There could be some big changes for the social movie platform Letterboxd. The brand is reportedly in talks with potential buyers including Netflix, Sony Pictures and Paramount, according to Puck.
Letterboxd's co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow will still own 40 per cent, but the fate of the remaining stake in the social network is up in the air as the current holding company, Tiny, seems to be looking to sell.
For those not in the know, the movie cataloguing site allows you to rate and review films. You can follow your friends and to see what they are watching, and tailor your profile to show your top four favourites.
As of July this year, there were a whopping 26 million users worldwide. That includes numerous celebrities, such as Ayo Edebiri, Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran. Even our furry friend Paddington leaves the odd review.
One of the prerequisites for working at What Hi-Fi? is that you have to be a massive movie nerd (joking, kind of). That's because testing out the latest home cinema and AV kit involves watching a variety of films to see how well they perform. We watch the same scenes again and again to compare different models, and that is a lot more fun if you genuinely love watching movies.
I have gushed about Letterboxd before and it's still the first thing I reach for once I have watched a movie. Users can post one-line zingers or thoughtful reviews, and both are equally likely to get hundreds of likes.
But I'm a little worried about the possibility of the platform being owned by streaming services or movie studios such as Netflix or Sony Pictures. It means that they could favour certain releases and push some films onto the homepage more than others, giving smaller movies less of a chance to get noticed.
Clearly, I am not alone, as there is already a crowdfunding effort to "buy it back for the people" that has gained over $54,000 in donations so far.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but it would be a shame to see the fun and passionate Letterboxd community become oversaturated with advertising and led by algorithms instead of film lovers.
MORE:
I’m a movie lover and this is the one app I cannot do without
These are the best scenes to test your Dolby Atmos setup
Check out the best TVs right now
