Depending on your perspective, Netflix’s $83 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery ’s studio and streaming businesses can be understood as either the sum of all Hollywood fears, an unexpected boon to film lovers everywhere, or the ultimate case of dog catching car. In the view of the movie theater industry trade association Cinema United , the deal — which is still pending regulatory approval and would not go into effect until Q3 next year — represents a death blow to multiplexes. “The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business. The negative impact of this acquisition will impact theaters from the biggest circuits to one-screen independents in small towns in the United States and around the world,” Cinema United

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