Two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda has put a playful twist on Nicole Kidman’s famous AMC Theatres ad, infusing it with a Warner Bros. Discovery merger angle.
This week, Fonda released a parody video in which she adopts Kidman’s signature cadence as she walks into a cinema, but tweaks the message to spotlight corporate mergers and content gatekeeping. The spoofed lines poke fun at how the moviegoing experience could be dominated by big media deals rather than creative storytelling: “Come to this place for mergers. We stream to self silence. To censor. To slop,” she quips, echoing Kidman’s original sentiment about heartbreak in a place like this. The parody then adds, “Where content is chosen by the best billionaires we have. Dazzling focus-grouped pre-digested content that lets your brain not to do too much thinky thinky.”
In a further nod to the original, she mirrors the line, “Somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this,” by adding, “Somehow corporate greed feels good in a place like this. Somehow mergers feel good in a place like this.” The clip ends with a theatergoer entering and telling her, “You gotta go. We’re about to knock this whole place down in five minutes!”
Fonda has also spoken out about Netflix’s proposed $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., criticizing the deal as a dangerous step toward consolidation that could threaten the creative industry, the public’s access to diverse content, and even free speech. She released a joint statement with the Committee for the First Amendment, arguing that the consolidation is a constitutional concern and urging the Department of Justice to avoid letting business power sway content decisions or chill expression.
If you’d like, I can summarize the key takeaways, provide a neutral-side-by-side comparison of the original ad and Fonda’s parody, or tailor this rewrite for a specific audience (e.g., industry professionals, general readers, or activists). Would you prefer a more analytical breakdown or a racy, opinion-forward version?
