Paramount Says $110bn Warner Bros. Discovery Deal Cleared After Settlements
Paramount says it has 'complete clearance' to close its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery after settling two court fights that threatened to block it.
Chairman and CEO David Ellison, who leads Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, said both the case brought by state attorneys general and the case brought by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the labour union for Hollywood writers, have now been resolved. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the settlement of the states' antitrust lawsuit and published its terms, as reported on 21 September 2026 Deadline.
Bonta led a coalition of 12 attorneys general that filed suit to challenge the $110 billion acquisition, according to the California Attorney General's office. The U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division had cleared the deal in June, Reuters reported. Paramount Skydance said on 14 August it had satisfied all regulatory conditions under its merger agreement, and Ellison said the deal has unanimous approval from competition authorities in nearly 70 jurisdictions worldwide.
The settlement centres on cinemas. Under the consent decree, meaning a court-enforced settlement, unveiled by Bonta, the combined company commits to at least 30 films a year for the next two years and at least 32 films a year for the three years after that Deadline. At least four films each year must be independent films. At least 20% of films each year must be blockbusters.
Ellison thanked Bonta, the other state attorneys general, the WGA and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Both cases are now resolved. He said the concerns raised in court had been addressed.
The timing mattered. Paramount faced a 1 October deadline when a ticking fee, meaning a quarterly payment owed to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders if the deal does not close, was due to take effect. That fee was reported at around $650 million per quarter Reuters. The original bid was an all-cash tender offer, meaning an offer to buy shares straight from shareholders, of $30 per share launched in December 2025.
For viewers, this means the fight moves from courtrooms to release schedules. The decree locks in a minimum number of films for cinemas for five years. That slate is what keeps cameras rolling, crews of hundreds employed and writers' rooms deciding which stories get finished.
