Cinema United Backs Paramount-WBD Settlement Provisions — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Cinema United President and CEO Michael O'Leary said the consent decree "accomplishes many of exhibition's objectives," specifically citing five-year film production commitments, theatrical exclusivity, wide distribution requirements, prohibitions on cost increases, and continued access to Paramount and Warner Bros. catalogs at reasonable rates.
- The settlement requires Paramount to release 20 of 30 films in wide distribution during years one and two, and 21 of 32 films in years three through five, with "wide release" defined as 2,000 screens — a specific threshold Cinema United had advocated for.
- O'Leary acknowledged that "no settlement can eliminate all risk from a merger of this size," signaling Cinema United's support is qualified rather than unconditional despite the group's year-long opposition to the deal.
- Before the settlement, Cinema United told Congress in January that a Paramount-WBD merger could consolidate as much as 40% of the box office in a single studio, citing the Disney-Fox merger as precedent and pointing to a $1 billion decline and 70% drop in combined Fox/Disney box office between 2016 and 2025.
- Cinema United's broader consolidation fight extends beyond this deal — the group has also actively opposed Netflix's pursuit of Warner Bros Discovery, warning a House committee that such an acquisition would hand "a single, dominant, global streaming platform" further control over production and distribution.
Why it matters: Exhibitors extracted concrete concessions — five-year production floors, a 2,000-screen wide-release definition, and catalog access protections — from a merger they spent a year fighting, but O'Leary's own caveat that "no settlement can eliminate all risk" reveals the deal still carries concerns the consent decree couldn't fully neutralize for theater owners.
Ask SkimNews
