Judge to Rule by July 22 on Request to Block Warner Bros.-Paramount Merger

A federal judge plans to rule by July 22 on whether to grant a temporary restraining order that would block the $110 billion merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance. Arguments on the request took place July 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, with Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín presiding.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta leads the coalition of 12 states that filed suit the week of July 13. Bonta said the transaction would raise prices, reduce content quality and cut the number of movies and television shows produced.

He added that movie theaters, cable distributors and viewers would bear the effects. Bonta described the entertainment industry in broader terms. “It exists to tell stories, to spark ideas and spark curiosity, to inspire and sometimes to inform, to open our eyes to new perspectives we may have never considered before,” he said.

James Weingarten, attorney for the plaintiff states, called the transaction the largest merger in Hollywood history. He said it would combine two of the five major film studios and more than 50 basic cable channels, giving the combined company more than a quarter of every dollar generated at the U.S. box office.

Jeffrey Kessler, counsel for Paramount Skydance, told the court the states had not made a case for emergency relief. “We do not think they should get a TRO,” he said. The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East filed a separate lawsuit seeking to block the same deal.