Court Orders Paramount-Warner Bros. Settlement Conference for Late October

The two-day session comes weeks after a $7 million daily ticking fee kicks in, and days after two states asked the Supreme Court to kill the case outright.

A federal court has ordered a two-day settlement conference in the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery antitrust case for late October, bringing Paramount Skydance, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, and the Writers Guild of America West to the table in person.

The conference is standard civil procedure and does not signal that a deal is close. “A court-ordered settlement conference means the judge required both sides to meet, but it does not indicate a settlement is in progress,” a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “This is standard course in a case of this magnitude.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson, who will oversee the talks in San Francisco, issued the order Friday following a scheduling conference, instructing the parties to submit workable dates by close of business Tuesday, September 15.

Once set, the sessions will begin at 10 a.m. on each of two consecutive days. Hixson’s task is to determine whether a trial can be avoided at all. That trial remains scheduled for March 2, 2027, in Oakland.

The Clock Paramount Is Actually Racing

The timing matters for Paramount in a specific, expensive way. Starting October 1, the company begins paying Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a $7 million daily ticking fee, a figure that compounds to more than $635 million per quarter.

Paramount has been pushing hard for a deal with Bonta ahead of that date, which makes a late-October conference something of a consolation prize: by the time everyone sits down, the meter will already have been running for weeks.

Paramount struck a notably conciliatory tone in response to the order. “We appreciate today’s conference before the magistrate judge and the court’s attention to this,” a spokesperson said. “We continue to remain open to working constructively with plaintiffs on a speedy resolution so that we can close the transaction and deliver its pro-competitive benefits to creators and consumers alike.”

Bonta, for his part, has said he’s open to settling, but only on terms that include “robust structural remedies,” which in practice would likely mean spinning off a significant portion of the combined company’s assets.

California and 11 other states allege the $111 billion merger would illegally reduce competition in both the theatrical and basic cable markets, and Bonta has been looking for terms addressing both.

Talks That Have Barely Started

Movement toward a settlement has been slow to nonexistent. Bonta’s office was scheduled to meet with Paramount on August 24, but he canceled the night before, accusing the studio’s representatives of acting in bad faith by leaking and misrepresenting details of an earlier meeting to the press.

Paramount denied it, and has been comparatively quieter about publicly pressuring Bonta since.

Reports indicate the October conference is expected to be introductory, meaning there’s no guarantee it produces substantive negotiation, let alone a resolution.

A settlement could still come through the court-supervised process or entirely outside it, so scheduling the conference for late October doesn’t foreclose an earlier deal. It also doesn’t guarantee a later one.

Two More Fights Landing Before Any of This

The settlement conference isn’t the only thing on the calendar. Paramount has asked the court to require plaintiffs to post a $1.88 billion bond covering the costs of a delay in the event the merger is ultimately approved, with a hearing on that request set for September 24.

The states have argued Paramount is trying to renege on the stipulation it already signed agreeing not to close before trial without any bond in place.

Separately, and more dramatically, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the antitrust suit entirely, characterizing it as a “politicized enforcement action.” The Supreme Court has ordered the state attorneys general to respond by September 25, putting that filing one day after the bond hearing and a full month before anyone sits down with Hixson.

There’s political pressure from other directions too. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has publicly called on both Bonta and Paramount to “come to the table” and reach a settlement, a notable intervention given how much of the affected workforce sits in her city.

Markets read Friday’s order as mildly encouraging for the acquirer. Paramount shares closed up roughly 2%. Warner Bros. Discovery finished slightly down.

Joanthan P. Moustakas

Jonathan P. Moustakas founded The Cinema Group in 2020 during the challenges of the pandemic, after losing the vital ability to find community in theaters and escape through the captivating magic of cinema. Feeling profoundly cut off from the vibrant film community he cherished, he sought to create a welcoming home for dedicated cinema fans while providing engaging, daily curated content that resonates with their passions. Years later, The Cinema Group has blossomed from a small collective of loyal fans into a thriving brand that reaches millions of audiences every month across a diverse array of platforms and mediums.

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