Netflix Slams Director Cameron: "A Pawn in Paramount's Disinformation Campaign"

Sarandos CEO hits back at anti-merger letter
Blasts it as sabotage by rivals seeking to derail Warner acquisition
Denounces fearmongering and pledges large-scale job creation

Sarandos Ted, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Netflix, answered reporters' questions on the 22nd after concluding a discussion titled "Netflix and Korean Content" held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Photo Pool

Hollywood heavyweights have clashed head-on over the mega-merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery.

According to U.S. entertainment outlet The Hollywood Reporter on the 20th (local time), Ted Sarandos, Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Netflix, strongly criticized director James Cameron, who directed the "Avatar" series. He accused Cameron of taking part in a disinformation campaign by Paramount, which competed with Netflix over the acquisition of Warner Bros.

The spark for the conflict was struck by Cameron. He recently sent a letter to Mike Lee, Chair of the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. In the letter, he labeled Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. as "the death of the film industry" and urged him to block the merger.

He also expressed distrust of Netflix's pledge on theatrical releases. Netflix had previously declared that, after the acquisition, it would show Warner Bros. films in theaters for at least 45 days. However, Cameron argued that this pledge would be discarded like a scrap of paper.

CEO Sarandos dismissed this as "classic fearmongering." He stressed that Netflix would firmly uphold its stated principle of a 45-day theatrical window.

In response to concerns about the death of the film industry, he countered that the injection of massive capital would instead revive the film ecosystem. He emphasized that Netflix would increase the number of films produced by Warner Bros., reinvigorate the box office, and create large-scale employment in the United States.

This clash is part of an intense public-relations battle to seize the upper hand in an acquisition war worth 83 billion dollars (about 110 trillion won). Netflix plans to push ahead with the acquisition process as scheduled, breaking through interference by its rivals head-on.