After bowing out of the bid for Warner Bros. Discovery last week, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is teasing what’s next for the streamer.
While another acquisition doesn’t appear to be in Netflix’s near future, Sarandos’ discussions with cinema owners have resulted in the streaming platform planning “some really creative things” for their titles in theaters.
“Everything I talked about would require us buying that theatrical distribution entity,” he explained in an interview with Bloomberg. “But one thing that’s been great about it is getting to know and have open dialogue with the theater owners. I really didn’t have much reason to before.”
Sarandos added, “We’ve figured out some really creative things to do together like you saw with Stranger Things and KPop Demon Hunters. We have One Piece in theaters next week in the US and Japan. I think we’re going to find a bunch of cool things to do together going forward. I could see us doing things that we haven’t done before.”
While he admits the Warner Bros. purchase “was an incredibly unique opportunity,” Sarandos noted, “We definitely wanted this asset. We didn’t need it.”
Sarandos added that Netflix is “unlikely” to attempt another M&A anytime soon, planning to use the $2.8 billion termination fee to “just keep investing in the business.”
“We are builders, not buyers,” explained Sarandos. “All that is still true.”
On Thursday, Netflix threw in the towel on the Warner Bros. deal, refusing to raise its bid against Paramount Skydance’s “superior” $31-per-share offer, following the $82.7 billion deal Netflix signed with WBD in December before the Ellison-owned company launched its hostile takeover.