“Are you also against the monopolization that a Paramount acquisition would create? Or is it just that of Netflix?”

Mark Ruffalo fires back at James Cameron after filmmaker’s letter slamming Netflix’s bid to buy Warner Bros

"Are you also against the monopolization that a Paramount acquisition would create? Or is it just that of Netflix?"

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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February 22, 2026 2:08 p.m. ET

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Mark Ruffalo and James Cameron. Credit:

Michael Kovac/Getty; Araya Doheny/Getty

Mark Ruffalo has some questions about James Cameron's stance on Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.

Days after the *Titanic* filmmaker made headlines for pleading with Congress to reconsider the Netflix–Warner Bros. merger, Ruffalo urged Cameron to share his opinion on an alternative scenario: Paramount buying Warner Bros.

"So... the next question to Mr. Cameron should be this," Ruffalo began a Feb. 21 post on Threads. "Are you also against the monopolization that a Paramount acquisition would create? Or is it just that of Netflix?”

He continued, "I think the answer would be very interesting for the film community to hear and one that should be asked immediately. Is Mike Lee against the Paramount sale as well? Is he as concerned about that as he is the Netflix sale? We all want to know... Speaking on behalf of hundreds of thousands of filmmakers worldwide."

Mark Ruffalo attends the 'Crime 101' UK gala screening Jan. 28 in London.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Netflix announced that it would acquire WBD in December. Paramount, after making multiple bids to purchase the studio, attempted a hostile takeover after the Netflix deal was publicized. On Tuesday, WBD announced that its board of directors continues to "unanimously recommend in favor of the Netflix merger," though the studio re-entered talks with Paramount to allow Ellison's company to make another offer.

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In Cameron’s letter, which is dated Feb. 10 but made the rounds last week, the *Avatar* director voiced concerns about the impact that Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. could have on the moviegoing industry. Addressed to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the letter argued that "the business model of Netflix is directly at odds with the theatrical film production and exhibition business, which employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. It is therefore directly at odds with the business model of the Warner Brothers movie division, one of the few remaining major movie studios."

Prior to penning this argument, Cameron speculated in November that David Ellison's Paramount Global would be the "best possible choice" to purchase WBD.

"Netflix would be a disaster," he told *The Town* podcast host Matt Belloni. "Warner Bros. would just become a streamer. So now you've lost an actual theatrical major, and now you've just increased that avalanche, that downhill trend."

Filmmaker James Cameron attends a "Avatar: Fire And Ash" photocall on Dec. 4, 2025.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was quick to fire back at Cameron on Friday and, in an interview on Fox Business Network’s *The Claman Countdown,* said, "I’m particularly surprised and disappointed that James chose to be part of the Paramount disinformation campaign that’s been going on for months about this deal."

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Sarandos also sent his own letter to Carr, which has been reviewed by EW, in which he corrected Cameron's claim that Netflix would shift films to having a 17-day theatrical window.

"I have never even uttered the words 17-day window. So I don’t know where it came from or why he would be part of that machine," he wrote. "Movies go into the theaters for 45 days, a healthy, robust slate of films every year, that is going to continue. This deal is contingent on that for us to — for it to work."

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Source: “EW Movie”