Paramount-Warner Bros. $111bn Takeover Set to Close With Cinema Pledge

Paramount Skydance's $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is set to close on Oct. 6, after a federal judge signed off on its settlement of an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states in July, according to Variety.

The order removes the last legal block in the United States. A separate court order allowing Paramount Skydance to close the acquisition was entered this week, Reuters reported.

The deal comes with binding promises on cinemas. The combined Paramount-Warner Bros. company must release at least 30 films theatrically in each of its first two years, rising to 32 films per year in years three through five, according to Variety.

Wide releases, meaning films opening on thousands of screens at once, will play only in cinemas for 45 days. They will then wait 90 days before reaching subscription streaming.

Paramount has also committed an extra $300 million per year for film production in the United States, or $1.5 billion over five years. The combined group will carry $79 billion in debt after the takeover, according to Variety.

The buyer is led by David Ellison, chief of Paramount Skydance. At the start of the year he travelled to France, Germany and the United Kingdom to meet political leaders and entertainment figures and build support for what began as an unsolicited bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Ellison later sent an open letter to the creative community pledging that the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. would release 30 films a year in cinemas.

That pledge is being welcomed by some European production leaders. Pierre-Antoine Capton, co-founder and chairman of French production group Mediawan, told Variety he believes in Ellison's commitment to cinema and theatrical releases. Marco Chimenz, a former president of the European Producers Club, is among the other continental executives following the deal closely.

Paramount had earlier agreed to run Warner Bros. Studios and Paramount Pictures as separate operations as part of its settlement with states, NPR reported. That settlement with California and other states cleared a major hurdle for the takeover, Reuters reported.

On staffing, Paramount chief Ellison has asked CNN chief Thompson to stay on after the Warner Bros. deal closes, Reuters reported. CNN sits inside Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison already controls CBS after the 2025 Paramount-Skydance deal, Al Jazeera reported.

For cinemagoers, this means the paperwork points in one direction. More big-studio films promised for theatres, with a guaranteed window before streaming, and two historic studios kept as distinct labels.