A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted the proposed $110 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, citing concerns over stifled competition and potential harm to consumers.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a 14-day injunction on Monday, preventing either company from finalizing the deal or beginning integration. The decision came after a lawsuit was filed by a coalition of 12 states, including California and New York, arguing that the merger would negatively impact movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and audiences nationwide.
The states' legal representatives asserted that combining two major studios would cause substantial harm. In their arguments, the media companies contended that the states had misinterpreted the market and that a merger would enhance streaming efficiency.
Judge Martínez-Olguín's ruling highlighted that the coalition raised "serious questions" about the deal's implications for movie distribution. She warned that allowing the merger to proceed at this stage would make it "extraordinarily difficult to unscramble the egg" if the court later decided to block it entirely. The judge emphasized that the public's interest in antitrust enforcement outweighed any potential delay to the merger, stating that Paramount and Warner Bros would continue to operate as independent, competing entities during the legal proceedings.