The true cost of Warner Bros. selling its soul to Netflix

Chris Yogerst, Tribune News Service

With the tech takeover of Hollywood coming fast, legacy film studios now face an existential crisis. Paramount was swallowed by Skydance during a months-long $8 billion merger finalized in August. Warner Bros. is next, but this time the stakes may be higher. With Netflix winning the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery — agreeing to pay more than $82 billion for its historic film and TV library, Burbank studios and HBO distribution stream, among other assets — the discussion has largely been focused on regulatory hurdles, stock prices, debt structure, layoffs and release strategies. The Directors Guild of America has already announced its intentions to meet with Netflix about the acquisition and what it means for theatrical distribution, while the Writers Guild of America has called for the merger to be “blocked” and Paramount has launched accusations of foul play amid the bidding process.

Missing from the discussion, however, is the cultural value of the studio’s history for developing challenging, era-defining films, consistently pushing for innovation in the filmmaking and distribution processes and for creating space for artists to explore their creativity.

For many, the Warner Bros. shield is more than a logo; it has stood across decades as a symbol of courage throughout the industry. The studio was founded in 1923 by four immigrants — brothers Harry, Jack, Sam and Albert — who believed movies could do much more than print money and entertain audiences. The studio leveraged both its assets and reputation to bring synchronised sound to film in the late 1920s, and developed larger-than-life stars from James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis. Being on the lot “was magical,” Karen Sperling, Harry Warner’s granddaughter, told me after a recent studio visit. “I realised that those streets, buildings, stages, props and costumes held story upon story that belong to all of us. The lot itself holds the value of the narratives that created movie memories in each of our lives, the classic moments that have entertained us, educated us and enlightened our own personal stories ... certainly mine.” Standing out from their peers, the brothers took social and political risks in hopes of enlightening viewers, from condemning the American justice system in 1932’s “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang” to warning about encroaching xenophobia in 1937’s “Black Legion” and rallying home front audiences with 1942’s World War II classic “Casablanca.”

Groucho Marx once called Warner Bros. “the only studio with any guts.” Under the leadership of Harry, the eldest brother, Warner became the first studio to pull its films out of Germany and to attack the Nazi regime in its productions — something that was a huge risk while America was still digging its way out of the Great Depression. Harry regularly campaigned on behalf of movies, framing them as a public good with a power beyond that of any individual. “The Warner brothers felt a responsibility to history and did not hesitate to take up the fight,” Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg said during a recent industry dinner.

The modern impact of Warner Bros. arguably began when Michael Uslan landed his 1989 “Batman” project at the studio after everyone else passed, launching the now-ubiquitous superhero genre while taking a chance on Michael Keaton, then mostly known for comedic roles. Throughout the 1990s, Warner Bros. created opportunities for directors to explore challenging subjects with films like Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” and Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” while still showing it could have fun with two gems from 1995: “Twister” and “Empire Records.” Then Warner Bros. effectively changed the trajectory of cinema with the Wachowskis’ century-ending red pill, “The Matrix.” The studio has seemingly perfected a mix of crowd-pleasing popcorn films with riskier fare in the 21st century — sometimes within the same production. It has launched popular franchises with the Harry Potter, Hangover and Dark Knight films, greenlit auteur-driven works such as David Fincher’s “Zodiac” and unleashed director Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar smash hit, “Barbie.”