New York Post
· collected 2026-09-21 · by Ian Mohr, Tim Baysinger, Peter Kiefer
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and eleven other states reached a settlement with Paramount on Monday morning over their lawsuit attempting to block Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. The agreement includes commitments from David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, to keep both studio lots active in California and release at least 30 films per year, with penalties for non-compliance. Paramount also pledged to spend a minimum of $300 million annually on domestic production over the next two years and commit to releasing four independent films yearly. The settlement resolves concerns about job protections and editorial independence at CBS News and CNN, among other issues.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-22,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Paramount, owned by Skydance Media, has reached a tentative agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general over an antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount's $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The negotiations, which began last month, have involved discussions about potential concessions to settle the litigation before the scheduled trial in March 2027.
Key details of the proposed settlement include a $30 million penalty if Paramount fails to produce at least 30 theatrical films per year and a commitment to invest $1.5 billion in California production spending. Additionally, there are discussions about maintaining independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS News under the new merged entity.
California officials have been urged by Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to settle with Paramount to preserve tens of thousands of jobs in the state. However, opposition remains strong; actor Mark Ruffalo has warned Bonta against caving to settlement demands that might not adequately protect the interests of the entertainment industry.
Despite initial optimism about reaching an agreement by late last week or early this week, insiders now say significant hurdles remain, including disagreements over key terms and conditions. The deal is expected to be announced officially in coming days, potentially averting further legal challenges and a $7 million daily "ticking fee" that would start accruating on October 1 if no settlement had been reached by then.
Written for “Paramount Warner Merger Settlements” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 28 other(s) covering the same event.
Paramount closed a deal with California AG Rob Bonta and 11 other states on Monday morning to settle a bruising lawsuit to block the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros.
A 45-minute press conference was held by Bonta today to unveil the news.
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conference → close → news
(Bonta also revealed that the WGA has also separately settled its suit against Paramount trying to block the merger.)
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Paramount → reveal → merger
The settlement includes a pledge by David Ellison to hold onto both the Paramount and Warner Bros. studio lots and keep them active, after the billionaire exec had floated leaving the state — and was even wooed by Tennessee and Texas.
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exec → include → Tennessee
But Bonta said there are no stipulations in the deal that Paramount has to keep its HQ in California.
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Paramount → say → California
(He added that his expectation is that Ellison and co. will remain “for the foreseeable future.”)
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Ellison → add → future
Ellison had also previously promised that the combined Hollywood studios would release 30 films per year if the merger went through, and the new agreement will hold him to that number — with financial penalties in place for falling short.
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agreement → promise → place
Paramount will even increase the number to 32 after two years.
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Paramount → increase → years
Paramount also agreed to spend a minimum of $300 million per year on domestic production over the next two years — with an increase in the third year — plus a commitment to release four indie films per year.
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Paramount → agree → year
The deal says that 20% of the studio’s movies have to be classified as “blockbusters.”
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% → say → blockbusters
Lawyers worked into the wee hours to seal the deal after four states were reportedly holding out.
uncertain
states → work → deal
On Sunday night, an insider close to the talks had told Page Six Hollywood: “Yesterday afternoon, I thought a deal probably gets done.
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deal → tell → Hollywood
Today, I think there is a ways to go.
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I → think → ?
Anything could happen at anytime: A deal, calling off talks or they continue talking for days.”
uncertain
they → happen → days
But by early Monday morning, Bloomberg reported that Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Minnesota gave in when their reps realized the legal battle was not financially viable without California taking the lead, a source told the outlet.
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source → report → outlet
A source told P6H that the talks had been bogged down over the weekend because of disagreements between the states on what their priorities were, with some focusing primarily on CNN and others concerned with the studios being separate.
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studios → tell → CNN
An insider said that New York Attorney General Letitia James cared more about “job protections, and CNN,” while Bonta didn’t “care about CNN, but other AGs do.”
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AGs → say → CNN
The Post reported that Bonta was rushing behind the scenes to reach a deal out of concern that Paramount would follow through on leaving the state, and that James coming to the table sealed the settlement.
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coming → report → settlement
The case was scheduled to go to trial next March, but costly “ticking fees” were set to kick in Oct. 1 that would have had Paramount paying Warner Bros. an estimated $7 million a day until the deal closed.
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deal → schedule → million
Paramount is expected to hold its own presser today to announce that it’s staying in the state, among other details.
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it → expect → details
“We are grateful to Attorney General Bonta and his fellow AGs, as well as the WGA, for engaging in good faith to find a path forward to a resolution that serves all parties, and to Governor Newsom for his support throughout this process,” Ellison said in a statement Monday.
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Ellison → engage → statement
The Aporia
