Can Netflix use a Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition to break into movie theaters?

Several corporations are competing for the right to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix is emerging as one of the more intriguing candidates. As other suitors like Comcast and Paramount Skydance submit their bids, Netflix is sweetening its offer by promising to honor Warner Bros. Discovery’s theatrical commitments if it absorbs the entertainment conglomerate.

Netflix, which is one of the frontrunners in the Warner Bros. Discovery sweepstakes, has a complicated relationship with the movie theater industry. Traditionally, it has not committed to the exclusive theatrical windows theater chains prefer. That strategy has caused some of those chains to boycott Netflix releases, as they did with the critically-acclaimed 2015 Oscar contender Beasts of No Nation.