AMC, Regal Break Ranks on Paramount-Warner Merger
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- Cinema United has opposed Paramount's $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery for months, with president Michael O'Leary citing fears of fewer films and theater closures; O'Leary was appointed in 2023 partly because he was viewed as less fiery than predecessor John Fithian.
- AMC CEO Adam Aron broke from the group at CinemaCon in April, then doubled down in a Variety op-ed on the same day O'Leary issued a letter endorsing state attorneys general's antitrust lawsuit to block the deal.
- Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna added his support last week, warning that delaying the merger would create "more uncertainty and distraction" during Hollywood's strongest summer since COVID, with domestic revenues poised to hit $10 billion for the first time since 2019.
- Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has pledged the combined studio will release at least 30 films a year — versus 16-20 annually from Disney and Universal — and offered AMC and Regal a three-year, contractually enforceable 45-day theatrical window.
- Skeptics inside Cinema United point to the combined company's $80 billion debt load and $6 billion in planned cuts from duplicative efforts, and warn the deal could replay the post-Disney-Fox merger, when reduced output left exhibitors with a "take it or leave it" ultimatum.
- Over 90% of Cinema United's members operate fewer than 75 screens, and regional exhibitors told Variety the infighting "makes us all look like clowns" and undermines their leverage with studios.
- Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble, whose chain is the No. 3 U.S. circuit, has not officially endorsed the merger.
Why it matters: Cinema United's lobbying power rests on speaking for the whole exhibition industry, but with AMC and Regal — the two largest chains — defecting to support the merger, the group loses its unified front right when a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would control a larger share of theatrical output. The smaller operators that make up more than 90% of the membership now face the same post-merger film squeeze they saw after Disney-Fox, with no enforceable leverage to protect their screens.
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