Director James Cameron is backing the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, putting himself at odds with more than 2,000 Hollywood insiders who have signed a letter warning it could hurt the industry.
The Academy Award winner spoke in support of the deal in a recent interview, where he praised Paramount’s incoming chief, David Ellison, who is set to lead the combined company if regulators approve the acquisition.“I’m a supporter of it. I know it’s controversial,” Cameron said, calling Ellison “the right man for the job to run a major studio.” Cameron said Ellison “really cares about movies” and described him as a “natural born storyteller” with a producer’s mindset who enjoys putting on big screen spectacles.
Cameron worked with Ellison on Terminator: Dark Fate and has previously taken strong positions on the future of the film business. In an earlier letter, he opposed a different idea for Warner Bros. Discovery’s future, blasting the notion of a sale to Netflix and warning it would badly damage theatrical films. “I believe strongly that the proposed sale of Warner Brothers Discovery to Netflix will be disastrous for the theatrical motion picture business that I have dedicated my life’s work to,” Cameron wrote at the time. He argued that while his films reach streaming and home viewing, his “first love is the cinema.”
Cameron warned that if a streaming giant like Netflix took over a legacy studio, theaters would close, fewer movies would get made, and job losses would “spiral.” He said Netflix’s core business model clashes with the traditional theatrical system that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs and underpins major studios like Warner Bros.
Now, as Paramount moves to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, many in Hollywood are sounding a different alarm. More than 2,000 writers, actors, directors and other creators have signed an open letter opposing the deal, arguing it will further concentrate power and narrow opportunities.
The letter, reportedly organized by Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo and signed by Bryan Cranston, Joaquin Phoenix, Tiffany Haddish and Denis Villeneuve, warns that another mega-studio combination would mean fewer jobs, fewer chances for independent voices and less choice for audiences in the United States and abroad. Signers say they have already seen a steep drop in the number of films produced and released in recent years, along with a shrinking range of stories that receive financing and distribution. The letter argues that a small group of large companies now decides what gets made and on what terms, leaving creators and smaller businesses with fewer viable paths to survive.
Cameron, by contrast, seems comfortable with Ellison running an even larger operation if the Paramount deal goes through. He said it now appears Ellison will have “two” major studios under his leadership and added that this “doesn’t bother me at all.”
Hollywood is still recovering from pandemic shutdowns, labor strikes, and massive shifts in audience habits that have pushed more viewing to streaming. Supporters of consolidation argue that larger companies can better withstand those pressures, while critics say the real cost will fall on workers, theaters and moviegoers who end up with fewer options. The fight over the merger will reveal what kind of studio system will control American entertainment in the coming years. One side is betting on fewer, bigger studios as the only way to compete globally, while the other is warning that the same trend could weaken theaters, reduce competition and crowd out new voices.
Just hand me the popcorn.
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English (US) · 