One Streamer to Rule Them All? Netflix’s deal to buy WB

Introduction

On December 5th, it was announced that Netflix had secured a deal to purchase parts of Warner Bros. Discovery, with a total value of $82.7 billion. This has major implications for the overall film and television industry, and there are a lot of factors in play.

For our purposes, we’re going to try to dissect what it means for fans of The Lord of the Rings, particularly the Peter Jackson films, which includes The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, released in 2024, and the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum film, currently slated for a 2027 release (We’re going to call these the “Jackson films” going forward for simplicity).

What is the deal?

According to news sources, Netflix will purchase Warner Bros. film studio and streaming service, which is likely to include three divisions: Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, and Warner Bros. Streaming. New Line Cinemas, which owns the Jackson films, falls into the first division, while HBO Max falls into the third division.

At least one source also mentions this would include Warner Bros. Games, meaning Netflix would also own the Shadow of War game series (Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War), including its proprietary Nemesis System. Other LOTR-related games are licensed through Middle-earth Enterprises separately.

When does the deal take place?

The finalization of the deal is contingent on the plan to split up Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed from a merger between WB and Discovery back in 2022. It is expected that this split will finalize in Summer or Fall of 2026, after which Netflix can acquire the filming and streaming pieces of the split conglomerate, as long as there aren’t any regulatory issues presented by the government. This means it is not likely that the deal will be finalized until early 2027.

Where can we still watch the Jackson films?

At least until the deal is finalized in 2027, the Jackson films should continue to be available for streaming on HBO Max, including the Extended Editions. According to at least one source, Zaslav told employees that HBO Max “will stay,” although what that means post-2027 is unclear. It could be that HBO Max stays its own streaming service and is bundled with Netflix as two separate subscription services. Or it could follow the Disney + Hulu form where HBO Max exists as a brand within the Netflix app. Any significant changes to the streaming services are probably at least another 2-3 years away.

What does it mean for The Hunt for Gollum?

The Hunt for Gollum is slated to release Dec 17th, 2027, with filming taking place in 2026. According to at least one mainstream news source, WB plans to move forward with releasing its current slate of 2026 films. Furthermore, from Netflix’s own official announcement, there is not any indication of a major restructure of WB post-acquisition: “Netflix expects to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.”. This would indicate that WB’s leadership will maintain its operations post-acquisition in 2027, including its operations on theatrical release date and post-production of The Hunt for Gollum.

What does this mean for the future of The Jackson Films?

While New Line Cinema owns the Jackson films, it is licensed through a deal with Middle-earth Enterprises (MEE), owned by the Embracer Group. On February 23rd, 2023, New Line Cinema and MEE announced they had reached an agreement on a multi-year deal to continue to make films associated with the Jackson film universe; this included both The War of the Rohirrim released in 2024, and the previously mentioned The Hunt for Gollum.

The exact details of this deal (as in, how many years or how many films it is for) is not yet known, but since it covers through to at least the end of 2027, it does mean that through its WB acquisition, Netflix would be party to the deal with MEE. However, given that Netflix intends to maintain WB operations for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t seem likely that Netflix operations would be directly involved in any future LOTR film productions post-The Hunt for Gollum, not unless they reorganize WB operations.

Does this affect The Rings of Power in any way? 

At this time this should have no effect on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is covered by an entirely different deal that Amazon MGM Studios has with The Tolkien Estate, Middle-earth Enterprises, New Line Cinema and Wētā Workshop.

However, one could theorize that once The Rings of Power has ended, or The Hunt for Gollum has been released to cinemas, WB under Netflix would continue to want to make films in the Jackon films universe.

So, to summarize: 

• Warner Bros Discovery will split off by Fall 2026, with WB film production and streaming services becoming its own company.
  • Discovery Global becomes a separate company with the cable networks portions (TNT, TLC, CNN).
• Then Netflix would buy the WB company for a currently estimated value of $82.7 Billion, finalizing at the latest in early-to-mid 2027.
• WB will maintain its internal operations structure, including HBO Max; it will just be folded into Netflix as a subsidiary.
• The Jackson films will remain available through HBO Max, it’s just a question of how HBO Max is folded into Netflix (either a bundled service, or a brand within Netflix).
• At least until the acquisition is complete, any future LOTR productions in the Jackson films universe will be decided via WB/New Line Cinema as part of their ongoing deal with Middle-earth Enterprises.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will continue to be produced and released by WB, tentatively December, 17th 2027.
• Netflix will get rights to the Middle-earth: Shadow of War series and its patented Nemesis system.
• This does not currently impact production or release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Conclusion:

For now, everything will stay as is, the earliest indication of changes will happen after the Warner Bros. Discovery split in mid-2026, followed by the finalization of Netflix’s purchase in early 2027. After that, WB may continue to run operationally as is for another year or two before the leadership at Netflix decides to restructure the organization.

BREAKING: Paramount has put in a bid of $108.4B dollars to purchase WB, more than Netflix’s offer. Should this be the offer WB goes with, Netflix would clearly not get any of the Lord of the Rings rights owned by WB.