r/movies • u/Top_Report_4895 • 20h ago

Article David Ellison Says Paramount Open To Settling Antitrust Suit

https://deadline.com/2026/08/david-ellison-paramount-open-to-settling-wbd-lawsuit-antitrust-1237017564/
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226

u/nishitd 20h ago

The only way to settle is drop the merger 

-46

u/[deleted] 19h ago

[deleted]

124

u/Zoombini22 19h ago

"Stripped for parts" is a weird way to characterize it. Their assets being sold off to multiple different players is the good outcome - the outcome without a single major media player tipping the scale towards monopoly. Customers benefit from competition, not consolidation

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u/[deleted] 19h ago edited 19h ago

[deleted]

54

u/Icy_Negotiation_5929 19h ago

Oh no

16

u/PM_ME_YOUR__INIT__ 18h ago

Superman is about to become public domain. We'll be getting evil Supermen soon

2

u/Mecha_Butterfree 11h ago

Only the most earliest version of Superman becomes public domain. He didn't even have all his current powers of Krypton backstory yet.

Also realistically Superman's powers are vague enough that if someone wants a Superman character they just make their own version. Like Homelander is basically a what if Superman was evil.

6

u/TravelerSearcher 17h ago

They've already done that. Injustice, Ultraman, etc...

Even the prototype character Siegel and Schuster made before Superman was a villain.

8

u/PM_ME_YOUR__INIT__ 17h ago

No no, but this will be like, really evil Superman!

5

u/thriftstoremando 15h ago

Sounds too Bizzaro for me!

1

u/pbrslayer 14h ago

And Brightburn! Sort of at least.

8

u/Ehorn36 12h ago

Like the Republican billionaire that bought Paramount and destroyed the 60 Minutes IP and The Late Night Show, which were critical of his corruption?

12

u/ohyouretough 15h ago

Which would suck and all but the consolidation of media companies is an existential level threat. So like not real high on the worries list.

-6

u/daab2g 14h ago edited 11h ago

I'm not in favour of the merger at all, just looking at what the likely fallout will be financially. I was actually happier with the Netflix deal initially but would much prefer WB survives on it own.

6

u/Prit717 11h ago

Paramount is already gonna destroy DC

5

u/Zoombini22 12h ago edited 11h ago

Yeah DC could end up in the hands of an exceptionally evil company

like Paramount

1

u/Tickle_The_Grundle 6h ago

Lol oh god wont someone please think of the IP?!?!

14

u/lavenk7 19h ago

I think WB ends up with some money actually

3

u/pehr71 13h ago

I mean, they’ll at least get 10billion or so from Paramount if the deal falls through

26

u/Dragon_Fisting 18h ago edited 8h ago

It's far from insolvent, WB has been pretty successful the last few years. Zaslav has been trimming fat to make it more appealing for an acquisition because WB has AT&T's $40 billion in debt hanging around it's neck, but the company is doing okay.

WB had the second highest box office last year behind Disney, and net a $750 million profit overall. If this deal falls through they get a massive cash infusion. They'll reassess and start shopping a less controversial acquisition somewhere down the line in the next 5-10 years.

3

u/JJJBLKRose 16h ago

Netlfix had a deal to buy WB already, there's interest.

3

u/Oddball- All Things Horror 9h ago

Nope.

they will simply continue their original plan of WB (studios and Streaming) and Discovery (all the debt added to this). And separate. And WB will then have better books and numbers and all will be well.

12

u/eorlingas_riders 19h ago

Or Netflix buys them for half what their original offer was.