There’s an old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. So, too, is a lunch sighting!
On Thursday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and HBO chief Casey Bloys were spotted breaking bread at Superba in Hollywood, sparking a whole lot of questions.
Perhaps the most relevant: Is Bloys already plotting his next move after David and Larry Ellison’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery passes regulatory approval and closes.
That would coincide with Bloys’ contract running out at the end of 2027. And Sarandos might not have prevailed in the high-stakes bid for WBD, but luring Bloys — the key architect of the current iteration of HBO who shepherded all that Emmy catnip like “Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria” as well as what is certain to be next year’s global juggernaut, the new “Harry Potter” series — would be a very nice consolation prize.
As the crown jewel of the WBD portfolio, HBO alone is valued at some $35 billion.
“David Ellison has a bro company, and that’s not Casey at all,” says one industry source familiar with the Paramount-Skydance dynamic. “He’s not a high-fiving bro watching MMA fights.”
Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that Sarandos and Bloys weren’t exactly trying to be discreet given that Superba is one of the most frequented eateries by the Netflix executive set. There are plenty of other options if you’re trying to blend into the woodwork, like, a Chipotle in Eagle Rock. But perhaps being visible was the point.
And ever since the Ellisons’ Paramount Skydance bested Netflix in the WBD sweepstakes, our sources pointed out that there would be coming drama between Bloys and Paramount’s Direct to Consumer chair Cindy Holland, who stole the Duffer brothers of “Stranger Things” fame from Netflix.
After all, to use a “Game of Thones” metaphor, only one person could occupy the “Parabros” TV throne. And all indications have pointed to Holland, who has been spotted ringside at the UFC Octagon, as being the ultimate mother of dragons.
A Netflix spokesperson confirmed that the lunch happened, and we’ve reached out to HBO as well.
