When the antitrust trial over the planned $111 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery was scheduled for March 2027, the delay was viewed as a major blow to studio CEO David Ellison and his team.
It turns out the leaders of the Directors Guild of America and IATSE unions think the prolonged timeline is a disaster for them, too. In a letter sent to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Ellison on Wednesday, union heads projected the lengthy timetable would harm workers and called for a settlement or, at the very least, an expedited trial.
This pro-settlement approach put them at odds with their compatriots at the Writers Guild of America, which has not only supported the attorneys’ general suit but has launched its own lawsuit to block the merger, presenting another hurdle to a quick resolution.
SAG-AFTRA is seemingly splitting the difference by supporting the state regulators’ suit and opposing the deal unless “enforceable safeguards” are put in place, theoretically through a settlement. The Teamsters previously called for the Department of Justice to block the deal unless specific conditions were met and, in a statement, motion picture division head Lindsay Dougherty called on Paramount Skydance to “stop playing games and show us more of your commitment to the workforce.”
