Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is for sale, which includes its film studio and HBO properties. On December 5, it appeared that streaming giant Netflix had acquired the Hollywood company, with Netflix posting the following statement on X:

Today, Netflix announced our acquisition of Warner Bros. Together, we’ll define the next century of storytelling, creating an extraordinary entertainment offering for audiences everywhere.

Netflix shelled out $83 billion in an acquisition deal agreed to by the boards of both companies. However, three days later, Paramount, led by chief executive David Ellison, launched a hostile takeover of WBD, presenting shareholders with a $108 billion offer. “We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood,” Ellison argued. “It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry.”

WBD’s board responded by requesting 10 days to consider the offer and advised shareholders not to take any immediate action.

So, whether it’s Netflix or Paramount that ends up acquiring WBD, this sale exposes the bigger issue with Hollywood: the California-based movie industry is dying.

A look at domestic ticket sales tells a grim story. This year, American movie theaters have not topped $9 billion in ticket sales. In fact, since the COVID pandemic, movie ticket sales have topped $9 billion only once, in 2023.

To put things in perspective, adjusted for inflation, domestic movie ticket sales averaged $14 billion annually from 1995 through 2019. Furthermore, the average ticket price was lower, even after adjusting for inflation. In short, average movie ticket prices are the highest they’ve been in decades, while overall ticket sales and revenue are down.

Meanwhile, the American population in 1995 numbered roughly 268 million; 30 years later, the population has grown to over 340 million. That’s a population increase of over 72 million, and yet movie ticket sales have not followed suit.

Numbers like these reveal a dying industry.

Of course, it’s not that Americans aren’t interested in watching movies. America’s TV and streaming platform viewing statistics reveal that the movie industry is as popular as ever. However, the old Hollywood model is, well, not only old, but it has increasingly become so stuck in a leftist bubble that it’s not telling stories that Americans are drawn to and willing to spend their hard-earned cash to see.

While always having represented an elitist crowd, Hollywood has not only lost touch with middle America, but it outwardly despises most of the country, and worse yet, it sees expressing this as a virtue.

Hollywood movies have become so chock-full of woke messaging that they are often nearly unwatchable because of their offensiveness. More than the loss of audience has been the loss of the art of movie-making and storytelling. Hollywood was always liberal, but it wasn’t insufferably so. The movie industry was about not just making movies but also making money. This tension served as a regulating factor that helped to keep Hollywood’s movies relevant to the broader American public.

In a way, Hollywood is a victim of its own success. As an old actress whose youthful beauty has long since faded, Hollywood is demanding the public’s attention, but no one is attracted anymore.