Miramax on the line as states demand 30-plus films a year from Paramount-Warner Bros

Miramax could be forced onto the sales block if a combined Paramount and Warner Bros. fails to keep cinemas supplied with more than 30 films a year.

That is the security deposit in a settlement negotiated by four state attorneys general over Paramount's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., as reported by Deadline. The deal ties approval to a firm annual film commitment. Miss it, and Miramax pays the price.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the commitment is 30 films per year for two years, then 32 films per year for the next three years, according to Deadline. The slate must include four independent films each year, lower-budget titles made outside the big-studio machine. About 20% of the output must qualify as blockbusters, the large-scale releases built to draw mass cinema crowds.

The penalties are steep. Bonta said the combined company would pay $30 million for each film it fails to deliver. If it still does not fix the shortfall within six months, known in the settlement as the Theatrical Cure Period, it must sell Miramax.

That sale would be total. The company must divest its entire direct and indirect ownership interest in Miramax within 12 months to a genuine buyer approved by a State Committee, on commercially reasonable terms. It may not buy any part of Miramax back during the Commitment Period, the years the film quotas apply.

Miramax matters here because Paramount already owns part of it. Paramount closed a 49% stake in 2020, with 51% controlled by Qatar-based beIN Media Group. Its predecessor ViacomCBS paid $150 million of the $375 million price and pledged a further $225 million, at $45 million a year over five years, for new film and television productions and working capital, according to Deadline.

The library is also current box-office muscle. Paramount's highest-grossing movie of the year is the Miramax co-production Scary Movie, with $231.9 million worldwide and $108.2 million domestic, meaning the United States and Canada, as reported on 21 September 2026.

For fans, this means the fight is about choice at the local cinema. Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures are two of six remaining major studios. An earlier county report estimated the combined group would release about 25 to 30 wide films per year, meaning films opening across the country at once. The settlement pushes that number higher and locks in space for smaller titles.

The wider legal battle is still moving. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced a settlement in the Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount merger lawsuit, according to the Oregon Department of Justice. The challenge to the deal was brought by California and 11 other states, with Paramount's proposal valued at $110 billion, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that Paramount and California's attorney general have discussed concessions including a $1.5 billion investment.

That state action followed federal clearance. The U.S. Justice Department approved the acquisition in June without requiring divestitures, behavioural remedies or concessions. State attorneys general then sought to pause closing until the courts had ruled, and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a stipulation under which Paramount and Warner Bros. will continue to remain separate companies for now.