If Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. goes through, the legendary Hollywood studio will maintain its 45-day windows of theatrical exclusivity, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Friday. The specific commitment to a traditional theatrical window flies in the face of speculation that this deal would dramatically decrease the time Warner Bros. movies are in theaters before they hit streaming, which theater owners and rival studios argue could kill the theatrical business.
Sarandos committed to a 45-day window in an interview with the New York Times, his first since Netflix announced its intention to buy Warner Bros.’ film and studios business.
“When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk. We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows,” he said. “I’m giving you a hard number. If we’re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.”
This stands in contrast to Sarandos’ comments in December, when he said Netflix would still be committed to Warner Bros.’ theatrical output but noted that windows would “evolve.”
In Friday’s NYT interview, Sarandos said that once Netflix got a look at Warner Bros.’ books and began seriously thinking about the acquisition, the numbers on theatrical were better than he anticipated.
“The general economics of the theatrical business were more positive than we had seen and we had modeled for ourselves,” he admitted. “It’s a healthy, profitable business for them. We weren’t in that business not because we hated it. We weren’t in that business because our business was doing so well.”
He also said that Netflix and Warner Bros. will be releasing more movies together than they would separately, indicating that the number of movies produced overall will go up — although how that splits between streaming releases and theatrical releases is unclear.
The co-CEO walked back his past comments that rankled theater owners, contending that he has a “great relationship” with them. He also emphasized that Netflix’s deal is better overall for the industry’s health, citing the job losses that would result from Paramount’s proposed $6 billion in “cost savings” following the acquisition of Warner Bros.
Sarandos also said explicitly that Netflix’s acquisition will keep HBO “completely intact” and keep Warner Bros. Television “producing television,” aiming to quell concerns about consolidation on the TV side.
The initial reaction to Netflix’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. was intensely negative from many in the industry, with theater owners in particular worried that the streamer would cut WB’s theatrical window down to 17 days.
As TheWrap reported, there is a growing recognition inside Netflix that a theatrical component is a necessity for a streaming-first movie business.
Tension between Netflix and exhibitors has always been over windows, or the amount of time a movie is exclusively available in theaters before it’s on streaming. Netflix keeps them short, if they exist at all, and theaters prioritize titles from studios that keep their movies off streaming and PVOD for longer.
But if Sarandos is true to his word here, this is great news for theater owners and people like Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who are coming off a hot streak in 2025 that saw a slew of original films and IP hit big at the box office.
With, yes, a 45-day theatrical window for each.