Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuna has thrown his support behind the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, lining up the two largest US theater chains behind a deal that a dozen state attorneys general are trying to block.

Acuna released a statement on the evening of August 5 praising specific commitments from Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison, including a promise of at least 30 theatrical films a year, a protected theatrical window of 45 days before a film can move to transactional video-on-demand (TVOD — meaning digital rental or purchase) and 90 days before subscription streaming (SVOD), both guaranteed for a minimum of three years, and a $30 billion annual investment in media content (Variety).

A week earlier, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron published an op-ed in Variety explaining his own reasons for backing the deal. With Regal now on board, Ellison has the public support of AMC and Regal — the two biggest cinema chains in the United States (Variety).

The backing matters because the merger faces a serious legal challenge. On July 13, California attorney general Rob Bonta and a coalition of 11 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit alleging the $111 billion deal violates the Clayton Act by reducing competition in wide-release theatrical distribution, top-grossing theatrical distribution, and basic cable licensing (Variety).

Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin has set a 12-day antitrust trial running from March 2 to March 19, 2027. Paramount had pushed for a November trial date in a July 31 motion, while the states and the Writers Guild of America argued for March (Variety). Paramount has agreed not to close the deal until a judge rules, or until June 2027, whichever comes sooner (Reuters).

The clock adds pressure. Paramount must pay Warner Bros. Discovery a "ticking fee" of $7 million for every day past October 1 that the deal remains unresolved (Variety). A federal judge had previously ordered Paramount Skydance to pause the $110 billion acquisition through August 3 (Reuters).

Acuna warned that a prolonged court fight would not produce more films. "A long court fight extending into spring or summer would not put more films in theaters and would create uncertainty and distraction damaging to the industry," he said (Variety).

The window commitments speak to a live tension in the industry. Acuna has previously said that "shorter windows would result in lower revenue generation potential for movies" (Variety) and has refused to play most Netflix films on Regal's 8,000 screens worldwide (Puck). Ellison's pledge to hold films in theaters for at least 45 days before digital rental and 90 days before streaming addresses that concern head-on.

Not everyone in exhibition agrees. In April, a theater industry group said the merger would consolidate too much power in one company and harm consumers (Reuters).

Ellison has also pushed back on the states' motivations. In a New York Times op-ed, he argued the real reason attorneys general want the deal blocked is that he would control CNN if the Warner Bros. acquisition goes through (Variety).

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders backed the merger in April (Reuters). Whether the deal survives a 12-day trial in March 2027 — and how many ticking-fee days pile up before then — is what everyone in the industry is now watching.