Sony announces it won't be bidding to buy Warner Bros. because it's focused on "growth markets", like anime

Last week, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery was considering selling up, prompting multiple offers from several big players. One such big player who won't be making a bid, though, is Sony.

"We have no desire for big [mergers and acquisitions] deals in the US film industry right now," Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said (via Nikkei Asia). "Simply adding together the current movie studios doesn't strike me as leading to a big gain in profitability. [Sony Pictures Entertainment] isn't a big platform company for which scale is everything, so it can create its own position even without becoming one of the top players.

"The global market for anime is just dawning right now and will continue to grow by double digits for a while. We are focused on growth markets... It's important to have cooperative relationships that foster original works."

Warner Bros. is responsible for some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood, including the DCU, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings, and the company owns HBO, CNN, DC Studios, TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, and more.

“Whether it’s for games, films, or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us," Totoki said last year.

One of Sony's latest (and most successful) original IP is Kpop Demon Hunters – although the studio didn't distribute the movie. Instead, it was released on Netflix, where it became the streamer's biggest movie ever with over 400 million views so far.

As for Warner Bros.', some of its upcoming movies on the way in 2026 include Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, video game sequel Mortal Kombat 2, and the DCU's Supergirl, starring Milly Alcok as Kara Zor-El.

For more on what's to come on the big screen, check out our guide to the rest of 2025's biggest movie release dates.