Terence Corcoran: Hollywood’s new blockbuster hit: A Monster Mash-Up

The real monsters in the Netflix-Warner Bros.-Paramount mash-up could turn out to be regulators and politiciansYou can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.I was working in the lab late one nightSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.When my eyes beheld an eerie sight.For my monster, from his slab, began to rise.And suddenly, to my surprise,Netflix did the Monster MashAnd tried to take over Warner.It was a Hollywood smashUntil Paramount caught on in a flash.With apologies to Bobby Pickett, whose 1962 pop-music hit is today mysteriously described on YouTube as a timeless “Christmas Song.” Maybe the sudden appearance of some of Hollywood’s largest corporate monsters caught the fancy of YouTube producers who saw an opportunity to turn Hollywood 2025 into a new horror hit.The main performers in the three-way takeover battle — Netflix, Warner Bros. and Paramount — have in the past each pioneered versions of legendary horror/monster movies. Will the Frankenstein (Netflix) move to take control of Godzilla (Warner Bros.) ultimately be foiled by Dracula (Paramount)? At the end of it all, Frankenstein could also end up seizing control of the latest beasts in the House of the Dragon (Warner Bros.) series.I’m just making that up. The plot of the Hollywood corporate battle has yet to be written, which means there is no way to know how the monster mash-up will end. What we do know is that the story line and the characters will be populated by an endless list of corporate and entertainment-world personalities, along with wild speculations about why, how and when a mob of politicians, regulators and media ghouls — including President Donald Trump — will swarm in and try to take control of the action.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.One Canadian film critic has already screeched onto the set. The US$83-billion Netflix takeover of Warner will be a “sucker punch for cinema, if not the death knell for most movie theatres.” In Canada, he said, the deal would likely “single-handedly sink the Canadian media ecosystem.”On the front lines of the movie-making business, armed verbal combat looms, with a phalanx of Hollywood creative types lining up against the Netflix-Warner deal claiming that it threatens the very existence of the movie theatre business.The spooky plot theory is that if Netflix ended up controlling Warner’s filmmaking operations, it would be able to determine whether movies are made available to theatres before they are streamed. Filmmakers — producers, directors, actors, unions — want to maintain current standards that require movies to be shown in theatres at least 45 days prior to streaming. Not Netflix. Last month, when Netflix released Jay Kelly, the latest George Clooney film, it appeared in Toronto Cineplex theatres in mid-November and began streaming on Netflix on Dec. 5, only 20 days later.Film producer James Cameron — his smash 1997 hit Titanic was distributed by Paramount — called the Netflix-Warner deal a “disaster.” A band of film producers have begun lobbying Congress against the takeover, with anti-trust policy expected to play a large role as the corporate battle scenes play out.But the question is whether Netflix is the monster in the emerging contest for control of Warner. Last April, when Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was asked whether he was destroying Hollywood, he responded: “No, we’re saving Hollywood.”The theatre box office movie business has been in decline for seven decades, shoved aside first by television, then cable, videotapes, DVDs, and then streaming video that lands on 120-inch home screens that almost match a theatrical experience. “What does that say?” asked Sarandos. “What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they’d like to watch movies at home, thank you. The studios and the theatre are duking it out over trying to preserve this 45-day window that is completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie.”This week’s stock market performance — Netflix down, Paramount down and Warner up — suggests the Hollywood monster mash-up is just a few minutes into the gruesome corporate horror flick.If the outcome is strictly a financial deal, that would be fine. But the ghouls and dragons on the horizon are moving in with other concerns, including concentration of streaming services. In the ideological world of anti-trust, a corporate merger inevitably leads to fake panic and howling about monopoly.In real world of streaming, however, it may well be that there are in fact too many streamers both in Canada and the United States, with no single streamer able to satisfy viewers. Netflix, Prime, Disney, Crave, Apple, Paramount — all competing with YouTube for viewer action (with YouTube often a big winner). A bit of consolidation would likely save viewers monthly fees while expanding choices of films and shows.In other words, it looks like both the theatre issue and streaming concentration are fictional characters.So sit back on that comfy sofa, line up some popcorn and a cool drink, and get ready to be entertained as Hollywood’s Monster Mash-Up unfolds on that 120-inch screen.• Email: tcorcoran@postmedia.com Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.