Netflix Buys Warner Bros. + HBO

Netflix has won a bidding war to purchase Warner Bros., including HBO.

The cash and stock transaction is valued at $27.75 per WBD share (subject to a collar as detailed below), with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion (equity value of $72.0 billion). The transaction is expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which is now expected to be completed in Q3 2026.

‘Mad Men’ Re-Release Fuck Ups

Mad Men

HBO’s 4K Mad Men re-release has … problems.

For starters, the Mad Men episodes in 4K on HBO Max were listed out of order and mislabeled, which likely made series creator Matthew Weiner an absolute mad man.

But that’s nothing compared to an actual edit-oopsie in the seventh episode of season one. In “Red in the Face” (what the episode is supposed to be titled, but was not on 4K HBO Max), a drunk (they were always drunk) Roger Sterling (John Slattery) vomits up oysters in the office in front of prospective clients. In the initial 4K stream that released on HBO Max, a Mad Men crew member was very visibly operating a barf hose behind Sterling, in full view of the camera. There was even a second staffer in frame supporting the puke-hose tech. That guy would have been a great friend in college.

Todd Vaziri, with a great observation:

The fun thing about this restoration mistake is that now we, the audience, get to see exactly how many digital visual effects were actually used in a show like “Mad Men”, which most would assume did not have any digital effects component. In this shot, not only were the techs and hose removed, but the spot where the pretend puke meets Slattery’s face has some clever digital warping to make it seem like the flow is truly coming from his mouth (as opposed to it appearing through a tube inches from his mouth, on the other side of his face).

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Max Changes Name Back to HBO Max

HBO

Variety:

This summer, streamer Max will bend the knee and rebrand back to its original name, HBO Max. 

The change comes just over two years after Warner Bros. Discovery decided to drop HBO from the streamer’s name to become just Max. Note that while HBO and Max have carried separate commercial branding during that time, they’ve competed under one “HBO/Max” label for industry awards.

LOL.

Batman Animated Series from J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves

The Hollywood Reporter:

The powerhouse directors, along with DC animated universe veteran Bruce Timm, have received a straight-to-series order for Batman: Caped Crusaderfrom HBO Max and Cartoon Network. The series is billed as a “reimagining of the Batman mythology.”

“We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City,” said Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Reeves (The Batman) in a statement. “The series will be thrilling, cinematic and evocative of Batman’s noir roots, while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters. We cannot wait to share this new world.”