When it comes to Paramount‘s legal wrestling with 12 state attorneys general’s antitrust case over the Melrose lot’s possible merger with Warner Bros, the key is to divide and conquer with exhibition.
Deadline knows that Paramount has made a written commitment to at least one of the top two circuits specifically Regal, for 30 films annually over three years with an exclusive 45-day theatrical window and a 90-day window to streaming.
There’s buzz that AMC has also has a written commitment from Paramount, but the circuit’s boss Adam Aron emphasized to Deadline on Sunday afternoon, “AMC has no comment on this story, period. Nor have we ever had any comment on this story.”
Aron has waved the flag publicly in support of a Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger, while Deadline told you first that Regal boss Eduardo Acuna was also a champion for the union.
When it comes to the big chains, it matters for them to be on the right side of history with Paramount, especially when it comes to future terms on a 30-film slate.
However, the rest of Cinema United (formerly National Association of Theatre Owners) remains firmly against the Paramount-Warner Bros merger and its potential negative financial outcomes in regards to long-term box office, feature film output and loss of jobs. Cinema United has been trying to meet again with Paramount CEO David Ellison, but there’s nothing on the books yet, we understand.
Acuna told Deadline that in regards to Paramount’s future promise to exhibition, “[Paramount CEO] David [Ellison] is sincere in making these commitments, and he has offered to execute a consent decree to the state AGs to that effect. These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured.”
Paramount insiders tell us that no written commitments have been given to exhibitors yet, but Ellison is willing to make non-bespoke ones to any theater chain wanting them. And such deals will come with financial penalties to Paramount should it break such agreements with theaters. Again, this is all about Ellison standing behind his promises made at CinemaCon to maintain a hefty theatrical output and excellent windows to theaters.
The trial with the AGs isn’t until March 2027. Currently, Paramount has 16 films scheduled for 2027 and seven for 2028. Warner Bros has 19 for 2027 and 15 for 2028 in Rentrak. Had the merger gone through this fall, the marriage would have had 35 organically for 2027. Right now for 2028, a combined studio would have 22.
Here’s the reality, promise or no promise, written commitment or none: the marketplace will determine whether there’s an output and a need for one studio to push out 30 films annually. If most of the films fall short of profit, what’s to stop a studio from cutting back on supply and cost? The intention is well and good, but there are core issues and history that cannot go ignored.
The stigmata that has burned upon the industry is, hello, the fallout of the Disney-Fox merger, which major studio executives tried to yell at the Justice Department at that time was a monopoly, but the government regulators wouldn’t listen.
In 2016, Disney and 20th Century Fox separately released 26 new titles opening in more than 2,000 locations. In the wake of that merger, in 2025, their combined output fell to 14 wide releases, a 46% decline. The box office combined went form $4.29 billion in 2016 to $2.4B in 2025, down 44%. Cinema United has asserted that they don’t believe how a union between two landmark studios, Paramount and Warner Bros, would be any different, arguing that there will be fewer films made ultimately, leading to theaters closing their doors, which would have a ripple effect on local Main Street and mall economies.
Supposedly, with written commitments to theaters chains, the hope for Paramount is that its PR war against the AGs strengthens, unraveling the antitrust lawsuit that stands in its way.
And we’re not even getting into jobs lost yet if there’s a Paramount-Warner Bros merger.
All of this melodrama occurs when the domestic box office is bound to surge to double digits, the best post-Covid, with an estimated $10 billion domestic, in addition to summer crossing the $4 billion mark this weekend.