Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. film studios, HBO, HBO Max in massive deal

Netflix has was won the massive bidding war to acquire fellow Hollywood titan Warner Bros.

“This morning, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Netflix will acquire Warner Bros.,” a representative for the former said Friday in an email statement distributed to Entertainment Weekly.

The deal, at a reported enterprise value of around $82.7 billion, includes Warner Bros.’ film and TV studios, as well as streaming service HBO Max and TV network HBO.

In a press release, Netflix said it will “maintain Warner Bros. current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.”

“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, in a statement. “By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies—from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends— with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Gamewe’ll be able to do that even better. Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”

Sarandos’ co-CEO, Greg Peters, added that the deal is aimed at “giving our members more options” and “attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service.”

David Zaslav, the president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in an additional statement that “today’s announcement combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love to watch the most,” and promised that “by coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”

Among other details, the press release indicated that the newly merged company “expects to realize at least $2-3 billion of cost savings per year” by the third year into the deal.

EW has reached out to Warner Bros. for an additional statement.

In addition to the aforementioned properties, Warner Bros. also distributes major DC Comics films, including The Batman, Jokerand this year’s Superman reboot.

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Under the HBO banner, the company has released Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Curb Your Enthusiasmand other iconic TV shows.