Warner Bros. Discovery Could Start Discussions to Merge or Sell Very Soon

There's been a lot of news about Warner Bros. Discovery lately ranging from their development deal with Tom Cruise to erasing various projects for tax credits. There have been rumors over the past few months that the company could be sold, and a new report suggests a merger or sale could be coming very soon. Variety shared a lot of news about Warner Bros. Discovery today, including the big budget for Joker: Folie A Deux, and teased a possible change for the company. 

According to the report, Warner Bros. Discovery can "entertain offers to buy, sell or merge" starting in April, which is when the two-year lock-up period that was as part of the deal between WarnerMedia and Discovery ends. NBCUniversal was name-dropped in the article as a potential buyer, and it was said that people who work for Warner Bros. Discovery suspect a deal is on the horizon.

Variety uses examples such as the recent first-look deal between the studio and Margot Robbie's LuckyChap as a move that's "akin to painting a house before it hits the market." With productions like Joker 2 spending lots of money on huge names like Lady Gaga, it's being argued that "spending big is essential" when releasing a film in theaters.

"There's only so much top talent in Hollywood, and it's very competitive and stretched thin because a lot of talent have deals in streaming," Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations explained to Variety. "If theatrical is going to work, you need the A-lister like Tom and Leo, and Warner Bros. is spending what they need to spend to keep this talent."

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy "seem unwilling to push back on talent asks" as a potential merger becomes more likely. "Despite the pressure to acquiesce to demands from top talent, De Luca and Abdy can still say no," Variety writes. 

"The bottom line is they need to get DC to work whether [David] Zaslav owns it, whether Brian Roberts owns it, whether somebody else owns it," LightShed's Rich Greenfield, a Wall Street analyst and venture capitalist, explained back in October while speaking with Variety. 

The article from October also explained that there is confusion regarding who is calling the shots for DC Studios. James Gunn and Peter Safran are the co-CEOs of DC Studios, but Max also has a hand in the creative. However, a Max source stated that the collaboration between Gunn, Safran, and Max executives Sarah Aubrey and Casey Bloy has been seamless so far.

Stay tuned for more updates about Warner Bros. Discovery.