On December 5, 2025, it was officially announced that a deal has been reached for Netflix to acquire Warner Bros.’s film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max. As part of that deal, the streaming service company will acquire Warner Bros.’s immense library of intellectual property.
When Disney bought most of Fox in a similar deal, a lot of the attention was paid to the company acquiring the movie and TV rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. However, when fans looked under the surface, they learned that Disney was also buying a lot of other franchises, like Avatar, Predator, Alien, Die Hard, and more.
While Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached a landmark deal, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will come to fruition. There have been reports of a possible Department of Justice monopoly investigation into the deal, and there are many outspoken fans decrying the move, which could build momentum toward things falling apart. However, if the deal goes through, Netflix will be buying the rights to many major film franchises, TV shows, and standalone movies, which are listed below.
The Most Noteworthy Movie Franchises Netflix Will Be Buying as Part of the Warner Bros. Deal
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Austin Powers
- Beetlejuice
- Blade Runner
- The Conjuring
- DC Comics
- Dirty Harry
- Fantastic Beasts
- Final Destination
- Friday the 13th
- Gremlins
- The Hangover
- Harry Potter
- The Hobbit
- Stephen King’s It
- Lethal Weapon
- The Lego Movies
- Looney Tunes
- Lord of the Rings
- The Lost Boys
- Mad Max (Distribution rights only as George Miller owns the intellectual property)
- The Matrix
- MonsterVerse
- Mortal Kombat
- National Lampoon’s Vacation
- The Neverending Story
- Ocean’s
- Police Academy
- Scooby-Doo
- Wonka
The Most Noteworthy TV Shows Netflix Will Be Buying as Part of the Warner Bros. Deal
- Animaniacs
- Band of Brothers
- Batman: The Animated Series
- The Big Bang Theory
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Friends
- Game of Thrones
- Gilmore Girls
- House of the Dragon
- The Last of Us
- The Middle
- One Tree Hill
- Peacemaker
- The Penguin
- The Pitt
- Six Feet Under
- Smallville
- The Sopranos
- Succession
- Supernatural
- True Detective
- Two and a Half Men
- The Vampire Diaries
- Veep
- The West Wing
- The White Lotus
- The Wire
- Young Sheldon
It is important to note that some of the film and TV rights that Netflix will buy if the deal goes through are complicated. For example, Netflix would be taking on part of the rights of one of the best TV shows ever produced, ER. However as the lawsuit involving The Pitt has shown, the estate of ER’s creator, Michael Crichton, also owns part of the rights to that show. Due the complicated nature of those rights, ER was left off the above list.
On top of buying the rights to several movie franchises, Netflix will also take ownership of many legendary standalone films if the deal goes through. In fact, Netflix will become the owner of several movies that are considered to be some of the best of all time.
The Most Noteworthy Standalone Movies Netflix Will Be Buying as Part of the Warner Bros. Deal
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- All the President’s Men
- Caddyshack
- Casablanca
- Citizen Kane
- A Clockwork Orange
- Cool Hand Luke
- Deliverance
- The Departed
- Dumb and Dumber
- Elf
- The Fugitive
- Goodfellas
- The Goonies
- The Mask
- North by Northwest
- One Flew Over the Cuckcoo’s Nest
- Poltergeist
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Shining
- Singin’ in the Rain
- TheUnforgiven
- The Wedding Singer
- The Wizard of Oz
