By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Paul Sandle
LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - British cinemas cautiously welcomed Paramount Skydance beating Netflix in the race to buy Warner Bros Discovery, but remained concerned that combining the Hollywood studios could cost jobs and reduce the number of movies released in theatres.
Netflix walked away on Thursday after refusing to raise its bid. The streaming giant has long been viewed as a threat to cinemas because it shuns traditional releases in favour of keeping content
on its platform, usually putting titles in theatres only briefly to qualify for Oscars and other awards.
Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association, said Netflix's withdrawal simplified matters but did not ease concerns around the loss of a major U.S. studio and the implications for the theatrical slate.
"We take the public statements from Paramount Skydance about its plans for any merged company in good faith - as we did those from Netflix," he said.
"But we saw with the Disney acquisition of Fox in 2019 similar public undertakings and now find ourselves in a position where the combined company releases around 40% fewer films than was the case when they were separate."
Paramount CEO David Ellison said in an open letter to UK creatives earlier this month that the combined company would have a slate of more than 30 movies per year, each with a full theatrical release.
UNCERTAINTY LIFTED
Tim Richards, founder and CEO of cinema chain Vue, said Paramount's victory lifted some uncertainty, though either deal raised concerns about job losses.
Had Netflix prevailed, he said, cinemas feared it would cut Warner Bros' output or "collapse the window" for theatrical release.
Clapp said the deal still needed rigorous scrutiny by antitrust authorities, including Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, to ensure legally binding commitments on distribution, marketing and theatrical exclusivity.
Richards said one upside was that Netflix, after studying Warner Bros' theatrical model, might "now embrace it and release some of their amazing movies on our screens".
"What we would love to see are movies like Greta Gerwig's incredible new 'Chronicles of Narnia' coming out this Thanksgiving, to actually see that on a big screen," he said.
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Paul Sandle. Editing by Mark Potter)
