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Paramount and AGs Set for Settlement Talks Amid $7M Daily Ticking Fee Concerns
Confirmed
In Short: Paramount and a coalition of 12 state Attorneys General will meet to discuss a settlement in their antitrust case, with talks set for the end of October.
Paramount and a coalition of 12 state Attorneys General fighting to stop David Ellison’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery will hold settlement talks after a recent directive from U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson. The talks, which will include the Writers Guild of America, are set to take place nearly a month after a $7 million per day ticking fee starts accruing for Warner Bros Discovery shareholders.
According to reports, the settlement conference will take place on two consecutive days at the end of October. The directive was issued following a hearing to schedule the talks, with both sides ordered to meet and confer regarding scheduling. The settlement conference comes just over a month after the September 25 deadline set by the Supreme Court for the blue states to submit a response to the antitrust action filed by red states Iowa and Montana.
Paramount denied accusations of leaking confidential information during previous settlement talks, which were supposed to take place at the end of August. The studio’s representatives were accused of acting in bad faith by misrepresenting details of a recent meeting. Despite the ongoing tension, the settlement talks could potentially move the needle on resolving the case before a trial next year.
Paramount has so far only offered behavioral concessions, including a pledge to release at least 30 movies with 45-day theatrical windows. However, the $7 million daily ticking fee, which adds up to over $635 million a quarter, remains a significant concern for the studio. The fee is the basis of Paramount’s protest of ‘extraordinary losses’ out of the court case and is set to start accruing at the end of September.
The settlement talks are expected to take place amid ongoing negotiations, with both sides seemingly refusing to budge on their positions. While the talks could potentially resolve the case before a trial next year, the slow progress so far suggests that a resolution may still be some time away.
What's confirmed
- Paramount and a coalition of 12 state Attorneys General fighting to stop David Ellison’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery will hold settlement talks after a recent directive from U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson. The talks, which will include the Writers Guild of America, are set to take place nearly a month after a $7 million per day ticking fee starts accruing for Warner Bros Discovery shareholders.
- According to reports, the settlement conference will take place on two consecutive days at the end of October. The directive was issued following a hearing to schedule the talks, with both sides ordered to meet and confer regarding scheduling. The settlement conference comes just over a month after the September 25 deadline set by the Supreme Court for the blue states to submit a response to the antitrust action filed by red states Iowa and Montana.
- Paramount denied accusations of leaking confidential information during previous settlement talks, which were supposed to take place at the end of August. The studio’s representatives were accused of acting in bad faith by misrepresenting details of a recent meeting. Despite the ongoing tension, the settlement talks could potentially move the needle on resolving the case before a trial next year.
- Paramount has so far only offered behavioral concessions, including a pledge to release at least 30 movies with 45-day theatrical windows. However, the $7 million daily ticking fee, which adds up to over $635 million a quarter, remains a significant concern for the studio. The fee is the basis of Paramount’s protest of ‘extraordinary losses’ out of the court case and is set to start accruing at the end of September.
- The settlement talks are expected to take place amid ongoing negotiations, with both sides seemingly refusing to budge on their positions. While the talks could potentially resolve the case before a trial next year, the slow progress so far suggests that a resolution may still be some time away.
What's still developing
- Burned in the latest attempt at settlement talks that was supposed to take place at the end of August after the reelection seeking Bonta accused them of leaking details of preliminary convos to the media, Paramount were silent today when contacted by Deadline for reaction to Judge’s Hixon’s order In that context, the Halloween-ish ordered sit-down comes just over a month after the September 25 deadline the Supreme Court has set for the anti-ParaBros gang of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington to submit a response to an effort by red states Iowa and Montana to defang the blue state’s July 13 filed antitrust action.
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