A deal for the film-logging app would push the Times deeper into entertainment and put a steep multiple on one of the internet’s fastest-growing fan communities.

The New York Times turned Wordle into a habit for millions. Now it wants the movie crowd. The Times Company is in exclusive talks to buy Letterboxd for roughly $330 million, the paper itself reported Thursday, according to TheWrap, which cited the Times’ account of two people familiar with the discussions.

That price works out to about 22 times Letterboxd’s projected 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $15 million. Co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow would reportedly stay in charge, running the app as a standalone business that taps the Times’ advertising technology. No agreement has been reached, and the Times declined to comment.

The seller has done well. Canadian holding company Tiny took a 60% stake in 2023 in a deal valued at $50 million to $60 million, TheWrap reported in September, when the Times and A24 first surfaced as bidders. Membership has ballooned since then, passing 30.7 million at the end of the second quarter, up 43%, and approaching 35 million by October.

The bidding was crowded. The sale, run by investment bank LionTree, drew interest from A24, Sony, Netflix and an investor group led by Madison Wells chief executive Gigi Pritzker, TheWrap reported in October. In September, Gizmodo, also citing the Times, wrote that bids were expected to reach at least $300 million.

Exclusivity is not a signature, and negotiations could still fall apart. If they hold, a newspaper publisher would own one of the most engaged audiences in film, logged in and rating every release. Watch for a signed deal before year end, and for whether the co-founders’ independence survives the paperwork.

Sources

• TheWrap – New York Times Enters Exclusive Talks to Buy Letterboxd for $330 Million – https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/tech/new-york-times-letterboxd-acquisition-330-million-talks/
• TheWrap – A24, New York Times Enter the Fray to Buy Letterboxd for Over $300 Million – https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/letterboxd-sale-a24-new-york-times/
• TheWrap – Letterboxd Gets New Suitor in Gigi Pritzker-Led Investor Group – https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/letterboxd-sale-gigi-pritzker-investor-consortium-acquisition/
• Gizmodo – A24, Sony, or the New York Times May Soon Swallow Letterboxd – https://gizmodo.com/a24-sony-or-the-new-york-times-may-soon-swallow-letterboxd-2000817016

Featured photo: The New York Times Building, Manhattan by Razvan Orendovici, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.