Netflix Just Bought Harry Potter, Batman & Game of Thrones in $83 Billion Heist – Hollywood Is Dead

Picture every iconic franchise you’ve ever loved in one place: Harry Potter. Batman. Superman. The Lord of the Rings. Game of Thrones. The Sopranos. Succession. Friends. The Matrix. Casablanca. Rick and Morty. Dune. Looney Tunes. The Wizard of Oz.

Starting in 2026–2027, every single one of them will belong to Netflix.

In a deal that will be taught in film schools for the next century, Netflix has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO, HBO Max, DC Studios, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, and the entire Warner Bros. television and film library for $82.7 billion (including debt). The only things not included are the cable channels (CNN, TNT, HGTV, Food Network), which will be spun off into a separate company called Discovery Global.

This is not a partnership. This is not a licensing deal. This is ownership.

What Netflix Now Owns – The Full List That Will Make Any Movie Fan Cry

Film Franchises

• DC Universe (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Joker, Aquaman, The Flash, Harley Quinn…)
• Harry Potter + Fantastic Beasts + Wizarding World
• The Lord of the Rings + The Hobbit
• The Matrix
• Dune (co-financing rights with Legendary)
• Mad Max
• Lethal Weapon
• Blade Runner
• 2001: A Space Odyssey / all Kubrick pre-1987
• Casablanca, Citizen Kane (via Turner library)
• Every Looney Tunes & Hanna-Barbera cartoon ever made
• Every Christmas classic: Elf, A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Polar Express

Television Empires

• HBO’s entire prestige catalog: The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Succession, The White Lotus, Chernobyl, Band of Brothers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sex and the City, Veep…
• Game of Thrones + House of the Dragon + every planned Jon Snow / Aegon spinoff
• Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld (syndication rights)
• Rick and Morty, Harley Quinn animated series
• Every DC animated movie and series since 2007

Studios & Labels

• Warner Bros. Pictures
• New Line Cinema (Lord of the Rings, Nightmare on Elm Street, Austin Powers)
• Castle Rock (Shawshank, When Harry Met Sally)
• DC Studios (James Gunn & Peter Safran’s entire slate)
• Warner Bros. Animation
• Cartoon Network Studios

Physical Assets

• The historic Warner Bros. lot in Burbank
• Leavesden Studios (UK) – where every Harry Potter film was shot
• Full backlot, soundstages, and post-production facilities

The Timeline – When Will This Actually Happen?

• Deal signed: December 5, 2025
• Warner cable networks spin off: Expected Q2–Q3 2026
• Regulatory review (DOJ, FTC, EU, UK, Brazil, India): 12–18 months)
• Earliest close: Late 2026
• Full integration (HBO Max disappears, everything moves to Netflix): 2027

Netflix has already promised to honor all existing theatrical windows for films currently in production (Dune Messiah, Superman, The Batman Part II, etc.), so theaters won’t disappear overnight. But after 2027? Expect much shorter windows, day-and-date experiments, or even Netflix-only releases for many titles.

Why This Changes Movies Forever

1. One company now controls 35–40 % of the most valuable IP on Earth. That’s more valuable film & TV real estate under one roof than Disney owned even at the peak of the Fox acquisition.
2. Theatrical cinema is officially on life support. Netflix has repeatedly said it wants “the best of both worlds,” but history shows once they own the IP, most films will premiere on the Netflix way.
3. HBO Max dies – and becomes Netflix Prestige. Say goodbye to the HBO Max app. Every HBO original from 2027 onward will simply be “a Netflix Original.”
4. DC gets a real cinematic universe again – but only on Netflix. James Gunn’s 10-year plan stays intact… under the red envelope.
5. Harry Potter TV series? Now guaranteed. The long-rumored HBO Max Potter reboot is now a Netflix event series with a budget that will make House of the Dragon look modest.

The Creative Community Is Panicking

Within hours of the announcement:

• The Directors Guild scheduled emergency talks with Netflix
• A coalition of 200+ independent producers sent Congress a letter calling the merger “a noose around the theatrical marketplace”
• Theater chains AMC and Regal saw their stocks drop 8–12 %
• Christopher Nolan (longtime Warner director) publicly said he is “deeply concerned about the future of cinema as an art form”

The Stock Market Verdict

• Netflix (NFLX): –5.2 % (investors scared of price tag + regulation)
• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD): +13 % (shareholders cashing out at the top)
• Paramount Global (PARA): –9 % (officially out of the race)
• Disney (DIS): –2 % (suddenly the underdog again)

The Bottom Line for Movie Lovers

If this deal closes:

• Your childhood is now on one streaming service.
• The line between “movies” and “Netflix shows” officially disappears.
• The era of six competing studios is over. We are down to three mega-players: Disney, Universal, and now Netflix.

Whether that’s the best or worst thing that ever happened to cinema depends on one question nobody can answer yet:

Will Netflix treat these treasures like sacred texts… or just more “content”?

One thing is certain: the next time you rewatch The Dark Knight, Hermione casting her first spell, or Tony Soprano walking into that diner, you’ll be doing it on Netflix.

Welcome to the new king of Hollywood. Long live the king?

Stay tuned to Cinephile Central for daily updates, filmmaker reactions, and deep dives into every franchise now living under the Netflix roof.