The “Titanic” and “Avatar” filmmaker sent a letter to Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who serves as the chair for the Senate subcommittee on antitrust.
James Cameron is sounding the alarm over a potential seismic shift in Hollywood. The Oscar-winning director has expressed deep concern about reports that Netflix could move to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
“My 44-year directing career has been focused on making movies for theatrical exhibition, and I believe strongly that seeing movies in theaters is an important pillar of our culture, to say nothing of being one of our biggest exports, in purely economic terms,” Cameron wrote in his letter, which CNBC published Thursday. “But the cinema marketplace has contracted sharply in recent years, by about 30%, due to media consumption habit-patterns changing as a result of the Covid pandemic and the concurrent rise of streaming.”
The Terminator filmmaker went on to opine that Netflix buying WBD could be “disastrous for the theatrical motion picture business that I have dedicated my life’s work to,” pointing to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ past comments about cinemagoing as evidence that the streamer would torpedo the big-screen experience.
Sarandos previously said that the theatrical model is “an outmoded idea” and “an outdated concept,” arguing that the model of keeping new films in theaters for 45 days is “completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie.”
A representative for Cameron declined to comment on the letter. Representatives for Lee, WBD, and Netflix didn’t immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s requests for comment.
In Cameron’s letter, he argued, “The business model of Netflix is directly at odds with the theatrical film production and exhibition business, which employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. It is therefore directly at odds with the business model of the Warner Brothers movie division, one of the few remaining major movie studios. [WBD] releases approximately 15 theatrical movies a year and the beleaguered motion picture exhibition community desperately depends on that output.”
The filmmaker also jabbed, “as I like to say, mindful that I directed Titanic. I am very familiar not only with ships that sail, but also those that sink. And the theatrical experience of movies could become a sinking ship.”
Cameron went on to blast Netflix’s reported desire to keep new movies in theaters for just 17 days before their streaming debuts, which many critics have argued would accelerate the downfall of the theatrical business model.
“17 days is ridiculously short,” Cameron wrote. “Most people in the feature film business believe the minimum window should be 45 days, many advocate for 60 days. So 17 days is a token window, and grotesquely insufficient.”
The filmmaker further speculated that whatever Netflix says in 2026 might be walked back shortly after the WBD deal is approved. “Though a pledge for a theatrical window may be given now in order to assuage critics of this ill-conceived merger, there is no guarantee of how Netflix may run its business in years to come,” Cameron said. “Their pledge to support theatrical releases (a business fundamentally at odds with their core business model) is likely to evaporate in a few years.”
It’s worth noting that during an interview with Matt Belloni on The Town posted Wednesday — several days after Cameron sent his letter, but before it was published — Sarandos promised that Netflix would maintain a 45-day theatrical window. “It’s going to look like it did last year and the year before that. I’m on the record,” he said. “It means 45 days of theatrical exclusivity, which has been the issue that people have been mostly pushing for, which I think has the most impact on exhibition.”
Cameron ended his letter with an assertion that a significant portion of Hollywood laborers share his concerns.
“I am but a humble movie farmer. And I see my future creativity and productivity directly threatened by this proposed sale,” he said. “I’m sure there are many in the motion picture community… writers, producers, directors, exhibitors, craft Guilds, film crew employees, and service providers who agree with me. Many will choose not to be as vocal as I am, because Netflix is a major employer into the foreseeable future. But I know I speak for many. A vast groundswell, in fact.”
Cameron previously speculated that David Ellison’s Paramount would be the “best possible choice” to purchase WBD during an interview with Belloni in November. “Netflix would be a disaster,” he said. “Warner Brothers would just become a streamer. So now you’ve lost an actual theatrical major, and now you’ve just increased that avalanche, that downhill trend.”
Meanwhile, Lee published a list of questions for Sarandos on social media Friday morning, which primarily concerned the anticompetitive implications of a WBD-Netflix merger.
On Friday, Sarandos sent his own letter to Carr that objected to Cameron’s claims. In the letter, which has been reviewed by EW, the Netflix exec argues that the Terminator filmmaker’s letter “knowingly misrepresents our position and commitment to the theatrical release of Warner Bros. films.” Sarandos reiterated that the company will stick to 45-day theatrical windows, claiming that he “said the same thing to Mr. Cameron when we met on December 20, 2025.”
Sarandos continued, “During that meeting we talked about Netflix’s plans for Warner Bros., including our 45-day commitment. Mr. Cameron was very supportive. If anything, he was more excited to talk about the at-home movie viewing glasses he is developing with Meta than exclusive windows for theatrical movies.”
He also said that his past comments about theatrical exhibition did not indicate his present attitude. “When I spoke about the theatrical business in the past, I was talking about it in relation to the Netflix business model,” he said. “We didn’t own a theatrical distributor then. We will own a great one now.”
Sarandos argued that Paramount absorbing WBD would “eliminate one of Hollywood’s five major theatrical studios, and one of the five largest theatrical distribution businesses,” which “would massively shrink the industry.”
Netflix announced that it would acquire WBD in December. Paramount made multiple bids to purchase the studio, and attempted a hostile takeover after the Netflix deal was publicized. On Tuesday, WBD announced that its board of directors continues to “unanimously recommend in favor of the Netflix merger,” though the studio re-entered talks with Paramount to allow Ellison’s company to make another offer. Variety has also recently reported that most WBD employees favor Netflix over Paramount as a potential buyer.
