Letterboxd in Negotiations to Be Acquired by New York Times Company

The New York Times Company is in exclusive negotiations to acquire the online movie buff community Letterboxd, the Times reported Thursday.

The price is reported to be about $330 million, which amounts to more than 20 times Letterboxd’s projected earnings for 2026 of about $15 million. The New York Times said that the deal was not yet final.

Variety reported in September that the New York Times and A24 were among the bidders for the company, with Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Skydance, private-equity giant TPG and Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian also expressing interest.

Co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow are expected to remain in charge, reporting to a N.Y. Times executive, the report said.

A24 had promised independence in operating the site, but dropped out when the price rose, according to the report. Letterboxd numbers some 30 million film-obsessed users who use the site to keep track of what they have watched and rate the titles with a star system. Last year, Letterboxd also launched an online film-rental platform that is available in 23 countries.

Though Letterboxd’s core features are free to users, the app offers a paid Pro tier for $19 a year that removes ads and provides more personalization features. The $49 Patron tier ads customized posters and backdrops and access to some beta features.

New Zealand-based Letterboxd was founded in 2011 and has been shopping itself to interested parties in recent months. Canadian holding company Tiny acquired a 60% stake in Letterboxd in 2023 at a valuation of $50 million-$60 million, while Buchanan and von Randow own the remaining 40% share.

The purchase would be a natural continuation of subscription-based companies the New York Times has acquired to increase reader engagement including sports site The Athletic, product review service Wirecutter and the popular game Wordle.

The New York Times had no comment.