WASHINGTON — In a groundbreaking announcement on Friday, Netflix revealed its agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets for a staggering $72 billion.

This monumental transaction will unite two titans of the film and television industry, offering a fresh platform for some of the most cherished franchises worldwide.

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to divide into two distinct publicly traded entities. Upon completion and necessary regulatory approvals, Netflix will assume control of the Warner segment, while the remaining entity, Discovery Global, will retain its cable networks, including CNN, TBS, and TNT.

Beyond its namesake television and motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios.

Netflix pointed out in its release that the deal will add a number of beloved franchises, shows and movies such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones,” “Harry Potter,” “Friends,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and the DC Universe to its portfolio. 

“By adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose,” Netflix said in its announcement. 

However, it’s unclear if that means HBO’s library will move into Netflix or if it’ll stay a separate streaming service. 

Under the proposed acquisition Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner’s studio films — honoring Warner’s contractual agreements for movie releases. That’s a major shift for Netflix, which has kept most of its original content within its streaming platform – with a few exceptions. 

The Associated Press and CNN Newsource contributed to this report.