The Truth About Netflix Buying Warner Bros. Plus: Snubs and Surprises of the Golden Globe Nominations and Jafar Panahi on ‘It Was Just an Accident.’

The Big Picture

The Ringer

Tv & Film

4.3 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 118 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sean and Amanda have an action-packed show today, and they start with the biggest piece of news: Netflix’s $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. They talk through their initial gut reactions to the news; cover the additional information that came through over the weekend, including Paramount’s hostile bid; and hypothesize whether or not the sale will go through (1:57). Then, they react to the Golden Globe nominations and try to make sense of what they mean for the Academy Awards (1:00:11). Finally, they briefly discuss Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was Just an Accident’ (1:20:29) before Sean is joined by Panahi himself to discuss how he casts his actors, why he prioritized balancing a humorous tone and serious drama, and why he feels that his next film has to be about war (1:26:51). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Jafar Panahi and Sheida Dayani Producer: Jack Sanders Shopping. Streaming. Celebrating. It’s on Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Sean Fennacy.
0:15.7	And this is the big picture of conversation show about the future of movies.
0:20.8	Good morning.
0:21.6	And life itself.
0:23.0	We have a staggeringly loaded episode this fine Monday morning.
0:27.1	It's 8 a.m.
0:27.9	We will discuss the just announced Golden Globe nominations, which seem not terribly important relative to what everything else we'll discuss.
0:36.0	We will also be discussing it was just an accident, which is the new film from Jafar Panahi. It's a palm door winning thriller, and it examines a chilling aspect of life under the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As you may have heard on the show last week, thanks to Adam Neiman. It is one of the great movies of the year. It was also my honor to be joined by Panahi later in this episode to talk about the film, how and why he made it in secret,
0:57.8	his fascinating career, and outspoken dissident, and a world-class filmmaker. We recorded
1:02.1	our conversation with Panahi before the news came out that he was recently once again
1:08.0	sentenced to serve one year in prison in Iran when he returns to the country, so we won't be addressing that in that conversation, but I hope you will stick around for the discussion.
1:17.1	He is an amazing person and an amazing thinker about movies.
1:21.1	But first, we've got to talk about some assholes and suits.
1:24.2	Yeah.
1:24.8	There was a major transaction, maybe, in the world of movies and
1:30.4	television, and we will talk about it right after this. This episode of The Big Picture is
1:36.9	presented by Amazon Prime. You know how in every great holiday movie, there's that last-minute
1:41.2	scramble to make it all come together. From gifts to hosting essentials,
1:45.1	Prime's fast shipping is always there for you during the holidays, especially when it's last minute
1:48.8	and just can't wait. So if you need fast free delivery that saves the day, it's on Prime. Had to Amazon.com
1:55.0	slash Prime to shop now. Okay, Amanda. I should have said suit jackets, hoodies, you know?
2:02.7	It's true.
	...

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