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Paramount Skydance asked a judge on Friday to schedule its upcoming antitrust trial in November, while a coalition of states and the Writers Guild of America asked for a date in April 2027.
The scheduling matters a lot
to Paramount, which will begin paying Warner Bros. shareholders $7 million a day on Sept. 30 until the deal is complete. In the filing, Paramount argued that a delay also “prejudices the creative industry, the individuals who work within it, and the consumers who benefit from it.”
The 12-state coalition, including California and New York, filed suit on July 13, alleging that the $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. will unlawfully reduce competition in the basic cable and theatrical distribution markets. The Writers Guild of America filed a separate suit the next day, arguing that it will also harm the marketplace for writers. Paramount has argued that the deal will help consumers by providing a more robust competitor to streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
In the joint filing on Friday, the states asked Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin to schedule a 12-15 day trial starting on April 5, 2027. The Writers Guild of America concurred with the states’ scheduling request. Paramount wants a 12-day trial beginning on Nov. 4, arguing that any postponement prolongs an uncertain environment.
“Deciding what projects to commit to, and when, is already difficult for creative professionals trying
to find the right opportunities in a dynamic industry; doing so in an atmosphere of intense business
uncertainty is even harder,” the company’s lawyers argued.
The states, meanwhile, are seeking additional time to obtain documents and take depositions from Paramount executives. The trial will be held in federal court in Oakland, and will depend heavily on expert testimony from economists.
In the filing, the states argued that Paramount’s proposed scheduled is rushed and unworkable.
“Defendants’ proposed schedule would deprive Plaintiff States and the Court of a thorough evidentiary record,” the states argued, saying it would allow for less than two months of fact discovery and one month of expert discovery. “Their extraordinarily truncated schedule unfairly favors Defendants because they (1) have information Plaintiff States need to prove their case and (2) do not bear the burden of persuasion.”
Paramount faces a deadline to close the deal by June 4, 2027. The WGA argued that such a self-imposed deadline should not dictate the trial schedule.
Martinez-Olguin granted a temporary restraining order earlier this month that blocked the deal from closing for 28 days. The states were expected to file for a preliminary injunction last week, but in a surprise move, Paramount agreed to put the deal on hold until trial, essentially conceding that an injunction was imminent.
The state case has presented an unexpected obstacle to the deal, which received approval from the Department of Justice in June. The European Commission and regulators in Australia, China, and many other countries have also signed off on the merger.
“We believe a trial on the merits is the best and most direct way for us to prove what we’ve said from the start — this transaction is lawful, pro-competitive, and raises no antitrust concerns,” a Paramount spokesperson said, calling the states’ request a “stonewalling tactic.” “Our request for a November trial date is more than sufficient to give both sides the time they need to conduct discovery, gather evidence, and prepare for trial.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued his own statement defending the scheduling request.
“Our challenge to the unlawful Warner Bros./Paramount merger is a clean-cut antitrust challenge through and through: it’s about protecting the vibrancy of an industry, the pockets of consumers, and the quality of films and television programs that take center stage in many of our lives,” Bonta said. “This challenge deserves careful and thorough review and today my office and attorneys general across the country asked the court for a trial date next spring. We are eager to continue to make our case and look forward to a final determination of the schedule by the court.”
