Box Office woes: Indian multiplexes wary of Netflix’s Warner Bros deal

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Netflix’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery is sending ripples through India’s multiplex industry, which fears losing marquee releases to the streaming giant. The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) flagged concerns over the deal, warning it could shift the spotlight away from traditional cinema halls.

"The acquisition of one of the world’s leading studios by a dominant streaming platform that has historically deprioritised theatrical releases poses a direct competition and economic threat to India’s theatrical and broader film economy," Kamal Gianchandani, President of the Multiplex Association of India, said.

Not long ago Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had said that theatres are outdated.

In an interview to a publication earlier this year, Sarandos had said that consumers like to watch movies at home, citing the dwindling box office as an example.

The association pointed to Netflix consistently making it clear through its limited and highly restrictive approach to theatrical releases that it does not believe in the cinema-first model.

"If this acquisition proceeds, the risk is two-fold, a meaningful reduction in high-quality content for cinemas, and the potential for shortened or non-existent theatrical windows," MAI said in a statement.

Gianchandani added that both the factors mentioned above will inevitably impact revenues, limit consumer choice, and weaken the broader ecosystem of film production, distribution, and exhibition in India. "A consolidation of this magnitude warrants careful scrutiny. MAI will continue to highlight these concerns to regulatory authorities both in India and internationally," he said.

Some of the big upcoming movies from Warner Bros studios include The Mummy, Mortal Kombat II, Supergirl, Dune: Part 3, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, The Batman- Part II,  The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum among others.

Some of the studio's previous releases had a blockbuster reception in Indian theatres - such as Final Destination Bloodlines that became the second-highest-grossing Hollywood horror film in India with a business of around Rs 75 crore.

Another big hit this year was F1, running for around 100 days in Indian cinemas. The Brad Pitt starrer motorsport drama grossed Rs 125 crore in India and ranks fifteenth among all-time highest Hollywood grossers in India.

India's top multiplex chain PVR INOX has a nearly 55 percent market share in Hollywood movies in India which analysts tracking the company said is a key advantage as these films typically have premium pricing and higher spend-per-head (SPH).

In the September quarter of FY26, PVR INOX's Hollywood gross box office collection (GBOC) increased 97 percent to Rs 286 crore versus Rs 145 crore during the same period a year ago.

The multiplex chain in the first half of FY26 swung back to profits and a lot of it was driven by English films. Hollywood films contributed 24 percent to the company's overall admissions, nearly double of last year’s share. The company posted Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 929 crore compared to a loss of Rs 1,142 crore in the same period last year.

Another concern that the multiplex association highlighted is shorter theatrical window--- the period between a film streaming on an over the top (OTT) platform after a film's theatrical release.

This window had reduced in the aftermath of the coronavirus impact to two-weeks.

While currently Hindi and Hollywood films see an eight-week window, regional content especially South Indian films opt for four-weeks.

Recently, Sarandos told a publication that while they do not oppose theatrical releases with Netflix releasing about 30 films in cinemas this year alone, the pushback has been mostly of the long, exclusive windows, which they don’t really think are that consumer friendly.

While American theatre chains like AMC and others are looking to re-establish a 30 or 45-day window, the biggest cinema chains are still not in favour of shorter periods to premier their movies on streaming platforms.

It is not Indian multiplexes alone that fear this acquisition. Cinema United, the exhibition industry’s biggest trade group recently in a statement said that the proposed $82.7 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. 's studio and streaming businesses by Netflix poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.

While Sarandos has promised to continue releasing Warner Bros. movies in theatres, even the top filmmakers like James Cameron, the director of some of Hollywood’s highest-grossing films in history including Titanic and Avatar, are worried about the impact of this deal. Cameron had said that this buyout would be a disaster in a podcast this November.

The Writers Guild of America East and West in a statement said that this merger must be blocked. "The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent."

In addition, the takeover will not only affect movie theatres but also streaming platforms in India.

"This will be a negative for other OTT platforms; particularly broadcaster-led OTTs and Amazon Prime, as the growing dominance of JioStar and Netflix may limit the ability of others to scale in the India OTT market," said Karan Taurani, Executive Vice-President, Elara Capital.

He added that this buyout is especially negative for linear TV broadcasters such as Zee and Sun TV, as competing OTT platforms become larger with deeper content offerings, leaving limited headroom for broadcaster OTT expansion.

"Zee and Sun TV derive only around 15 percent and 10 percent of their revenues, respectively, from digital (OTT), and this consolidation (Netflix acquiring Warner Bros) may challenge their medium-term growth prospects. This move may further delay profitability plans for Zee5, as Sun NXT is already profitable due to investments in original content," he said.