Netflix co-CEO says Warner deal to put more films in cinemas

Published Fri, Feb 20, 2026 · 10:06 AM

[LOS ANGELES] Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer of Netflix, said that his company’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery will lead to more films in theatres, addressing a key complaint from Hollywood in the high-stakes battle for one of the industry’s iconic studios.

A merger of Netflix and Warner Bros is “better for theatres” because Netflix will be able to take its films and put them in cinemas using the distribution network that Warner Bros has built, Sarandos said on Thursday (Feb 19).

“It is likely you will have even more of an outcome of high-quality films for the theatres if this deal goes through,” he said.

Despite having signed a $72 billion agreement to buy the studios and streaming business of Warner Bros in December, Netflix is vying for those assets with Paramount Skydance, which has launched a hostile bid for the entertainment company behind film franchises such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

Netflix has historically put only a limited number of pictures in select theatres for short runs. As recently as last April, Sarandos said that the movie theatre model was “an outdated concept”.

A possible Netflix acquisition of the Warner studio has caused great concern in Hollywood, where theatre groups, stars and unions have raised red flags, saying the deal will cut the number of movies going to theatres. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the US Justice Department has been reaching out to theatre chains to assess how a Warner Bros sale would impact the business.

Netflix has promised to keep Warner Bros films exclusively in theatres for 45 days. Sarandos said on Thursday that he is not interested in putting such commitments in writing.

“The reason I would not put it in writing, I would not want to do this deal only to put ourselves in a bizarre competitive disadvantage down the road,” he said.

If Paramount wins Warner Bros, it has promised to more than double the output of the combined companies to 30 films a year.

Sarandos said that he doubts Paramount can deliver on that promise because of its commitment to reduce debt and lower costs following a takeover, and accused the company of spreading misinformation.

“That is about 10 more movies a year than the healthy studios are making now,” he said. “I do not think that is likely.” BLOOMBERG