AMC, Regal Break With Cinema United Over Paramount-Warner Merger
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- Cinema United has publicly opposed any sale of Warner Bros. for months, with president Michael O'Leary warning a merger would mean fewer films and potential theater closures.
- AMC CEO Adam Aron and Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna endorsed the $111 billion merger, contradicting the trade group's official position and triggering what insiders describe as a "civil war" within the organization.
- State attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit last month to block the deal; Aron published a Variety op-ed arguing the complaint "gets the economics of our business backwards" on the same day O'Leary endorsed the litigation to delay the merger.
- Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison pledged the combined studio will release at least 30 films a year — compared with 16–20 annually from Disney and Universal — which Aron and Acuna cite as a key reason for their support.
- O'Leary and other skeptics point to the combined company's $80 billion debt load and plans to cut $6 billion in duplicative costs, plus the 2019 Disney-Fox merger that resulted in fewer new releases for exhibitors.
- Bloomberg reported that Ellison offered AMC and Regal a three-year, contractually enforceable agreement guaranteeing exclusive 45-day theatrical windows shortly after Acuna's statement, though indie operators note Paramount already had a 45-day window.
- More than 90% of Cinema United members operate fewer than 75 screens, meaning the hundreds of independent theaters — not AMC or Regal — would absorb the brunt of any post-merger reduction in film supply.
Why it matters: The fracture within Cinema United means hundreds of independent theaters — 90% of the group's members — risk losing bargaining leverage if the $111 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. merger closes, since AMC and Regal can afford to back a deal while smaller operators have already pointed to the 2019 Disney-Fox merger as proof that consolidation reduces their film supply.
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