Paramount Skydance agreed to settle a 12-state antitrust case over its $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, but the merger remains unclosed and the settlement awaits court approval. The five-year pact includes film-output and U.S. production commitments.
For the first two years after closing, Paramount must release at least 30 films in theaters each year, then 32 annually for the next three years. If it misses an annual target, it must divest Miramax Studios and pay $30 million per missed film. It also pledged at least $1.5 billion in additional U.S. film production over five years compared with its 2025 spending levels, plus a $47.5 million pool for workers affected by the merger.
Separately, Paramount agreed with the Writers Guild of America, which opposed the merger, to bar writer layoffs at CBS News Broadcast for five years, contribute $17.5 million to a health-insurance fund and cover the guild’s legal fees. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he did not think the companies should merge and stressed that the settlement was not an endorsement. Under the initial merger agreement, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders would begin accruing a $7 million-per-day fee if the deal were not completed by Oct. 1; the settlement could help Paramount avoid it, but the merger remains unclosed.
