The Paramount-WBD merger is on hold

A couple of weeks ago I checked in on the state of the fakakta Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which has been snarled up in court as multiple state attorneys general have filed anti-trust suits against Paramount. At that time, I said, “We’ll see how that shakes out,” and now we know: Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison announced they are “delaying” the merger until June 2027, or the anti-trust lawsuits are settled, whichever comes first.

It’s not an outright halt, but it is WAY more than I ever thought possible. There is still the specter of the Supreme Court and its ability to overturn any decisions that might be made against Paramount, but for now, at least, the anti-trust matters are going to get worked out before the merger proceeds. This does mean, though, that the anti-trust cases are going to trial, and it’s probably not a great sign that Paramount has wanted a trial all along, probably counting on being able to convince twelve random people off the street that their merger is good, actually, rather than duking it out with industry experts who know otherwise.

There are two separate legal matters here, one is the California-led suit filed by twelve state attorneys general, the other is focused more narrowly on the labor market for writers and is filed by the Writers Guild of America, though the WGA wants to “align” the two cases, and the WGA filed in the Northern District of California, which is where the California etc suit is filed, too. Lawyers of LaineyGossip sound off, can they combine this into one case, or will this be a scenario in which there are two plaintiffs squaring off against one defendant at the same time? In the same courtroom?

For their parts, the WGAs West and East said in a joint statement: “…It remains our view that this merger is unlawful, and we will continue the fight to block it.”

This does make me wonder where the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, and Screen Actor Guilds are in all of this. Are they not worried about loss of opportunity, too? Why is it always the writers having to fight for everyone else? It would be nice if another guild stepped up alongside them. Before the Disney-Fox merger, Fox made about 13-14 films per year, after, they make about 4-5 films per year. That’s a reduction of more than 50%. Mergers aren’t good for anyone’s job security, I do not get why no other guild is fighting alongside the WGA. Business Daddy is never going to love you, DGA, PGA, and SAG. Stop choosing Business Daddy.

For now, though, this is a good and surprising development, a sign that all hope might not be lost and someone might actually have to, shock and horror, operate Warner Brothers as a functioning studio and not a merger target (“someone” because I don’t think David Zaslav has any interest in running a healthy movie studio). But it is just kicking the can down the road, and the brass at Paramount might not be wrong about their ability to convince a jury that the merger is good, actually. We have about ten months to see what happens, so while the merger is delayed, it is far from over.

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