Mark Ruffalo Fires Back at James Cameron After ‘Avatar’ Director Slammed Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal: ‘Are You Also Against the Monopolization That a Paramount Acquisition Would Create?’

Mark Ruffalo fired back at James Cameron on Saturday morning after the “Avatar” director wrote in a letter to Senator Mike Lee, chair of the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, that Netflix buying Warner Bros. Discovery would be “disastrous for the theatrical motion picture business.”

“So… the next question to Mr Cameron should be this,” Ruffalo wrote on Instagram Threads. “’Are you also against the monopolization that a Paramount acquisition would create? Or is it just that of Netflix?’”

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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 film makers world wide.”

Netflix is currently poised to acquire Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max in a deal worth $83 billion. On Feb. 17, WB. opened a seven-day window during which Paramount Skydance can make a final push to pull together a superior offer. On March 20, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will vote on the Netflix acquisition.

In his letter to Sen. Lee, Cameron said if Netflix is allowed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, “Theaters will close. Fewer films will be made. The job losses will spiral.”

“The business model of Netflix is directly at odds with the theatrical film production and exhibition business, which employs hundreds of thousands of Americans,” he added. “It is therefore directly at odds with the business model of the Warner Brothers movie division, one of the few remaining major movie studios.”

In a recent interview with Variety, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos doubled down on his “blood oath” that the Warner Bros. theatrical rollout strategy will “remain largely like it is today.”

He said, “Your listeners can watch us now, cut a finger and do a blood oath together.”