Letterboxd, the popular film-review social network, may soon have a new owner. According to a report first broken by Puck and confirmed by Variety, Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Skydance, private equity firm TPG and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are among those who have held early talks to potentially acquire the platform, which has been shopping itself to interested parties in recent months.
Founded in 2011 and based in Auckland, New Zealand, Letterboxd has grown to more than 30 million members globally, adding 10 million in the past year alone after surging in popularity during the pandemic. Beyond its core review and logging service, the platform recently launched an online video rental store and has become a fixture on red carpets, asking actors and filmmakers to name their four favorite films. The sales process is being handled by investment and merchant bank LionTree, which has floated a valuation of around $250 million, per Puck.
The company is currently 60% owned by Canadian holding company Tiny, which acquired its majority stake in 2023 at a valuation of $50 million to $60 million. Co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow retain the remaining 40%.
The prospect of a major studio or streamer acquiring Letterboxd raises immediate questions about conflicts of interest. If Netflix, Sony or Paramount owned the platform, critics argue they could give preference to their own titles, skewing the site’s independent voice. The concern echoes longstanding criticism of Rotten Tomatoes during its years under NBCUniversal ownership. Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango are now part of Versant Media, spun out from Comcast earlier this year. In April, Semafor reported that Versant had also held talks about buying Letterboxd, per Variety.
Ohanian, when reached for comment on reports he was exploring a deal, replied in a text message: “Man I can’t sneeze without someone talking about it lol.” Letterboxd, Netflix and Paramount declined to comment. Representatives for Sony Pictures and TPG did not respond to requests for comment.