Just when it was looking like Netflix was all set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance swooped in to take the brand with a big-money merger that’s now going through. It’s now time for Netflix to go to Plan B, which would see the streaming titan taking control of another major movie studio.
According to a new report via Semafor’s Rohan Goswami, Netflix execs have taken an interest in buying Lionsgate Studios. This is in line with Netflix becoming more interested in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) opportunities over the past year. At one point, the streamer was set to pick up Warner Bros. Discovery after putting in a bid of around $82.7 billion, but this was abandoned after Paramount Skydance offered an even higher bid of around $111 billion.
Will Netflix and Lionsgate Merge?
More recently, Netflix sought to acquire Roku, a deal that would have made sense, given their shared history. Roku’s founder had originally incubated the player technology inside Netflix in the early 2000s before it was spun off. Reportedly, Netflix lost the bidding war to Fox, which submitted a $22 billion offer. That’s two big possible mergers that ultimately didn’t work out, though the bids nevertheless show that Netflix wants to get further into M&A territory, so it wouldn’t be a shocker to see the company aiming for Lionsgate next.
Netflix and Lionsgate do have some history together with some shared successes. They recently collaborated on the Alan Ritchson action movie War Machine, which pulled in very high viewership numbers on streaming and now has a sequel in the works. Lionsgate Television also served as the studio for Orange Is the New Black, one of Netflix’s most successful shows that had a seven-season run between 2013 and 2019. It’s also been reported that Netflix is working on an animated spinoff of The Twilight Saga, another huge Lionsgate franchise.
Netflix Could Become the New Owners of John Wick
Certainly, the Lionsgate library would also make a potential merger very attractive to Netflix. The studio is home to some very popular intellectual properties which Netflix could potentially leverage for streaming originals, reboots, and spinoffs. That includes major action franchises like John Wick, Rambo, and The Expendables, along with other properties like Saw, The Hunger Games, and Now You See Me. Lionsgate Television is also behind several iconic shows like Mad Men, Weeds, and The Rookie.
It is worth noting that Lionsgate just had a major victory with its theatrical releases as the studio behind Michael, the smash hit biopic about famed singer Michael Jackson. With a near-perfect audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Michael has earned nearly $1 billion at the global box office, serving as the highest-grossing Lionsgate movie ever. It’s expected that a follow-up film will be developed, and unquestionably, Netflix would love to join in on that movie’s potential success.