s board of directors determined that “this structure – Warner Bros. joining Netflix, and Discovery Global becoming a focused standalone company – provides the strongest long-term foundation for both sets of businesses,” Zaslav says.
The company is selling Spry Fox, a studio it acquired in 2022 that’s known for cozy games like Cozy Grove and is developing an MMO, back to its original owners, Game File reports. It’s the latest shift in Netflix’s evolving gaming strategy.
Rian Johnson might not be open to a Knives Out feature starring The Muppets, but he seems to have given his blessing to Netflix’s new Sesame Street short about detective Beignet Blanc investigating the disappearance of Cookie Monster’s triple berry pie.
Stranger Things is back for (the first part of) its final season, but given the lengthy period between episodes, there’s a good chance you have some catching up to do. To that end, Netflix released this very handy recap covering season 4, which wrapped up way back in 2022.
The first chunk of the show’s fifth and final season moves a little too fast for its own good.
This trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Star Search revival is really just a list all the celebrities like Beyoncé, Usher, and Britney Spears who were discovered on the original series. But it’s also the streamer’s way of announcing that Anthony Anderson will host the new live show when it premieres on January 13th.
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The director of Wake Up Dead Man talks about the direction of the series, and why each one is ‘a reaction to the present moment.’
A source tells TheWrap that Netflix is betting on video podcasts to capture your attention while outside the platform:
When people aren’t spending time on Netflix, we want to win as much of that as possible.
In addition to a podcasting deal with Spotify, rumors suggest that Netflix is considering licensing shows from iHeartMedia and SiriusXM — and maybe even launching its own podcasts, too.
What was once a department store inside of the King of Prussia Mall has become a new (and now open) Netflix House entertainment venue where you can “explore more than 100,000 square feet of immersive experiences” inspired by some of the streamer’s shows like Wednesday, One Piece, and Squid Game.
It’s a good day to stay home: the first two episodes of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus are now on Apple TV, while Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is on Netflix after a brief theatrical run. And if you’re looking for more after you watch, here are my interviews with Gilligan and Frankenstein creature designer Mike Hill.
If you can’t wait until November 26th to experience the final season of Stranger Things (which has taken more than three years to release), you can now watch the first five minutes of its first episode, “The Crawl.” It’s been an age since we’ve seen Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) looking so baby-faced.
Netflix is working with A24 to develop a reality TV series based on the chaotic collaborative cooking game, according to a report from Deadline. The production is still in “early stages of development,” but I can already imagine the secondhand stress from watching contestants rush around a kitchen.
Netflix and Sony haven’t locked in on a concrete premiere date for the KPop Demon Hunters sequel just yet, but the studios are reportedly thinking about releasing the movie some time in 2029.
[Deadline]
The latest season of Sesame Street debuts on Netflix on November 10th, and the streamer has just dropped a new trailer teasing what’s in store for the fuzzy monsters and their human friends.
Mike Hill talks about working with Guillermo del Toro, and why Jacob Elordi was the right actor for the role.
