Paramount-Warner Bros. Settlement to Be Considered at Thursday Court Hearing

If the court approves the deal, Paramount will be one step closer to creating Hollywood's next media and entertainment colossus. If the court approves the deal, Paramount will be one step closer to creating Hollywood's next media and entertainment colossus. The federal judge overseeing the now-settled bid from a dozen states challenging Paramount‘s $110 bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery will consider on Thursday whether to dissolve their joint agreement not to close the deal. The purpose of the hearing is to “address certain outstanding questions regarding the factual and legal underpinnings of the parties’ proposed consent decree” and its implementation, according to a court document filed on Tuesday. The hearing will follow a landmark settlement struck over the weekend to resolve the lawsuit, clearing the way for Hollywood’s next media and entertainment colossus.

The deal doesn’t require any divestitures typical of enforcer-friendly deals. Instead, it appears to be a five-year operating agreement imposed through a consent decree. Under the settlement, Paramount and Warner Bros. must release at least 30 theatrical films a year for the first two years and 32 for the following three, maintain minimum numbers of wide and independent releases and ensure that at least half of the films are produced or jointly produced by the combined company. Other notable terms: Keeping the studios’ basic-cable negotiations separate