Warner/Discovery

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by mwynn

Seems like only one person knew the plan, and was not sharing it with anyone else.

To be fair, Kevin Feige admitted of doing the same. He would plan things in his head and wouldn't tell anyone, but I think he did it smartly. Which is probably one of the reasons why he clashed with Ike Perlmutter. Which makes sense because I remember when it was confirmed that Iron Man would be Civil War, and Ike Perlmutter was still like, WTF!? He really didn't want Iron Man to be there because it was too expensive.

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

To be fair, Kevin Feige admitted of doing the same. He would plan things in his head and wouldn't tell anyone, but I think he did it smartly. Which is probably one of the reasons why he clashed with Ike Perlmutter. Which makes sense because I remember when it was confirmed that Iron Man would be Civil War, and Ike Perlmutter was still like, WTF!? He really didn't want Iron Man to be there because it was too expensive.

That is fine for Kevin, he is the guiding influence not a creator.

For Snyder to be the only one knowing the plan, and not sharing it is an issue. Which is why he kept clashing with everyone except probably Jim Lee.
Jim is a creative and could keep things to himself in the past.

[mwynn]

Shakeups already happening.

https://deadline.com/2021/05/hollywo...av-1234758654/

Warner Bros had already reached a deal with Regal Cinemas to restore 45-day theatrical windows in 2022 before titles go to streaming. Dune, the high-profile Denis Villeneuve sci-fi remake out this fall, will test the new pattern sooner than planned, according to multiple sources. It will premiere in Venice in September ahead of an October theatrical run, with HBO Max availability coming at a to-be-determined date after that.

[John1701D]

Good.

[Rayjg]

This is surreal after reading that WSJ article on Kilar over the weekend. It’s like watching a Stalinist purge.

[MazeRunner]

Suicide Squad next please

[Chedwiggen]

This mess was not created by Snyder or his Justice League cut. Warner's and AT&T did this all on their own. Just curious with Warner's releasing their slate of new movies on HBOmax, has anyone found any of them to be impressive so far because I know I haven't?

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

This mess was not created by Snyder or his Justice League cut. Warner's and AT&T did this all on their own. Just curious with Warner's releasing their slate of new movies on HBOmax, has anyone find any of them to be impressive so far because I know I haven't?

The mess was started when AT&T tried to use Warner to dig out of their debt.

[John1701D]

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

This mess was not created by Snyder or his Justice League cut. Warner's and AT&T did this all on their own. Just curious with Warner's releasing their slate of new movies on HBOmax, has anyone found any of them to be impressive so far because I know I haven't?

No, not a one has been great. Just watched Those Who Wish Me Dead and it wasn't good either.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by John1701D

Good.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

How the **** did Disney spend more on Fox than Discovery merging with WB?

Bidding war against Comcast.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

This mess was not created by Snyder or his Justice League cut. Warner's and AT&T did this all on their own. Just curious with Warner's releasing their slate of new movies on HBOmax, has anyone found any of them to be impressive so far because I know I haven't?

I never said that the Snyder cut started this. What I meant was, I heard that the rest of the company didn't agree with the CEO on greenliting the Snyder cut. This is why I keep saying there were too many cooks in the kitchen over at WB. Everyone there seems to have their own egos, which may be causing poor management.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by John1701D

No, not a one has been great. Just watched Those Who Wish Me Dead and it wasn't good either.

I wrote a life-long friend and told him "Those Who Wish Me Dead" was terrible. The screenplay and the editing...just trash. The editing felt like the film was trying to get off stage as soon as possible, which maybe is a mercy. I didn't believe a frame of it.

[HockeySlasher]

Originally Posted by Rodney-2187

AT&T only sold a small percentage of Warner Media to Discovery in the merger? They plan on selling the rest off later on, possibly to Comcast?

They may not be interested, but I wonder if someone like Apple would take the bait.

They have a HUGE war chest... and while I have enjoyed the content on Apple TV+, they need to keep adding content... and unlike most other streamers, Apple lacks the back library.

Now, do they want to get involved in this hot mess, probably not. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if they at least kick the tires.

[HockeySlasher]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Bidding war against Comcast.

And, ATT is, at the moment, retaining 71% controlling interest.

[vertigop1ayer]

And just as that shiny new blue-and-white WB logo starting making its way onto content.

Hope they go back to the more elegant golden logo they used for so long. That's the most critical thing in all of this.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Bidding war against Comcast.

No because even before Comcast it cost somewhere between $50-60 million for Disney to buy 20th Century Fox. Which is still more than Discovery buying WB.

[kemcha]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

How the **** did Disney spend more on Fox than Discovery merging with WB?

Uh, I don't know if you missed that fight but that was actually Comcast's doing. Some of the others might remember but I believe Disney started out at around $52.4b offer for Fox's assets, as they were being sold off from Murdoch's empire. It was soon after that Comcast jumped into the fray because they wanted Fox Studio's massive movie and television series catalog for their own streaming service, Peacock.

Then, it became a back and forth tug of war as Comcast became Fox's stalking horse, forcing Disney into a frenzied bidding war with Comcast. It played out more like an episode of Jerry Springer as the two media giants went back and forth between each other until the bid for Fox's assets reached a staggering $71.3b winning bid.

I imagine Disney wasn't all that happy that someone had forced them into this bidding war with Comcast and they ended up paying far more for Fox then they wanted. Disney's motivation was that it wanted the rights to "Star Wars", the first movie George Lucas had produced for 21st Century Fox, not to mention regaining the rights to Fantastic Four, The X-Men and other miscellaneous franchises like Avatar, Predator and Aliens. But, Disney might have a new legal fight on its hands as the original creators for Predator are suing Disney to get the rights back for the franchise. Just like with Terminator, the rights to Predator could revert back to the original creators of that franchise.

But, the fight over 20th Century Fox was well publicized and while I'm not getting into the specifics of it here, I'm just highlighting on the core of the bidding war/fight over those assets. Comcast eventually lost the fight but the damage was already done, Comcast ended up forcing Disney into greater debt in forcing the House of Mouse to pay $20b more for the studio then they had to.

While Comcast's bid was higher, Fox went with Disney because they thought that Comcast would have a bigger fight in getting federal regulators to agree to the merger. THAT is still up for the courts to decide because the last I heard, there is at least one shareholder who is still contesting the sale of 20th Century Fox to Disney for the Fox CEO allegedly violating fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders and investors.

I also know that after the purchase was finalized, that's about when the pandemic hit and Disney was forced to take out billions in loans from European investors.

That's about all I know and I'm no financial expert on this. I just remember all of the news coverage from Arstechnica, Techdirt and the mainstream media.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by HockeySlasher

And, ATT is, at the moment, retaining 71% controlling interest.

71% of shareholders are getting stock, which they can divest at any time. AT&T itself is done with Warner Bros., pending approval of the sale (which could be a regulatory logjam, but I figure it will pass). Shareholders can do what they want. That's a very diverse group of interests. That in no way says AT&T is retaining a 71% interest. That's up to the shareholders, it's not AT&T. That's shareholders. Two different things.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by vertigop1ayer

And just as that shiny new blue-and-white WB logo starting making its way onto content.

Hope they go back to the more elegant golden logo they used for so long. That's the most critical thing in all of this.

Hopefully we can get WarnerMediaDiscovery, then we'll know where those WMDs are ...