The bidding war that involved Netflix, Paramount, Comcast, Amazon, and Apple ended on December 5th, with Netflix striking a deal to buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion, which included the studio, HBO/HBO Max, and Warner Games, while leaving out cable and sports assets, including CNN, TNT Sports, and the Discovery channels.

A few days later, Paramount Skydance tried to force its way into the arrangement, announcing a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion in cash. Yet, Warner Bros. is now preparing to reject that offer and advising shareholders to favor their existing deal with Netflix instead, citing that Netflix and its deal bring better value, certainty, and economic terms as opposed to Paramount Skydance’s cash bid. Warner Bros.’ board sees the Netflix arrangement as superior, despite Paramount Skydance’s higher offer.

The certitude in choosing Netflix has brewed controversy, as many moviegoers and theater owners have expressed concern about what this deal means for the future of theatrical film distribution. In response, Netflix CEOs have vowed to continue releasing new movies to theaters, citing in a letter addressed to Netflix employees that stated, “We haven’t prioritized theatrical in the past because that wasn’t our business at Netflix,” painting this as a strategic pivot rather than an attempt to monopolize media, saying that “When this deal closes, we will be in that business.”

However, this deal has still drawn criticism from lawmakers, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who commented on the deal and said it would “create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market.” This implies that the deal may be regulated in the future, depending on how it performs when evaluated against antitrust laws.

The arrangement is not yet finalized, as of current, only being a definitive agreement still subject to regulatory approval and shareholder votes, so specific details surrounding it are still subject to change.