California leads 12-state lawsuit to block $110bn Paramount-Warner Bros merger
Image: BBC News
A dozen US states have joined forces to block the $110bn (£85bn) merger of Warner Bros and Paramount, calling it the largest media consolidation in Hollywood history — and a threat to competition and consumers alike.
Led by California, where both companies keep their headquarters and studios, the lawsuit claims the deal would harm "audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US," in the words of state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
If it goes ahead, the combined company would account for more than a quarter of major film releases. Add Disney, Universal and Sony, and just four conglomerates would control 86% of that market.
Between them, the two giants own legendary franchises — Harry Potter, Batman, Mission: Impossible and Top Gun — plus TV channels CNN, MTV and Nickelodeon. Combining them would end a century of fierce rivalry.
Why it matters: The fight is about more than corporate bragging rights. Critics warn that folding two of Hollywood's biggest hitmakers into one entity will mean fewer films, less choice and higher prices — while concentrating cultural power in fewer hands than at any point in modern entertainment.
The tension boiled over when Bonta accused Paramount's side of wielding a relocation as leverage. Reports suggest controlling owner David Ellison — son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison — was urged to move operations out of California. "I'll even say it felt like a threat," Bonta said, "a last-ditch effort to blackmail the regulators into allowing an illegal deal to go through." Paramount declined to comment.
What's next: The regulatory challenge is a major hurdle for the entertainment titans, and a court ruling could reshape not just this merger, but the rules for media mega-deals to come.