The New York Times Company Is in Exclusive Talks to Buy Letterboxd

The New York Times Company is in exclusive talks to buy Letterboxd, the film app where people log, rate and review the movies they watch, for a reported $350 million. Deadline reported the talks on 6 November 2026. Exclusive talks mean the buyer is the only party negotiating with the seller for now. Nothing has been signed.

The seller is Tiny, a Canadian hedge fund. Tiny bought 60% of Letterboxd in 2023 from the company's founders, Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow. Each founder still owns 20%. Buchanan is chief executive and von Randow is chief technology officer. Tiny hired the investment bank LionTree to oversee the sale.

A24, the film studio that was the last rival bidder, is now out of the race. The first round of interest also drew Netflix, Sony and the former Paramount, according to Deadline. In September, Variety reported that any sale was expected to value the company at more than $300 million. The same month, The New York Times and A24 both submitted second-round bids, Deadline reported.

Another bidder has also been circling. The nonprofit Intrinsic Entertainment said it was several weeks away from making a $300 million offer for Letterboxd, as Deadline reported. That is a statement of intent, not an offer on the table.

Letterboxd grew without much advertising, and that is the core of the pitch. LionTree senior managing director Alex Michael said the service draws 30 million monthly users and spends nothing on paid marketing. For a company whose audience finds it by word of mouth, that user count is the figure buyers are weighing most closely.

What happens next depends on whether the New York Times and Tiny sign a deal. Until they do, the $350 million price remains a reported figure, not an agreed one.