Ted Sarandos is now pissed at James Cameron for writing a letter to the U.S. Senate warning against a potential Netflix‑Warner Bros. merger.
“I am particularly surprised and disappointed that James chose to be part of the Paramount disinformation campaign that’s been going on for months about this deal,” the Netflix co‑CEO told Fox Business.
Yesterday, Cameron penned a scathing letter to Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on antitrust. In the letter, Cameron claimed that a Netflix‑WBD merger would quickly turn the theatrical industry into a “sinking ship.”
I don’t know what Sarandos was thinking in accusing the world’s most successful commercial filmmaker of being part of a “disinformation campaign,” but if that’s the hill he wants to die on then sure, why not?
Then again, it’s not like Cameron will ever have any of his future projects land at Netflix. Over the years, the filmmaker has been highly critical of Netflix’s seeming allergy to theatrical rollouts, even before the Warner Bros. deal went on sale — criticizing the streamer’s limited theatrical strategies and its reported remarks that theatrical films are an “outmoded idea,” which he views as harmful to cinema.
Meanwhile, Sarandos continues to say that he swore under oath about his commitment to have 45‑day theatrical windows for all Warner Bros. movies, and even went a step further on Thursday by saying it would include a shipment to PVOD before it becomes available to stream on HBO Max. “I have talked about that commitment in the press, countless times,” Sarandos said. “I swore under oath in front of the Senate subcommittee on antitrust that that’s what we were doing.”
Of course, there are plenty of people who don’t believe him, but others are starting to warm up to his promises. A recent WoR poll, with nearly 1,000 votes tabulated, found that only 22% of our readers believe Sarandos’ theatrical promises, with 78% convinced he was lying.
The man doesn't stop. James Gunn has confirmed he's already hard at work writing his next film, even as ‘Man of Tomorrow’ makes its way toward theaters next summer.