Paramount Skydance clears state lawsuit hurdle for WBD merger

On September 30, 2026, a federal court entered a consent decree with Paramount Skydance, WBD and 12 states, resolving the states’ antitrust lawsuit and modifying the no-close order to permit the WBD merger to close. The combined company would need to release at least 30 films annually in the first two years and 32 annually thereafter, spend an additional $300 million per year on U.S. production, and could face studio or cable-network divestitures for certain uncured breaches; it must also pay up to $40 million in state legal costs, $17.5 million to the WGA health fund and up to $6 million in WGA legal fees after closing.