This merger will primarily harm movie theaters, as you say. The quality of films will gradually decline, because I don't believe Netflix will maintain Warner Brothers' quality. Yes, they'll probably try at first, but then everything will sink to Netflix's level. I hope James Cameron's words about a disaster for cinema don't come true so quickly... On the other hand, we're probably the last generation to visit cinemas in such large numbers. Our children probably won't continue this trend, and for our grandchildren, cinema will be a relic of the past.
You wrote a good post, best regards.