Hollywood consolidation could reshape content pipelines into key APAC markets
Paramount Global has stunned Hollywood and investors by launching a hostile cash-and-stock offer for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), promising to release more than 30 films a year if the deal goes through. The proposed takeover—framed as a bet on scale in a brutal streaming and theatrical landscape—would combine two of the industry’s most recognisable libraries, from “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” to DC superheroes and HBO’s prestige dramas. Executives pitching the deal argue that a merged studio could negotiate harder with tech platforms, squeeze marketing costs and invest more heavily in franchise-driven blockbusters.

While much of the early commentary has focused on Wall Street reaction and U.S. antitrust scrutiny, Asia-Pacific is quietly emerging as one of the biggest potential battlegrounds. Media Partners Asia estimates that a combined Netflix-WBD streaming alliance—already under separate negotiation—would create a $6.6 billion revenue heavyweight in the region. If Paramount succeeds in taking control of WBD, it could inherit and reshape those talks, deciding how aggressively to bundle streaming services, license content to third-party platforms or prioritise its own direct-to-consumer apps in markets like India, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

Cinema owners across the region are also watching closely. Paramount is dangling its promise of “30-plus theatricals” a year as proof that studios are not abandoning big-screen releases despite the rise of streaming. Asian exhibitors, still rebuilding after pandemic-era shutdowns, see a steady flow of tentpole titles as crucial to filling premium screens and justifying investments in IMAX, 4DX and luxury seating. A merged studio could, however, tilt bargaining power further towards Hollywood, potentially squeezing the share of box-office revenue that stays in local markets.

Regional regulators and rivals weigh their options
Any successful takeover would still have to navigate a maze of competition regulators, not only in the U.S. and Europe but also in key Asian territories. Telecom-backed players in India, locally entrenched streamers in Japan and Korea, and regional alliances such as Viu or iQIYI could all lobby against what they see as a new content super-giant. Questions are already being raised about whether a Paramount-WBD combination would reduce choice for Asian viewers by consolidating multiple premium catalogues behind a smaller number of paywalls.

At the same time, Asian creators and production houses are calculating how a reshaped studio landscape might affect commissions and co-production deals. A larger, more financially disciplined studio might commission fewer but more expensive local originals, focusing on cross-border hits instead of niche national stories. Alternatively, it could decide that regional partnerships and language-specific content are essential for growth, leading to more structured long-term deals with production hubs in Seoul, Mumbai, Bangkok or Manila.

For now, both WBD’s board and some major shareholders are resisting Paramount’s advances, arguing that the offer undervalues their business and adds too much debt. The hostile nature of the bid means the saga could drag on for months, with counter-offers, asset sales or even new rival bidders entering the fray. But whatever the outcome, Asia’s rapidly expanding streaming and cinema markets are likely to be shaped by decisions taken in this corporate chess match—determining how, where and on what terms viewers from Dhaka to Jakarta watch the next wave of Hollywood blockbusters.