Warner Bros. Discovery to spend more than $1 billion downsizing
The company’s recent acquisition of a collection of TV and film properties has led to a move to consolidate the organization’s assets into seven production studios.
Warner Bros. has agreed to spend over $1 billion to downsize and consolidate the organization’s assets.
The company is in the process of acquiring a collection of TV and film properties—a move that means the company will not only shut down its current TV and film studio lot and shut down its film studio, but also is moving film projects to the old Warner Bros. studio lot.
The deal, dubbed the “Merger of equals,” is being done on the back of Warners’ recent $3,500 million acquisition of the film and TV assets of Village Roadshow, the UK franchise distributor of horror anthology shows.
The deal, and the merger of equals to which it pertains, has been met with a mixed reaction from both sides, with Warner Bros. announcing the move as a positive step in the company’s move for a more efficient, unified structure for all of its film and TV properties while Village Roadshow, which is best known for the Twilight series, is reportedly livid at the merger.
An “amicable” resolution was reached with Village Roadshow in the wake of the merger, with the latter agreeing to hand over the film and TV assets it owns to Warners, but Warners is having a hard time gaining approval for its acquisition of Hollywood studio property Village Roadshow. Village Roadshow will now be part of Warner Bros. and will be shuttered.
In a statement, Village Roadshow chief executive James LeGros said in part:
“This merger is a long time coming. Our goal from the beginning was always to create a structure that allowed us to grow while the company continued to thrive and develop.”
“This merger will not only save both [Warner Bros.] and Village Roadshow valuable resources, it will also create a truly collaborative studio that understands the needs of all studios.”
Warner Bros. declined to comment on the details of the merger or the fact that two separate entities are involved, but a company representative did confirm that the goal with the merger is to centralize the company’s assets.
The “merger of equals” comes at a time when Warner Bros. is undergoing a re-organization as well, with Warner Bros. is looking to downsize its film division
