New York Times Company in Advanced Talks to Buy Letterboxd for $330 Million

The New York Times Company is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Letterboxd for roughly $330 million, according to two people familiar with the confidential discussions. The price would be more than 20 times the site's projected earnings of roughly $15 million this year. A deal has not been reached, and the talks could still fall apart.

The Times Company declined to comment. Matthew Buchanan, a co-founder of Letterboxd, did not respond to a request for comment.

Who would run Letterboxd after a sale?

The two companies have discussed keeping Buchanan and his co-founder, Karl von Randow, in charge, one person said. Under the discussed arrangement, the founders would report to an executive at the Times Company.

Letterboxd, launched in 2011, has been working with the investment bank LionTree on a sale. The site counts 30 million movie buffs who review and recommend films, curate personal filmographies and complete challenges such as "Horror x 52," in which users track how many types of horror films they watch over a year.

How did A24 and Sony lose out?

Prospective suitors included the film studios A24 and Sony, both drawn to the site's highly engaged user base. A24 promised the founders independence and an unchanged business model, but the studio was edged out as the price rose, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The takeaway: Letterboxd's engaged community commanded a premium that a legacy film studio would not pay.

What does Letterboxd add to the Times bundle?

An acquisition would extend a yearslong Times Company effort to build a bundle of products beyond its flagship news offering. The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring businesses including:

• The Athletic, a sports news outlet
• Wirecutter, a product recommendation site
• Wordle, a popular addition to its games bundle

Two people familiar with the company's interest said the Times Company would integrate its advertising technology with Letterboxd's systems. One of them said Letterboxd would most likely continue operating as a stand-alone site for the foreseeable future.

The two companies share a similar business model, pursuing both subscription and advertising revenue. Letterboxd does not disclose its number of paying users, but acquiring a popular subscription business could help the Times Company reach its stated goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027, up from 13.8 million today — growth of roughly 9 percent in under three years.

The takeaway: Letterboxd fits the Times strategy of buying engaged audiences it can monetize through both subscriptions and advertising.

If the deal closes at the discussed price, it would rank among the Times Company's most expensive bets that a passionate niche community can be converted into bundle revenue — and it will test whether cinephiles tolerate life inside a news conglomerate.