David Ellison is eager to reach a swift resolution in the antitrust case filed by 12 states seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. And he’s prepared start moving Paramount out of California as soon as October unless the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, agrees to settlement talks, Variety has confirmed.
Ellison told Paramount senior execs last week that he’s prepared to relocate Paramount (and Warner Bros., too, if the merger successfully closes) if Bonta does not agree to negotiate a settlement in the case, sources confirmed to Variety. Ellison said the company will begin the process of exiting California starting Oct. 1 in the event that such talks have not started, and he told his team the Paramount Skydance board has approved the move.
Paramount declined to comment. Ellison’s threat to relocate Paramount — including much of its studio operations, over time — was first reported by industry newsletter Puck.
Bonta has not publicly said what concessions from Paramount-WBD he would consider acceptable enough to take the lawsuit off the table. But the Democratic attorney general has said any remedies would need to be “structural” (i.e., divestments) rather than “behavioral” (e.g., imposing certain production quotas). Variety has reached out to the California AG’s office for comment.
