Paramount has settled with twelve states challenging its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, agreeing to release at least 30 films a year for the first two years and 32 thereafter or pay $30 million per missing title into union benefit funds.
The terms are time-limited
The conditions expire after five years. If the combined studio misses any annual target during that window, it must sell its 49 percent stake in Miramax to a competitor. The settlement also requires an additional $300 million of domestic production spend.
Output math
Paramount has averaged 15 releases a year over the past six years; WBD has averaged 17. Even combined, the 30-film floor implies a step-up from recent run-rates. The 2027 and 2028 slates already announced would leave a gap the companies would need to fill with new greenlights or acquisitions.
Acquisitions count
The agreement does not require the studio to produce the films itself. Distributing titles bought from third parties satisfies the quota, and only 20 percent of the slate must carry budgets above $50 million. SAG-AFTRA leaders called the standards "the lowest standards that our employers must meet."
Worker protections questioned
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the deal protects workers above and below the line. The union statement and the five-year sunset suggest the protection is provisional. Redundancies from a merger of this scale are not addressed.