Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) and California will reportedly meet on Monday to discuss settling a lawsuit seeking to block its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD), as the companies face a March trial date and mounting financial pressure.

Talks Remain Preliminary

Paramount requested the meeting, according to four sources cited in a Saturday report.

Last month, California and 11 other state attorneys general, including those from New York, Arizona and Minnesota, sued to block the deal. They allege the deal would reduce competition in film distribution and cable television.

According to California Attorney General Robert Bonta‘s Friday statement, Bonta said, “If the opposing party in litigation wants to meet in good faith to make a sincere effort to resolve the case, we’ll meet.”

Paramount did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.

Opposition Mounts on Multiple Fronts

The high-profile merger has faced serious opposition.

Oregon, one of the suing states, had earlier accused Paramount of stonewalling document requests and acting “above the law” before withdrawing a related court motion.

In the 12-state case, Paramount has separately asked a federal judge to require the states and the Writers Guild to post a combined $1.88 billion bond to offset its deal-delay costs.

These hindrances aren’t purely external. More than 1,000 people from the film and television industry, including Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller and Kristen Stewart, have publicly opposed the deal and called on regulators to stop it. They say the merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four, which could mean less competition, fewer jobs and fewer choices for audiences.

Timeline Pressure Mounts for Investors

With the trial set for March 2027, Paramount faces mounting costs if the merger remains blocked. The company will owe WBD shareholders a ticking fee of about $7 million per day if the deal has not closed by Sept. 30, potentially pushing the cost into the billions if litigation continues into 2027. Paramount has agreed to delay closing while the legal challenge proceeds, with the merger agreement extending to June 4, 2027 at the latest.

In a statement released earlier this week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged a “swift and urgent resolution” to the litigation, citing stalled film and TV productions across the city. The Writers Guild, also suing to block the deal, criticized her stance, saying she appeared to be caving to pressure from Paramount.

Stock Performance

Paramount has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a 52-week high of $20.86 and a 52-week low of $7.62.

The mid-cap stock has fallen 21.47% year to date.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that PSKY is experiencing long-term consolidation along with medium and short-term upward movement.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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