California and eleven states are suing to block Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. They allege the deal would lessen competition in film distribution and cable television markets. This lawsuit poses a serious threat to Paramount's bid to compete with Netflix and Disney. Paramount claims the deal will allow more film production after job cuts. The Justice Department has cleared the deal, citing no competition problems.

The deal already cleared federal regulators, but now faces a challenge from a coalition of 12 states.

California is among the states suing to block Paramount from buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood mega-merger that would unite some of the nation's largest movie studios…