Overview
- Paramount and California Attorney General Rob Bonta entered advanced, confidential settlement discussions reported Sept. 17–18, with Bonta saying any deal must deliver structural remedies rather than only behavioral promises.
- Paramount warns it will start a $7 million per day ticking fee on Oct. 1 and has threatened to move operations if no deal is reached, using the deadline to increase pressure on the talks.
- Paramount has asked a judge to require the states and the WGA to post about $1.88–1.9 billion as a bond to cover delay costs and financing, and a judge will hear that bond request on Sept. 24.
- A magistrate ordered a mandatory two-day settlement conference for Oct. 14–15 to seek an out-of-court resolution, but the meeting does not guarantee a deal and the parties have previously halted talks over alleged leaks.
- If talks fail the case goes to a 12-day merits trial set for March 2027, with Paramount agreeing to delay closing until five days after the trial outcome or early June 2027 which will determine whether the merger proceeds or is blocked.