Despite rumors to the contrary, Ted Sarandos is doubling down on the idea that Netflix isn’t going to cripple Warner Bros.’ theatrical windows if its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets closes. He’s framing the theatrical business as something the company intends to protect — and compete in — rather than treat as a temporary on-ramp to the app.
READ MORE: 15 Pressing Questions For A Netflix Warner Bros. Merger
The anxiety spiked on January 2, when Deadline reporting (attributed to unnamed sources) was widely circulated, suggesting that Netflix was pushing for a drastically shorter exclusivity period — a “just over two weeks” approach that would effectively reset expectations for how long a studio release stays in theaters. The rumor summary: Netflix had allegedly been “proponents of a 17-day” theatrical window for Warner releases.
But in a new interview with The New York Times, Sarandos put a 45-day commitment on the record, and he tied it directly to preserving Warner’s existing revenue engine rather than “optimizing” it away:
“When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk. We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows,” Sarandos said. “I’m giving you a hard number. If we’re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.”
That specificity matters because “industry-standard” has been the slippery phrase at the center of the fight. This promise can sound reassuring right up until a company defines the standard downward. It’s also where exhibitors have been loudest. In its December 5 statement opposing the proposed acquisition, Cinema United argued the deal risked removing a major chunk of annual domestic box office if Warner films that typically get robust releases “disappear from theatres,” while calling Netflix’s current approach “token” theatrical on only a handful of titles.
Sarandos also addressed the lingering backlash from his earlier “outmoded” comment about theaters, arguing the remark was about access, not disdain — and he used Ryan Coogler’s latest genre hybrid as his example. “I mean, like the town that ‘Sinners’ is supposed to be set in does not have a movie theater there,” he said. “For those folks, it’s certainly outmoded. You’re not going to get in the car and go to the next town to go see a movie.”
None of this settles what enforcement looks like once the deal is real and the calendar gets messy. Still, Sarandos attaching a firm 45-day window to Warner — and grounding it in theatrical revenue — is the most transparent attempt yet to counter the 17-day chatter with something exhibitors can actually hold him to.
