ListNook

DrummerGuy06 Apr 13, 2026 +794

>Because Hollywood, believe it or not, is a blue-collar town. It’s thousands and thousands of Grips and Gaffers. Drivers and Decorators. Builders and Boom operators. Camera teams and Caterers. And they’re all about to get fucked. Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs. When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive —one becomes a Ghost Town. He's not wrong. It's easy to forget all the background people that make these things happen and with less & less of them, there'll be less talent to pool from, longer production costs, etc. They're chasing short-term gains without thinking long-term how this will screw them over. But at this point, they'll just sell to some other sucker who wants their MBA "prowess" to shine and be the man/woman in charge of a major studio.

794

DazHawt Apr 13, 2026 +207

We're already fucked. The industry is already on life support.

207

ReplacementAbject867 Apr 13, 2026 +45

WarnerBros could be profitable

45

bakedpatata Apr 13, 2026 +54

WB actually had a ridiculously good 2025 movie lineup despite all the bullshsit at the studio.

54

Sammyd1108 Apr 13, 2026 +25

And of course the leeches running the studio used that as a chance to cash out at the highest value instead building upon that and making WB like they used to be.

25

JohnSith Apr 14, 2026 +18

Well, yeah. Zaslav is one of Jack Welch's protégés. Until he was put in charge of cable TV division, he had zero experience in movies or TV. And afterwards, his only experience in TV or movies was replacing scripted shows with c**** reality TV shows. And now he will sell off an American icon and personally reap hundreds of millions of dollars.

18

jtmj121 Apr 14, 2026 +3

To a company that used foreign money that has a (generalizing) culture that doesnt agree with our countries culture.

3

JohnSith Apr 15, 2026 +1

He's selling CNN to a right wing billionaire. Who cares if it undermines democracy, so long as he makes money?

1

jtmj121 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Paramount used Saudi money to buy CNN. Thats my point.

1

MaybeNotTooDay Apr 15, 2026 +1

Hey, Saudi Arabia allows women to drive now. They're progressives.

1

vulcanjedi2814 Apr 15, 2026 +2

Just shy of a $billion …ftfy

2

JohnSith Apr 15, 2026 +1

And je constantly changed his compensation, depending on how WB was doing. From stocks, until he tanked the stock and so he changed it to cash flow, and now equity when it's being sold.

1

PseudorandomNoise404 Apr 13, 2026 +86

Feels like that ship sailed the very second Discovery bought them. Now it's just IP being passed around like a chopped up car.

86

Terrible-Trick-6087 Apr 13, 2026 +32

The studio was doing much worse before Discovery got them, a lot of the losses and problems that occurred during Discovery's run of the company come from AT&T and the later regimes throughout the 2000s managing the company so badly. The reason why it's being sold now at such a high price is that Zaslav kept the Casey Boys in charge of their television sides and hired seasoned execs Michael De Luca and Pamala Adby who fixed the company up, bringing back franchises, making more original movies/television that either are getting huge accolades for the arts or huge profits, and paying off a large chunk of it's debt. I mean there still were going to be problems in the long line but if they split the company like they planned to it could've survived for a decent amount of time.

32

TomTomMan93 Apr 13, 2026 +17

This is the part that I really don't get about modern corporations in the U.S., why sell then? I guess yeah "greed" is the answer and it always is, but it just seems so baffling. Like you're doing everything right and straightening the ship financially? Cool. Keep doing that and make more money for the foreseeable future. Have both lots and lots of money *and* pride in the thing you've functionally revived. Then they sell it for a bunch of money and vulture to the next dying company in [INSERT INDUSTRY]. Just seems like doing more work for less gain in anything that's not the short run, which then makes more work for you to do sooner cause now you gotta get those hooks into something else and repeat. Much rather have one job or "job" (owning stock isn't a job, lets be real) that makes a bunch of money almost all on it's own than constantly be running between chop shops.

17

rumplebike Apr 13, 2026 +36

The goal of every company right now is a buyout, lots of that driven by shareholders. If you look at why the Austin-stock-bros HATED Biden, they were pissed Biden's administration didn't allow as many mergers as previous admins. F****** ridiculous. This group sees a merger as the quickest way to grow and double the stock price.

36

fuddlesworth Apr 14, 2026 -5

Maybe if they made something good instead of shitting out sequels with The Rock or Jack Black.

-5

Deducticon Apr 14, 2026 +5

Moana and Jumanji make bank.

5

Scared-Cry-1767 Apr 13, 2026 -12

Really seems to mostly be an LA thing. My friends in NY have tons of work, the ones who are in LA are struggling hard.

-12

Bob_The_Skull Apr 13, 2026 +14

Curious what they do or productions they work on. Most crew folks I know, regardless of geo within the US, are struggling.

14

ialo00130 Apr 13, 2026 +83

This is *exactly* what happened with the Merger between Mcdonnell-Douglas and Boeing. Mergers are never good. Ever. Competition breeds job creation.

83

Cakiea Apr 13, 2026 +37

That hostile takeover destroyed a storied generational engineer driven Boeing and the Greater Seattle area is still mad about it.

37

Apprehensive-Care20z Apr 13, 2026 +22

exactly, the sole overwhelming purpose of all corporations is to maximize the exploitation of their customers for profit. And the bigger they are, the harder the exploit.

22

Electronic_Sun6075 Apr 13, 2026 +2

It's almost as if we need to have our worlds best thinkers devise a methodology for a new system of governance that allows for optimal transparency by way of underemployed citizens working part time to study and review all important government documents with multiple redundancies to ensure a fair working system that keeps corporations in check.

2

QueezyF Apr 14, 2026 +2

I’m seeing a lot of parallels in the entertainment industry to what happened with the airlines in the 80s. This isn’t a merger, this is corporate raiding.

2

CptNonsense Apr 14, 2026 -2

Except that time the only two satellite radio providers merged because if they hadn't, there wasn't sufficient real consumers to keep both of them open and they both would have failed. Absolutist knee jerk statements are dumb

-2

oohbeartrap Apr 14, 2026 +7

> They’re chasing short-term gains without thinking long-term how this will screw them over. Seems like every big company’s playbook right now.

7

Judson_Scott Apr 13, 2026 -16

> Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs. Meh - there are SO MANY MOVIES made these days compared to most of the past 130 years that it was only a matter of time before a slow-down had to happen. Also, Hollywood/LA isn't even the filming location of choice for most anymore. I'm a huge horror fan, and very few of the movies I watch are made there. I'm totally against mergers like this, but let's be honest: If you cut the number of movies/shows being put out every year in half, you'd still have a LOT more than there were 40 years ago, and culturally we'd lose nothing. edit: lol @ downvotes. Most of what comes out of Hollywood is dogshit, and nobody is *owed* a job in an industry that not only produced trash, but is utterly corrupt to begin with.

-16

mira_poix Apr 13, 2026 +11

My brother in Christ who cares about how many movies were being made *40 years ago*. These people are here and alive now. You could take half the cars off the roads and there would still be more than 60 years ago. You can pick whatever number you want in your bad faith argument. Things were different 40 years ago, and not relevant to what's happening to the workers now.

11

kuhpunkt Apr 14, 2026 +2

> Also, Hollywood/LA isn't even the filming location of choice for most anymore. And?

2

sgthombre Apr 13, 2026 +420

Well, I guess Lanterns isn't getting renewed.

420

ATR2400 Apr 13, 2026 +67

Green Lantern try not to get screwed on the big screen challenge(100% IMPOSSIBLE)

67

donotgotoroom237 Apr 14, 2026 +9

Ellison: Green Lantern?! Bring back that Canadian fella, Reynolds, was it?!

9

MaybeNotTooDay Apr 15, 2026 +1

A shot for shot remake!

1

yoursweetlord70 Apr 15, 2026 +1

See also: superman. We finally get a good movie and now this merger might prevent any more

1

Ghost_Of_Malatesta Apr 13, 2026 +111

Nah, the ellispns will let it run for multiple seasons with an AI show runner/writers

111

TheWholeOfTheAss Apr 13, 2026 +44

They’ll want a drastically reduced budget, so you’ll basically get Mayor of Kingstown but with Green Lanterns who can’t use their powers.

44

FullMotionVideo Apr 13, 2026 -27

VFX guys are already underpaid. You'll get wooden teenagers that haven't picked up a SAG card with Infinity War effects. The comic stuff was always a half-step removed from Power Rangers anyway, which worked like this.

-27

FireZord25 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I approve the misspell.

1

Ironsam811 Apr 14, 2026 +14

Let’s be real: this new cashed strapped company isn’t going to have the funds for big budget superhero films. Give it 6 years before they start selling off parts and Disney ends up buying DC

14

welchplug Apr 14, 2026 +6

Maybe we will get a dc marvel crossover

6

Howmanysloths Apr 15, 2026 -2

The slop must continue

-2

welchplug Apr 15, 2026 +7

A crossover isnt slop it has precedence in the comics...

7

HankSteakfist 5 days ago +1

Or it's getting Walking Dead treatment. One incredible season followed by endless seasons of mediocrity.

1

Freodrick Apr 14, 2026 +1

They'll make a new batman, where he uses guns. And no, it's not the elseworld version.

1

yoursweetlord70 Apr 15, 2026 +2

Snyder already did that

2

Freodrick Apr 15, 2026 +1

So true, I only watch the warehouse scene from that tho lol.

1

SovFist Apr 13, 2026 -45

The trailer makes it look like lanterns didn't even want to be filmed

-45

mikezer0 Apr 13, 2026 +99

He’s 1000 percent right and it’s the actual reason Hollywood production feels so cold these days. It takes a village to make good cinema. All the villagers are destitute these days. And we see it everyday getting worse and worse on our tarnished silver screens.

99

xmagie Apr 14, 2026 +6

It doesn't help that asian dramas and movies are really taking off. Not just Kdramas. I mean, I used to only watch american tv shows but now, those are the exceptions. What did I watch recently from the US? The Malcom in the Middle sequel/reboot (how is it called?), which I loved. Star Trek Picard (there were some good stuff in Seasons 1 and 2 but those were not that great as a whole; I loved season 3, I was fully invested). Star Trek Discovery (I gave up during season 4, I just couldn't go on) and I didn't even bother watching STA. The good surprise: NCIS Origins. Love the 90's vibes. And Star Wars Skeleton Crew, fun adventures. Apart from that, for me, it's all Cdramas and Kdramas. And so many, at least in Europe, have jumped on that wagon. I'm not sure what is going on in Hollywood, but it's not like it used to be.

6

xjeeper Apr 13, 2026 +31

Fucked

31

MammothPosition660 Apr 14, 2026 +6

No he said 'F*cked' apparently

6

MistKingUrth Apr 14, 2026 +1

Fucke\*

1

rnhf Apr 14, 2026 +2

the asterisk can't hurt you

2

CarneyVore14 Apr 13, 2026 +83

MBAs are a plague on society. Been saying it for years.

83

innerShnev Apr 14, 2026 +30

Every single one of my friends whose companies they worked for were bought by private equity immediately had a drop in their quality of life. Smaller teams, longer hours, worse product. Bean-counters are replacing talent all over the country and there's no soul left. They're just trying to squeeze as much juice out of a company for themselves before they sell it off. Despicable.

30

rraattbbooyy Apr 13, 2026 +57

Everyone who signed that letter should simply refuse to work with them.

57

mozzarellaguy Apr 13, 2026 +45

The don’t care. You’ll see shows directed by Kid Rock and Nick Fuentes

45

JessieJ577 Apr 13, 2026 +16

They’re already asking Max Landis for pitches.

16

mozzarellaguy Apr 13, 2026 +5

Who’s that

5

falconpunch9898 Apr 13, 2026 +22

Son of John Landis, the guy who directed the infamous Twilight Zone movie which had a disastrous helicopter stunt that killed a lead actor and two children. Max himself wrote Chronicle and Bright before it came out that he was an emotionally abusive sex pest. Also was the worst RLM guest and he also wrote a horrendously dogshit SCP.

22

LB3PTMAN Apr 13, 2026 +6

One of the shittiest things about awful people getting the just treatment for their crimes is when good people are affected and not getting anymore Dirk Gently sucks. That show was so fun.

6

ryan22788 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Didn’t he also do werewolf in London and the thriller video? Or am I mixing the landis up? Either way, the one you’re describing…absolute c***, and his son too

1

falconpunch9898 Apr 15, 2026 +1

You're correct, John Landis did a TON of shit: Blues Brothers, a few Eddie Murphy comedies, Three Amigos, etc, but I felt it relevant to mention his act of neglect that caused the deaths of three people, including two children. Most accounts say he didn't show any remorse afterwards, so he can get fucked for all I care.

1

Anal_Nectarine Apr 15, 2026 +1

What the f*** are all these acronyms lmao. Just spell out the freaking phrase it’s not that hard.

1

falconpunch9898 Apr 15, 2026 +2

Would take you a single minute to look up either one and understand, but whatever. RLM = Red Letter Media, a YouTube channel that does movie reviews SCP isnt an acronym, but it refers to the SCP Wiki which is a creative writing site concerning a fictional organization that contains paranormal objects.

2

rraattbbooyy Apr 13, 2026 +21

That nobody will watch.

21

mozzarellaguy Apr 13, 2026 +11

And they’ll blame anything but them to pass as victims yet again

11

randomnighmare Apr 14, 2026 +2

It will probably be Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson writing the scripts.

2

Character-Cup8045 Apr 13, 2026 +5

More'll come. It's hollywood, you think that dream's dead for people just because they're gonna get fucked?

5

rraattbbooyy Apr 13, 2026 +6

Lots of huge names on that list, the kind of names that can easily turn down a part for the right cause. Dreamers can do what they gotta do, it’s the big voices that matter.

6

pizzlepullerofkberg Apr 13, 2026 +14

Writing angry letters does nothing. How about not taking any contracts or deals to work with those studios? Actions speak louder than empty words.

14

Deducticon Apr 14, 2026 +8

Of course it does something. If attention is not brought to an issue, how do you even get to the next step you suggest? You just hope that randomly people decide to not do those deals?

8

tamere2k Apr 14, 2026 +2

I’d bet some of the people signing this will do this. They won’t all do it but some people actually will and we need to remember to support the projects those people are in.

2

randomnighmare Apr 13, 2026 +30

And this is just another example of why Netflix was the better option, but a lot of people in Hollywood was 100% against it because they feared theatres were going to close (even though Netflix agreed to air their movies in the theatres for roughly 40+ days)

30

GameMusic Apr 13, 2026 +20

They are idiots Netflix would have had use for Warner Studio physical assets and whether their theater emphasis would stay probably matters way less for the theater industry than they think and this merger may even reduce theater power the same way The people with the biggest reach were directors who cared more about the screen prestige they could have than actual industry

20

Awkward-Baldric Apr 13, 2026 +43

They want to kill art, diversity, creativity and instead allow right wing billionaires to use podcasters like Rogaine to fill our minds.. USA govt is supposed to break monopolies. Meanwhile, the industry is less than half the size even before the merger has been completed. Keep cucking for Trump tho boys!! You might even be invited to the new secret Island one day...

43

Banesmuffledvoice Apr 13, 2026 -51

I can’t really agree with this. Hollywood was a giant monopoly on its own right. The faster it dies, the better it is for art, diversity and creativity.

-51

JoJoIsBestAnimeManga Apr 13, 2026 +16

How the hell is destroying one of the biggest industries for movie and TV creation on the PLANET better for art, diversity, and creativity? How the f*** are all these artists supposed to get work and distribute that work to get paid supposed to do that if the industry implodes on itself? What a pretentious dumbfuck thing to say.

16

muskegthemoose Apr 13, 2026 -6

It's not getting destroyed, it's just moving to other countries like every other industry in America. The best of the creatives from America will get work over there, alongside the best of the creatives in other countries. Diversity and creativity will flourish. The American below-the-liners will go on the ash heap, just like all the other Americans that used to have jobs making stuff in the USA. That would happen if you split up the remaining Hollywood movie studios into 50 different companies. Most Americans have been getting fucked for decades, now it's Hollywood's turn.

-6

Banesmuffledvoice Apr 13, 2026 -14

Hollywood isn't a business driven by art and creativity. They're about pushing a product. Artists will always find a way to get work and get movies made and find a way to get paid. Of course there are artists all over the country, the world who are doing it. Hollywood's issues are due to its own creations. It's not an industry worth saving because there are people who are obsessed with Hollywood culture. It's a perverse, isolated group of people who don't pay shit in taxes, but get everything they want handed to them. Good riddance.

-14

JoJoIsBestAnimeManga Apr 13, 2026 +6

>Hollywood isn't a business driven by art and creativity Thanks Captain Obvious. Im sure nobody but you knew that. Real truthteller shit right here. Hollywood being a business still means its a massively influential and useful avenue for artists to get work and get their creations distributed to the masses. >Artists will always find a way to get work and get movies made and find a way to get paid. No, artists will not always find a way to get movies made. Movies are a very expensive endeavor. Artists still need to pay their bills, they still need funding for their works, when they dont have the necessary finances and connections to make their movies they often give up because they still have responsibilities outside of their art they need to focus on when the money they make from their art isn't keeping up with their expenses. If the industry straight up imploded like you're begging for, not only are the Artists fucked, but so are the people in the background that are supposed to get work from these movies being made. >Hollywood's issues are due to its own creations. It's not an industry worth saving because there are people who are obsessed with Hollywood culture. It's a perverse, isolated group of people who don't pay shit in taxes, but get everything they want handed to them. Good riddance. Im not even gonna bother dissecting this drivel. This is just petty, foolish personal shit that has little to do with the very real struggles people will experience if this industry gets more fucked. Real wanker problems when thousands of people are gonna be out of jobs from these decisions, and you're here going off about stupid culture war shit. F*** off, man.

6

SellaraAB Apr 13, 2026 +2

A huge pool of creatives working for dozens of studios is a monopoly?

2

randomnighmare Apr 14, 2026 +2

>A huge pool of creatives working for dozens of studios is a monopoly? What dozens of studios are still left? Let's see the big studios, like 30 years ago 1. Disney 2. 20th Century FOX/FOX 3. Paramount 4. WB 5. MGM 6. Universal Studios 7. Columbia Pictures/SONY Let's see who is still around: 1. Disney 2. Paramount 3. WB 4. Columbia Pictures/SONY 5. Universal Studios

2

Shebalied Apr 13, 2026 -34

It really is. It is bots who are pushing all this shit.

-34

thirstygregory Apr 13, 2026 +14

Why did they wait so long to do this?

14

Sammyd1108 Apr 13, 2026 +18

I just can’t get over all these people staying quiet until Paramount actually won the right to buy WB. They didn’t they voice these concerns during the bidding war that may have actually swayed shareholders because they were so against Netflix. Except Netflix would’ve been so much better for the industry overall, even if it meant a few less films in theaters every year.

18

ICXPDQ Apr 13, 2026 +2

Entertainment needs to change, that's for sure. Maybe it's ripe and ready to be reseeded. It's all about the money, anyway, regardless of what talent and producers say. The heavys' at the helm have to make money to keep investors happy.

2

Pretend_Spray_11 Apr 14, 2026 +2

James Cameron been real quiet lately

2

clashrendar Apr 13, 2026 +6

The real expense isn't the blue collar workers, it's the executives getting paid huge amounts first. Insanely unbalanced executive pay is destroying everything.

6

0rganicMach1ne Apr 14, 2026 +4

Corporate consolidation = enshitification.

4

Roll-Roll-Roll Apr 13, 2026 +2

Can SAG refuse to work with them or something? This petition is a far cry from an actionable threat.

2

firedrakes Apr 13, 2026 +3

nope that would be illegal under usa law.

3

Roll-Roll-Roll Apr 13, 2026 +3

Why? They're a union. I'm not saying it would be easy to get support for it, but that's literally how you leverage a union.

3

firedrakes Apr 13, 2026 +1

dock worker case. recently. sag would not even try to do that for fear of losing like the dock worker court case.

1

Livueta_Zakalwe Apr 14, 2026 +1

I think it’s time for the biggest, most popular, best and richest directors - Spielberg, Scorsese, Nolan, PTA, etc - to form a new studio, just like the biggest stars in Hollywood formed United Artists in the 20s. Then get Netflix to give them a boatload of $$$ for say 40% of the new studio. Retain complete creative control, with promises to never use AI for writing or actors.

1

Waste_Situation7390 Apr 13, 2026

Apple needs to get involved.

0

muskegthemoose Apr 13, 2026 +2

They already are.

2

JJB46 Apr 14, 2026

All those actors are overpaid anyways

0

kuhpunkt Apr 14, 2026 +3

What are you talking about?

3

JSLANYC Apr 14, 2026

Fincher is such a hypocrite to sign that.

0

bluenoser613 Apr 14, 2026 -3

LOL. Waste of time. This merger is paid for by Trump offshore handlers. It is intended to silence everyone.

-3

WilliamEmmerson Apr 13, 2026 -9

Where was all this resistance when Disney bought Fox?

-9

pitrole Apr 13, 2026 -7

They should sell the company to Netflix instead, that’s a very pro blue-collar company.

-7

[deleted] Apr 13, 2026 -1

[deleted]

-1

kuhpunkt Apr 13, 2026 +1

What are you on about?

1

ahmad_je Apr 14, 2026 -1

I want karma to posting 🤨

-1

“They’re All About To Get F*cked”: Damon Lindelof Reveals Blue-Collar Reason He Signed Anti-Paramount/WBD Merger Missive

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