Judge Grants Amicus Briefs, Slowing Paramount–WBD Settlement Sign-Off

A federal judge on Thursday granted a last-minute request from the Block the Merger coalition to file amicus briefs opposing Paramount’s proposed antitrust settlement with state attorneys general, a move that makes formal approval of the roughly $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery combination unlikely on the same day, Deadline and IndieWire reported.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that all amicus briefs must be on the docket by no later than 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Sept. 25, with no extensions for late filings. The 11 a.m. PT virtual hearing on the consent decree remained on the calendar, but Deadline wrote that the amicus grant made a same-day rubber stamp of the Sept. 21 settlement “almost certain” not to finalize approval Thursday.

Block the Merger—backed in filings and statements by Free Press, the Committee for the First Amendment, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Future Film Coalition, and the International Documentary Association—called the consent decree “weak and unenforceable.” Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González, co-counsel on the motion, told Deadline the attorneys general “have failed to adequately represent the public interest” and said the group looks forward to detailing that critique in the midnight brief.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery opposed the amicus process in a filing before the ruling, arguing that letting non-parties delay closing without filing their own Clayton Act case, winning a preliminary injunction, or posting a bond would inflict “massive harm” and place outsiders in a superior position to parties. Paramount’s lawyers separately argued the proposed decree is procedurally and substantively fair after “extensive and difficult negotiations” with 12 state attorneys general, Deadline reported.

The Monday settlement that Block the Merger is attacking includes five-year commitments such as a 30-movie annual theatrical floor (with Miramax-stake divestiture and a $30 million Hollywood union fund as penalties if missed), separate carriage negotiations for Paramount and WBD cable channels, an extra $1.5 billion a year in U.S. production spend, and a journalist panel meant to guard editorial independence at CNN and CBS News, IndieWire summarized. Critics say the package still lacks forced divestitures and California-specific production guarantees.

Timing is costly. Paramount faces a roughly $7 million-per-day ticking fee to WBD shareholders for each day after Oct. 1 that the deal has not closed—more than $630 million a quarter if delays stretch, Deadline noted. CEO David Ellison had told staff earlier in the week he expected closing in about two weeks after the AG settlement cleared the path.

The hearing was originally paired with Paramount’s push for a $1.88 billion bond from the states and the WGA to cover potential losses if the company prevailed at a trial once set for March 2027. The AG and WGA settlements mooted that bond fight, Variety and Deadline noted earlier this week, leaving judicial approval of the consent decree as the remaining checkbox—until Block the Merger’s amicus motion reopened the public-interest record on Thursday.

Readers following studio consolidation on Studio will find Thursday’s amicus delay distinct from earlier packages on the AG settlement itself, WBD staff anxiety ahead of an early-October close, and Paramount’s $7.5 billion Term B debt raise. This report stays on the court’s midnight briefing order, the still-scheduled hearing, and the fee clock now ticking louder.

Sen. Cory Booker also sent a letter urging the court to measure the decree against the injunction the states originally sought, arguing the settlement does not address the core claim that the merger is anticompetitive and will eliminate jobs, Deadline reported. Whether Martínez-Olguín uses the amicus record to slow, reshape, or ultimately enter the consent decree will decide how expensive the next two weeks become for Paramount’s closing calendar.