Mailbag! 'Star Wars' and Soderbergh, the Best Home for Warner Bros., and Netflix vs. Theaters.

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0:38Give your outdoor space a glow up. Whatever your budget is, the savings on seasonal plants starting at$5. With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party. Start celebrating with low prices guaranteed at The Home Depot. Prices may vary by store. Exclusions apply. See Home Depot.com slash price match for details. It is Wednesday, November 5th. It's been a while since we've done a mailbag episode, a town hall, as we call them. Craig, this is the day. I'm out of town this week, so we were recording in advance. We asked for some reader input, some questions on the twitter.com slash X, and people delivered.

1:18They sent us some questions. I actually had a couple that I've been sitting around, sitting in my computer, waiting for just this moment. Yeah, thanks to everybody who's sending their questions. I have a few from myself as well. So let's get right into it. The first question is actually from me because you haven't talked about this yet on The Town and I want you to as the keeper of secrets for Star Wars. What is your take on the Steven Soderbergh hunt for Ben Solo Star Wars situation? Good question. And I actually knew about this and I knew that they were frustrated in advance. I was not allowed to say anything.

1:52So can you set the stage for people who don't know? Yeah. So this is a script that Steven Soderbergh was working on with Adam Driver, which tells the untold story of what happened to Ben Solo, who is Kylo Ren and who famously, spoiler alert, died in the rise of Skywalker. What happened to him is that he died. He did die. So they wrote this whole script and Kathy Kennedy at Lucasfilm was excited to do it. And they went down the road for a while. They like did revisions and the whole thing. And it went up to the Disney powers that be, which are Alan Bergman at the film studio and Bob Iger. who runs the whole company.

2:30And they basically said, yeah, not really going to do that and said no to them. So Soderbergh and Adam Driver decided to go public. And Driver did an interview with the AP and basically blamed the film studio for not doing the movie that they wanted to do. And I think they think that the fan backlash might impact the ability of this movie to happen. I don't think that's how studios work, especially when you're dealing with billion dollar franchises. They just didn't want to make the movie. On one side, part of me is like Bob Iger and Alan Bergman have a point because their main complaint, according to Soderbergh and Driver, was that they didn't see how Ben Solo was alive.

3:12And that was that. And what was the big criticism of Rise of Skywalker? Palpatine came back. Yeah, they brought back the emperor who was dead. So they're going to do that all over again? I mean, listen, Soderbergh's an amazing filmmaker. Like, I would love to see a Steven Soderbergh Star Wars movie. I think Adam Driver, obviously awesome movie. Not really a huge star at the box office, though. It's not like Ryan Gosling, who is also making a Star Wars movie and is a big value add for the box office. When was the last time Steven Soderbergh had a mainstream box office hit? Like the Oceans movies?

3:46Magic Mike? So you don't see this turning around in any way? Because Soderbergh did this under his own volition. This was not commissioned by Disney for him to write the script, correct? No, but Kathy knew about it. Kathy Kennedy at Lucasfilm knew about it. And she was very excited about it from everything I have heard. But Kathy gets excited about lots of things. She was excited about Benioff and Weiss, the Game of Thrones guys, doing a Star Wars movie. She's excited about Taika Waititi doing one. She's been excited about this Daisy Ridley movie that we've talked about that, you know, has been around for three, four years now and is not officially greenlit.

4:19so she gets excited about a lot and then they you know have debates at lucasfilm and they have debates at the bigger film studio and they you know they haven't had a movie for six years and there's a reason like the whole place is dysfunctional and kathy from everything i've heard kathy often doesn't know what she wants or she wants something one day and then another thing the next week so you know she's she's also got one foot out the door she's leaving soon So it's not a surprise that Iger and Bergman would say no to this. So you don't think there's anything else going on here other than Iger and Bergman truly thought logistically the story just didn't make sense?

4:57I have not read the script, so I don't know that. It may not even be a story or execution thing. It may just be a business decision. We don't believe there is audience appetite for a Ben Solo movie. We don't believe Adam Driver is enough of a box office draw to make this worthwhile. We don't believe Steven Soderbergh has a mainstream commercial bone in his body still, even though he has in the past. He's mostly been making smaller movies. He officially retired a few years ago, too. So look at what they're doing. They're doing Mandalorian and Grogu with Jon Favreau. Boom. Biggest franchise they've had on Disney Plus, turning it into a movie.

5:36Very safe bet. They're doing a Starfighter movie with Ryan Gosling starring and Sean Levy directing. Like, okay, that makes sense. It's a big commercial play from a commercial filmmaker with a real star. They're not going to, like, take a flyer on a Star Wars movie. Now, should they? Is that how you get interesting IP-driven movies like Barbie and some of these other movies that have been interesting and higher quality? Maybe. They've got to take some risks. somewhere. Because they described, or Soderbergh, or Driver described the script, of course, again, because they're trying to drum up, you know, outrage online.

6:15They called it, they said the script was economical, handmade, and character-driven in the spirit of Empire Strikes Back. So maybe it was a little bit smaller. They wanted to make it a little bit more affordable. But what, I guess that's hard to do when you're nine Star Wars in and they need to make something that's going to make a billion dollars and not something that feels smaller. Yeah, well, it's not hard to do. They could do it if they wanted to do it. But that is not what Disney wants to do with Star Wars. They don't want to make Empire Strikes Back. They want to make The Force Awakens that has the callbacks and has the big moments and has something for everybody.

6:45And like, that's just, it's just not the business they're in. So I wish they were. I wish I would love to see this movie. I hope maybe someday AI, they'll do a deal with an AI company where they can make that movie. Yeah. On showrunner, you'll be able to do that. So as a fan, you weren't disappointed? No. I mean, listen, I'm sort of numb to the various ups and downs of the Star Wars development track. When there is an actual production happening in London, I then become interested. Until then, it's all noise. There are more leaks and rumors about Star Wars than every other franchise combined. And Kathy doesn't help herself because she's so wishy-washy on this stuff.

7:23But she's burned a lot of people. There's a lot of creatives around town that have been absolutely burned by Lucasfilm. So they talk. So let's move on. I'm already getting angry. Okay. All right. This next question is from Mark. He asks, between Netflix and Paramount, which is the more preferred outcome to buy Warner Brothers from the perspective of the talent community? Oh, God. Sophie's choice there. I mean, that's an interesting one because it's more nuanced than that. Because Netflix is not interested in the channels business that Warner's has. They would have to be able to only buy the studios and streaming side, which is HBO and the Warner Brothers Studio.

8:02Paramount, in their offers right now, they're willing to take on the channels. So that's a different thing. But from the talent's perspective, I mean, I think you got to probably go with Paramount. Oh, interesting. I was going to say the opposite. No, see, at least Ellison is talking about keeping the studios separate. He's saying they'll both be Skydance Corporation, but Warner's will still release 15 movies a year and the staffs will be separate. there'll be some overlap but not much. Netflix literally wants to shut down HBO and ingest the IP and make shows based on the IP and Warner Brothers would essentially go away.

8:42So that's the nightmare scenario, I think, which is also why regulatory problems would be bigger for Netflix. I mean, if you look at the landscape, the Department of Justice would have to approve this deal. And you're looking in the streaming space. Netflix is number one. HBO Max is like, what, number four? So you would have the number one and number four in the market combining, which is a lot different than having the number four and what is Paramount Plus, number five or number six in the market. Yeah, but with Paramount, you're combining Paramount Studios and Warner Brothers Studios. You're eliminating an entire studio.

9:19Yeah, but Netflix is a studio. Netflix is a bigger studio than Paramount or Warner's at this point. But not in terms of theaters. Oh, and not in terms of movie theaters. No, but in terms of of like money they spend. And, you know, yeah, Warner's has that gigantic library. That's the other thing that the analyst Peter Supino made this point, which he's been on the show. He wrote, if Netflix buys Warner Discovery, then almost 20 % of the history of American filmmaking and a massive repository at HBO of premium television leaves the licensing market forever. Meaning the library of this company just gets swallowed up by Netflix, which doesn't license out its titles to other people.

9:59So it just hoards all of them on one platform, which is going to have a big, big impact on the market. which is another reason why I think Netflix would have a regulatory problem here. So the answer there is neither is what the talent community wants, but I do think that they would prefer Paramount over Netflix if the offers were put next to each other. So last week in your newsletter, you wrote about the possibility of Comcast and Netflix splitting Warner Brothers Discovery. This is what you wrote in your newsletter. The most tantalizing and weirdly persistent rumor has Comcast teaming with Netflix to jointly buy Warner Brothers Discovery, then carve it up into HBO and the cable networks for Comcast, and then the studio and its IP for Netflix.

10:41So just generally, how would that work? So HBO and then all the cable channels, TNT, TBS, CNN, those all go to Comcast and Peacock, and then the Warner Brothers movie library and the Warner Brothers IP, like DC, Dune, all that stuff goes to Netflix. Yes. And there's big problems with that. Namely, that Comcast has said that they're not really interested in more cable channels. They're currently in the middle of splitting off their cable channels into Versant. So maybe there would be some scenario where those cable channels would then go to Versant or elsewhere. Versant has also sort of indicated that they're not interested in more cable channels.

11:18So the problem with that scenario is I'm not sure where the cable channels go. But if you look at it, these two companies want different things out of Warner Discovery. Comcast needs to merge to grow larger in streaming. Peacock is 41 million customers, only U.S., not a scaled business. They're looking at HBO Max and salivating over, you know, 150 million subs worldwide, a truly global business and quality shows that really complement the sports assets that come from NBC Sports. So that together makes sense. Totally. They don't necessarily need Warner Brothers and all of its movie projects and TV projects.

12:00They might want to have them, but they already have a studio. They have Universal Pictures. They have IP. They have parks. They have all this other stuff. And maybe it's more valuable to Netflix to have the studio go over there. They can use the IP to make movies and TV shows, shut down the theatrical distribution or do it minimally and really get value out of that library, which they will forever have on Netflix. So that it kind of makes sense. I don't know how they would work together on some kind of a deal. Netflix has hired bankers now. They are looking at the assets. We believe that Comcast is looking at the assets.

12:37I am still not convinced that anyone is going to make a significant bid on this company except Paramount. We will see. There may be the Middle East buyer. There may be Amazon and these two. Do you think this is, I guess this seems a little unlikely maybe, but do you think this is the best case scenario? That Warner Brothers is split between Comcast and Netflix rather than Paramount gobbling up the entire thing? Well, if Netflix buys Warner Brothers Studio, that is pretty much curtains for the Warner Brothers theatrical movies. Is that right? You think it's totally implausible that if Netflix got acquired the Warner Brothers Studio and the Warner Brothers library that it's implausible that Ted Sarandos would allow the Warner Brothers studio to remain its own thing and release movies theatrically?

13:25Why would he do that? The whole point is that they become Netflix property. The library goes onto Netflix. They are able to mine the IP for new movies that will play on Netflix. It's not our model. Remember, Craig, over and over, he says, it's not our model. Theaters are not our model. Maybe they change their tune. Maybe they decide that there are five Warner Brothers movies every year that deserve movie theaters because they can make us$500 million and that's good business. And then everything else goes to Netflix. I don't think they see it that way. I think he sees the bigger the movie and the more likely it will do well in theaters, the bigger it will be on Netflix.

14:04So why don't we just put it on Netflix? How would this even work? Like if this split happened, if somebody wanted to make a Game of Thrones movie and the Warner Brothers assets are split between, if HBO is owned by Comcast, but the Warner Brothers assets are owned by Netflix, who gets access to Game of Thrones first or Harry Potter? You'd have to work that out. It depends where the HBO library goes. I would assume if HBO is acquired by Comcast, the HBO library would go to Comcast. And there's a lot of shows that are produced by Warner Brothers Television and air on HBO. perhaps those would go to the studio and go to Netflix, but it's just like any other sale when rights are entangled up.

14:46You just have to work it out on every single title. I'm not saying it would be easy. I think it would actually be really hard. I mean, we're not even talking about employees and different people who work on cross divisions. That would be a nightmare as well. There's no precedent for this, right? A studio and streaming assets splitting up? Well, there was no such thing as streaming until 15 years ago. I know. That's what I'm saying. So there are studios that have sold off their television divisions. There was a big TV production company in the 80s called Lorimar. Les Moonves actually worked there before he ran CBS.

15:19And they sold to Warner Brothers. One of the reasons why Warner Brothers television is the most successful of the vertically integrated TV studios is because it was largely formed by Lorimar. And they just ran with it. And Les Moonves ran it and they sold shows everywhere and produce friends, ER and all the rest, those TV studios can be very lucrative. I don't know that many that have split their film and television studios and sold them to different people. That's a little different. But remember, we're not talking about that. We're talking about a streaming business. People have sold off television networks over the years.

15:58I mean, USA has been owned by a bunch of different people. Various networks have changed hands. Freeform used to be ABC Family, which used to be Fox Family that was owned by Fox. And there are instances of selling off different assets piecemeal like that. This would be a sort of supercharged version of that.

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17:14And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier, so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmolive.com. All right, this next question is from Steve. He asks, Do AMC and Netflix agree to a broad distribution agreement in 2026? And if so, what kind of exclusive window for theaters? Short answer, no. Again, not our model. Ted Sarandos, put it on the wall. Theaters are not our model. Now, Demon Hunters are... I know, I've been talking it up. And there has been a thawing of those relations. AMC was not doing any business with Netflix. And they have decided that they are going to play these movies like Demon Hunters in theaters that are stunts that can be distinguished from what the Netflix model is, which is to go day and date on the service with theaters.

18:05And they can't agree to that at AMC because it will piss off all of their other partners. But they can agree to do things like Taylor Swift, which is a unicorn that doesn't impact the others. They can't agree to K-pop Demon Hunters because it's two months after it was on the service. So it's sort of a different thing. I think we're going to see more of that, more stunts and more TV shows. They are putting the Stranger Things finale in theaters for a couple days around the new year. More of that that can be distinguished from the existing partnerships they have with the studios. But I don't think Ted is going to all of a sudden say, you know what?

18:42If it costs us more than$100 million, we're going to give it a 45-day window on theaters. They're just not going to do that. Yeah, I was going to ask if you think Netflix will start to, I guess to get more specific than the word stunt like do you think netflix will start to reverse engineer theatrical releases like k-pop demon hunters more because it allows them to stick to their mantra of we don't do theaters but then they could also basically rather than them betting something will be a hit and putting it in theaters they wait until something is a hit and then release it theatrically a few months later to make some extra cash well it's not just to make extra cash it's to market it's because it feels bigger it feels important it helps them create consciousness for people when they get off their butt and go to a theater, they remember that more.

19:27And it's a fan marketing galvanizing event. And I do think they're going to do more of that, but they have to have the theaters, let them do it. And this kind of more open relations with AMC, I think is going to help that. So the answer is no, unless of course, Ted has to, unless the talent backlash becomes so big and they lose so many movie projects to rivals, that they have to put their tail between their legs and say, okay, we will give an upper echelon of filmmakers 45 days in theaters or whatever Chris Nolan wants in order to get it. I still think the Greta Gerwig thing is going to be a big deal and that's going to come back to - It'll get a lot of attention, but don't forget, it's only two weeks in theaters.

20:13It's a 30-day window. It could be more, right? It could be if it does well, but IMAX already has some bookings for mid-December. It's Thanksgiving for two weeks on IMAX screens, and then it is a month-long window. So it will not appear on Netflix until Christmas. Yeah, but this is Greta Gerwig's movie coming off Barbie. How are they going to attract other big filmmakers if they don't even give them what they gave Greta Gerwig? They give them 300 million subscribers worldwide. That's what they say. And they give them money and creative freedom. And I agree with you. I think that they lose tons of top filmmakers by not offering theaters, but they're sticking to it.

20:56But they've already given an inch, though. They haven't. They would say they haven't. They would say they are consistent and they are only doing these as stunts. And they're only doing the Greta Gerwig thing as a, you know, she has a relationship with IMAX and the project came in and they were developing it before she made Barbie. So it was a unique situation. That's how they say it. they are able to, with a straight face, tell someone like Steven Spielberg, we would love to make your movie and pay you way more than you would currently make at another studio, but we are not giving you theaters.

21:28And he says, thanks, but no thanks. Have you heard about that happening where they offered that to giant directors who say no? They were in on F1, the Joe Kaczynski movie, and Apple got it because they guaranteed theaters. Sure, and I guess Kaczynski was proven and he had Top Gun Maverick. Yeah, he was coming off Top Gun. He had Brad Pitt and he had the participation of F1, one of the biggest brands. But if you think about it, why is F1 so big? It's on Netflix. So Netflix should have had that movie and it would have been gigantic on Netflix, but they wanted theaters and they were rewarded by 700 million worldwide.

22:02And I guess Netflix did get a Martin Scorsese film. Did they release that in theaters? The Irishman? There was a whole debate about that. They tried to release it. To get it nominated for an Oscar. Yeah, but I'm not talking about limited token releases. I'm talking about wide releases with an exclusive theatrical window. That was the whole fight that they had with AMC that led to this problem in the first place, is that at the time, AMC wanted a 90-day window. Netflix did not, wanted it less, and the talks broke down. But remember, The Irishman was three and a half hours, super expensive, required de-aging technology that wasn't great.

22:33Like, that was not the hottest prospect. So far, Netflix has worked with a lot of great filmmakers, but they're often doing great filmmaker with project that isn't as commercial as would have sold to a bigger studio. So they'll get the Scorsese movie, but it's got problems attached to it. They'll get a Guillermo del Toro movie, but it's his passion project that he really has wanted to make forever. And it's a three hour Frankenstein movie. They'll get things like working with Noah Baumbach, who's an amazing filmmaker, but makes very idiosyncratic movies that have never been big at the box office.

23:12Those are the kinds of big quote unquote filmmakers that they are working with. They'll get Zack Snyder, but they get Zack Snyder doing his version of Star Wars that everybody else laughed at. Netflix is getting the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel spinoff. Perfect example. Like, okay, they're getting that movie. Is that like, you know, hot commodity if Tarantino is not directing it? That's David Fincher. It is David Fincher. So good for them. but that's not a guarantee. This next question is from Scott. He asks, what are your thoughts on whether the challenge will live through the Skydance Paramount regime change and likely fall of MTV?

23:53Very good question. I love the challenge. I am a Gen Xer. I love the real world. I love the challenge. I am very afraid for the challenge right now. And the reason is ridiculousness was just canceled. I mean, if you look at Ridiculousness was on for 14 years, 48 seasons, 1 ,700 episodes. It was really the only original show on MTV, except for The Challenge and some Jersey Shore stuff and random things. But calling Ridiculousness an original show is a stretch. It's essentially a TikTok feed. It's just clips. It's America's Funniest Home Videos in 2025. But the canary in the coal mine for the demise of the cable TV business was when every cable network started treating their programming like MTV treated ridiculousness.

24:50They canceled everything and said, you know what, we just have to do the bare minimum that is required by our carriage agreements. We have to have the bare minimum of original content. And we will note that the ratings for ridiculousness aren't that different from a whole slate of original shows. So we'll just run ridiculousness all the time. And the fact that they are now canceling it shows that the cable TV business is even worse than it was when they just gave up on it. There's a lot of bars across America are going to have to figure out what to put on their TV now that ridiculousness is canceled.

25:24I know. Well, now they have enough shows where they could just do reruns probably forever. but I don't know if that would count on their original content requirements. That's the only thing saving the challenge is that if they have to have certain amount of shows that original each year, maybe the challenge survives, but you know, under Chris McCarthy, they tried to franchise the challenge. They did a CBS version. They did all stars. They did global. They kind of ruined the brand because it used to be each season was special. I know zero people care about this except for me, but I hope the challenge will survive.