Letterboxd Finalizing $330 Million Sale to The New York Times

Letterboxd, the social networking platform for cinephiles, will soon have new owners. The website is finalizing a sale to The New York Times Company in a deal valuing the website at $330 million, according to a report from the NYT on Thursday.

An agreement has not yet been reached and could still fall apart, but the companies have entered into exclusive negotiations. The $330 million price tag is more than 20 times Letterboxd’s projected earnings in 2026 of about $15 million, the Times reported.

The New York Times would acquire the controlling stake in Letterboxd from Tiny, a Canadian-based public company, which originally picked up a 60 percent stake in 2023 when the website was valued at just $50 million. Tiny has been exploring a sale since April; a deal has finally emerged after film studios, tech executives, and private equity companies all kicked the tires.

The New York Times prevailed over finalists Sony Pictures Entertainment, which has been on a buying spree with trendy outlets for cinephiles like Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas and Cosm, and A24, which for years has been one of the few companies to rival the cultural cache among young film lovers that Letterboxd commands (it helps that Charli XCX is a fan of both).

IndieWire understands that A24 was also in late-stage talks to acquire Letterboxd, with the studio promising Letterboxd’s founders to maintain its independence and its business model unchanged. The Times reported that it has discussed keeping founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in place, with each reporting to a Times executive.

Letterboxd has grown significantly since being acquired by Tiny, now reaching 26 million users (though the company does not disclose how many of them are on paid subscriptions.) Its Four Favorites social media segments have proven reliable viral hits. It has attracted young celebrities who have become semi-active users. It also introduced a Letterboxd Video Store that offers digital rental of under-the-radar films or recent festival releases. But the platform has also promised features like the ability to log TV shows that still haven’t materialized to help it grow further.

It’s easy to see how The New York Times Company can help provide scale, though that comes at the risk of making the platform seem a little less cool and independent in the process to its highly discerning userbase. The Times could integrate Letterboxd into its film and TV reviews or its Watching blog, or plan crossovers between Letterboxd and the enormously popular NYT Game. The Pro or Patron subscription tiers of Letterboxd, which remove ads and provide customization options and viewing statistics, could also be bundled with the Times’ other subscriptions like The Athletic, Cooking, or Games. The Times has a goal of reaching 15 million paid subscribers by the end of 2027 and currently has 13.8 million.