Paramount Sets California Exit Plans Over Antitrust Battle With Blue States & Stymied $111B WBD Merger

Deadline ^ | 09/16/2026 | Dominic Patten

[DFG]

Leaks the past few months out of David Ellison‘s inner circle said the CEO would take his Paramount ball and leave California if state attorneys general didn’t back off on their antitrust suit to stop the $111 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery.

And now it looks like the ball really is in play.

Paramount brass have told key officials and stakeholders the company is “deadly serious” about leaving California and the home of Hollywood after over 100 years, sources tell me. Among those told a deposit has been put on the moving trucks is L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and state AG Rob Bonta.

“Mayor Bass is focused on protecting and fighting for jobs in L.A., including critical jobs in the entertainment industry that have been a vital part of Los Angeles’ economy,” a spokesperson for City Hall told Deadline today. “She’s been engaged on this issue and will continue to fight to make sure L.A. is home to Hollywood,” the Mayor’s office added, with the core topic being keeping the Paramount corporate HQ and the thousands of jobs it holds in the City of Angels.

Up in Sacramento, Bonta has over the past several months called out Paramount for engaging in “blackmail” in its efforts to sway the court of public opinion over the merger.

Today, with the exit plans taking more concrete shape, the AGs office said as much again, in many more words.

“We cannot comment on a company’s plans,” a spokesperson for AG Bonta told Deadline Wednesday over the moving notice. “It’s no secret that Paramount has been making this threat, despite its alleged commitment to California and Hollywood. What Paramount decides to do is Paramount’s choice alone. We’ll continue to apply the law without fear or favor and continue to be open to coming to the table for good faith discussions.”

Paramount had no comment when contacted by Deadline about the exit plans and how far along they are.

What no one can be silent on is that the potentially devastating blow to any already ailing Tinseltown industry comes as the mega-merger with David Zaslav’s WBD is trapped in the legal leg-hold of the July 13-filed antitrust lawsuit from a dozen states and the Writers Guild of America. Even with court ordered settlement meetings set for next month and a hearing next week over Paramount’s desire for a $1.88 billion bond from the plaintiffs to cover “extraordinary losses” the company anticipates, clearly the wait for the March 2, 2027-starting trial was too much and too late for Team ParaBros.

Ellison’s big move to move comes almost two weeks before the October 1 deadline that had been bandied around in the rumors out of the Melrose lot since the legal battle with Golden State Attorney General Bonta and 11 other blue state AGs over the WBD deal formally went nuclear two months ago. While there are a number of pricey fees in motion under the merger contract, the “extraordinary losses” Paramount has been referring to specifically is the $7-million-a-day ticking fee in the WBD contract that kicks in (surprise surprise) on October 1.

Doing the math of the ticking fee adding up to $635 million a quarter and a look at the calendar of that trial date, and the money Para could be on the hook for is very real.

Now, with all the thunder and lightning of a Paramount departure to a red state like Tennessee and how much of this is another attempt to ramp up the pressure on Bonta to settle, the fact is any exit will have little immediate impact on the antitrust suit’s route through the federal courts — at least for now. However, among docket disputes over whether or not an injunction on the deal is de facto in place or not, Donald Trump‘s DOJ weighing in for Para on jurisdiction and the big bucks bond and a possible SCOTUS intervention, the optics are very immediate if Paramount really leaves.

As are the punishing economics.

“At a minimum, relocating Paramount’s headquarters and other operations out of California would result in losses of 2,750 and 5,550 job-years in California across all industries and losses of between $1.01 billion and $2.03 billion in economic output between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2031,” L.A. County’s Economic Development Corporation wrote in a September 10 document.

The third such report from the powerful Board of Supervisors, the EDC missive of last week is very similar to language in a Paramount statement of September 8 detailing harsh consequences if the merger falters.

“Once Paramount completed the entire relocation of its headquarters and other operations out of California, the state would experience the permanent loss of approximately 28,990 to 57,980 full-time jobs statewide across all industries, and losses of between $10.6 billion and $21.2 billion annually in economic output,” the county document says.

Holding on to over $80 billion in debt, a melded ParaBros is widely expected to follow the M&A pattern of big job losses, whether the company stays in L.A. or not.

On the other side, with Ellison’s promises of 30 flicks a year and long release times, the EDC report also shone a bright light on some good news — if the lawsuits disappeared or a settlement was reached and merger went through.

“Paramount’s post-merger production commitment of 30 features a year for three years would generate a total of between 1,020 and 2,760 job-years in California across all industries and between $377.7 million and $1.01 billion in economic output between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2031,”the L.A. County finding estimates.

That math would look pretty good in the Red Zone too, if you know what I mean?

TMZ first reported Paramount contacting city and state officials with some sort of exit announcement.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: bonta; california; davidellison; fafo; ohnoanyway; paramount

[TheDon]

“Atlas Shrugged”

[bigbob]

He should threaten and get them to give in on the merger, then leave anyway.

[frank ballenger]

I watch a lot of old movies and see at the end the thanks to British Columbia, various countries like the Czech Republic and sometimes Georgia, South Carolina and NYC.

Wonder how the low the percentage of actual Hollywood filming locations since the 1990s there have been.

[catnipman]

"Paramount Sets California Exit Plans Over Antitrust Battle With Blue States & Stymied $111B WBD Merger"

sounds like CA might win the battle, but they'll lose the war ...

[T Ruth]

Leaks the past few months out of David Ellison‘s inner circle said the CEO would take his Paramount ball and leave California if state attorneys general didn’t back off on their antitrust suit to stop the $111 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery.

Two left-wing institutions fighting. May they both lose.

[NonValueAdded]

If they move, do the plaintiffs lose standing?

[bankwalker]

When will California build a wall to keep the successful people in?

[ridesthemiles]

IS THERE A POOL FOR NAMING THE EXIT DATE????

[ridesthemiles]

ABSOLUTELY

ANY IDEAS AS TO WHERE THEY GO?

GEORGIA? FLORIDA? NEVADA-LAS VEGAS?

[Dr. Sivana]

When will California build a wall to keep the successful people in?

All that coast line is open, too. Plus a large number of drug runners and coyotes who know how to get in (and therefore out) at will.

[Falconspeed]

California state attorneys general are ignorant of the rule of law, of the harmony between Divine law and constitutional law. Why do they care about Paramount and Warner? Both studios are suffering and need to support each other.