Multiple states are preparing to sue over Warner Bros.-Paramount merger

Paramount, meanwhile, is threatening to pull business out of California over the issue.

By Drew Gillis  |  July 13, 2026 | 11:25am
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Multiple states are preparing to sue over Warner Bros.-Paramount merger

The Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount Skydance merger is still pushing ahead, even if more and more entities are trying to block it. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that several states, including California, New York, Washington, and Connecticut, are planning to file an antitrust lawsuit against the proposed merger as soon as this week. (California is reportedly taking the lead on the endeavor.) According to the Times, a draft of the lawsuit circulating now argues that the potential merger would harm competition for tentpole films. A spokesperson for Paramount said the company was ready to defend itself against “legitimate antitrust issues,” but also that there weren’t any of those here, so don’t worry about it. 

But Paramount does appear to be at least a little peeved about the latest obstacle to stop one of the biggest mergers in Hollywood history. Yesterday, Semafor also reported that if California sues to block the merger, the company would look at moving its headquarters out of the Golden State. There have been no decisions made about this yet, and it sounds a lot like the company is just puffing out its chest; as per Semafor, Paramount CEO David Ellison is unlikely to want to move the company out of California, given that he just moved Paramount’s headquarters from New York to California when Skydance took control of the studio. Moving Paramount’s headquarters from California would also be unlikely to help any of the many public relations issues the studio is facing, especially given the push from many in the industry to support production in Los Angeles. In any case, Paramount hopes to close the deal this fiscal quarter, though it’s also facing opposition on the other side of the Atlantic in the meantime.

 
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