Paramount Offers 30-Film Theatrical Pledge as Warner Bros Deal Faces Legal Challenge
Paramount is seeking exhibitor support with written commitments that include a 45-day theatrical window and 30 films a year over three years.
- Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison offered AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas a three-year agreement guaranteeing 30 films annually with exclusive 45-day theatrical windows to secure support for the $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
- While Cinema United publicly opposes the merger, fearing reduced film output and theater closures, the group's two most powerful members, AMC Entertainment and Regal, are breaking ranks to support the deal.
- Skeptics, including Cinema United president Michael O'Leary, question the feasibility of Ellison's promise, citing the combined company's $80 billion debt load and planned $6 billion in cuts versus Universal and Disney's 16-20 annual releases.
- A coalition of 12 state attorneys general led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an antitrust lawsuit last month to block the acquisition, arguing the merger could reduce competition across the film and television business.
- Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna warned last week that delaying the merger creates damaging uncertainty, urging the industry to build on recent box office successes ahead of the March 2027 federal antitrust trial.
15 Articles
15 Articles
California AG Rob Bonta Open To Structural Remedies In Paramount-WBD Suit But Calls 30 Movies A Year An “Old, Stale Promise”
The AG is open to structural remedies for the Paramount-WBD merger but called David Ellison's 30-film theatrical pledge "an old, stale promise."
Cinema Civil War: Why the Paramount-Warner Bros. Sale Is Dividing Movie Theater Owners
Movie theater owners have become embroiled in the kind of drama they usually sell on the big screen, thanks to the ongoing saga of Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Cinema United, the exhibition industry’s main lobbying group, for months has been publicly opposed to any potential sale of Warner Bros. The trade organization’s […]
Paramount offers 30-film theatrical pledge as Warner Bros deal faces legal challenge
New Delhi: Paramount Skydance reportedly moved to give major US cinema chains contractual assurances over theatrical releases as its $110-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery faced an antitrust challenge. As per media reports, Paramount offered three-year agreements to AMC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas under which the combined company would release at least 30 films in theatres every year. The proposed contracts would also require fi…
Paramount Making Outrageous 30-Films-Per-Year Pledge If Merger Goes Through
⚡ Quick Take A new report says Paramount is pledging to produce an outrageous 30 new films per year if the merger with Warner Bros. goes through. Not even a week after a judge placed a start date for the antitrust trial regarding Paramount’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and we already have more news. The David Ellison-run Paramount-Skydance is evidently trying to sure up their claim that the merger of two of the largest media studios i…
Paramount Is Reportedly Putting Into Writing Its Commitment to Movie Theaters — Will It Make a Difference?
The crux of the current state attorneys generals’ argument against the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is that the deal will be bad for movie theaters because a combined Paramount-WBD will be able to dictate terms to exhibitors that will only further hamstrung them. As such, the states believe they’re on the side of the movie theaters. So why then are the CEOs of the No. 1 and No. 2 theater chains in America taking Paramount’s side? Las…
Paramount and Warner Bros. Sign Multi-Year Deals With Regal and AMC Theatres
The recent announcement from Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery regarding new distribution agreements with major theater chains has sent ripples through the exhibition industry. According to a report published by Deadline, the two studios have secured multi-year deals with Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres that guarantee substantial theatrical windows and revenue-sharing terms designed to stabilize the post-pandemic box office environment.…
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